Joy

This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 30:4–5

Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.

For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

This passage has lots less words in Hebrew. The last two sentences contain:

• Anger moment - These two words tell us that the moment reḡaʿof God’s anger, is like the blink of an eye. 
• Weeping over night - Has one more word lûn, which speaks of a traveler that spends only the night. 
• Joy morning  - But force of the verse comes from a conjunction vᵊlabōqer that drives home the idea that after this brief night, the morning brings joy.

Lamentations 3:22-23

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

    his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

    great is your faithfulness.

plant

 This week we begin worship with:

Jeremiah 31:28

And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and

break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them

to build and to plant, declares the LORD.

This verse comes in the middle of Jeremiah's prophecy concerning the restoration of Israel and the institution of the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31).  The first half of which occurred as a dream, and from which he woke and declared:

Jeremiah 31:26

At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

As a farmer, as a shepherd, as a gardener, there are times when you must "bring harm".  This is for the health of the crop, the flock, and the tree.  That time is now past.  It is now time to plant!  

Watch what is planted . . . the Word of God.

Jeremiah 31:33
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  

And from the New Testament and the parable of the Sower: 

Luke 8:11
Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 
 

provision

Today we begin worship with:

Romans 13:11-12

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

When we are up north, the weather and our activities change so dramatically throughout the day.  Regularly we "cast off" the long pants needed for the chilled mornings to "put on" the swimsuits of the afternoon, only to put back on the flannel shirt for the evenings campfire.

What Paul is describing here is rather a one-time decision to cast off "works" and put on "armor".  He explains further, what (or better said, "who") we are putting on:

Romans 13:14
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

The flesh clamors for our attention and our attentive "provision" (pronoia).  But covered by armor the flesh is silenced and the call to battle can be heard above its complaints.  We are not called to an ascetic lifestyle where the battle is against the body, but rather we are called to a generous lifestyle where the battle cry is "love" (Romans 13:8-10).

 

compassion

 This week we begin worship with:

2 Chronicles 30:9

For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.

When King Hezekiah began his reign, he restored the temple, re-established the priesthood, had them cleanse the temple and offered long overdue sacrifices.  

2 Chronicles 29:35b

Thus the service of the house of the Lord was restored.

He then sent couriers throughout the country with today's message, which contains the promise:

• "If you return to the Lord", then 
• "your brothers and your children will find compassion".

This is not about them.  This is about the nation.  

Their actions would bring about God's "compassion" (raḥam) on the nation, and not only on the current generation, but on the next.  This word is often translated "tender mercies" in the Psalms and is best understood as the care given by a mother to her newborn.

Let us continue to sanctify and sacrifice ourselves as prescribed (Romans 12), so that God will have mercy on this nation.

Lose

This week we begin worship with:

Mark 8:34–35

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.

This is not the call to asceticism where the body is continually punished.  This is a call to sacrifice where the body is used for God’s purposes. This call was among the first things taught by Jesus.  Most of the Beatitudes talk of a future blessing, but two promise a present blessing. They are the first and the last.

Matthew 5:3

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

 

Matthew 5:10

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Becoming a citizen of heaven is a present blessing for those that come with an empty hand when approaching God and a full hand when an enemy approaches us.  We contribute nothing to our salvation for Christ Jesus was the perfect sacrifice.  And we should sacrifice when necessary following His perfect example.

Proverbs 25:21

If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat,

    and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, . . .

 

Proverbs 25:26

Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain

    is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.

With both courage and care draw clear water for your enemy today.  

 

keeper

This week we begin our worship with:

Psalm 121:7-8

The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will

keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Adam was given the task of being the garden's keeper (Genesis 2:15).  Cain famously defended himself with the question "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:9).  We are told in today's passage that God will be our "keeper" (šāmar), if we call upon Him.

Psalm 121:1

I lift up my eyes to the hills.

    From where does my help come?

freedom

 This week we begin worship with:

Galatians 5:13

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

In Paul's letter to the Galatians, he is responding to reports that they have fallen back to the comfortable place, where one's actions were the source of self-righteousness and their justification.  

Galatians 2:15-16

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Once understood that no-one can justify themselves, faith in the work of Christ brings freedom.  My actions are not necessary.  But that freedom immediately brings the temptation to enthrone oneself.   

We must regularly be reminded that our freedom has a purpose, to love one another.  

A classic example would be getting the family ready for church, packed into the mini-van, only to hear the cry of a neighbor for help with a family emergency.  Some in this situation would feel the tug of the Law to drive on.  Others who felt the tug of self-enthronement are still in bed.  But we are freed to love through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

name

 This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 115:1

Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

In a small town, at work, or in a big church, names carry weight.  Do you know the so-and-sos?  I had dinner with their cousins.  Often that weight comes from what they did or donated.  Their names are on the buildings.

But our verse this week is a prayer asking that our name be left off.  That our contribution, however large, be hidden and anonymous.  Instead, the name of God should be given weight.  

That name loses its eternality translated as LORD.  In Hebrew, it is the self-existent, unchangeable, and eternal "I AM".  

This comes out clearly as the Psalmist speaks of the steadfastness and faithfulness of God's love.  And it is because of that eternal and unchanging love for us, that weight should be given that name.

verb

 This week we begin worship with:

Hebrews 11:6–7

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Each of the "by faith" examples given in Hebrews 11 had an action:

• Able "offered" (v4).
• Enoch "prophesied" (Jude 1:14-15).
• Noah "constructed" (v7).
• Abraham "went" (v9) and "offered" (v17).
• Sarah "conceived" (v11).
• Isaac "blessed" (v20).
• Jacob "blessed" (v21).
• Joseph "instructed" (v22).
• Moses "refused", "chose", . . . (v 23-30).
• Rahab "welcomed" (v 31).

While we understand that our salvation is never because of our actions, but only because of God's love, but what action are we taking, in faith, simply because we love God and want to please him?

Yes, this list has many, who risked it all, but for many it was enabling and pointing the next generation to God by their personal testimony.  

What is your verb?

 

wilderness

This morning we begin worship with:

Genesis 1:27-28

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to

them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it."

For most, when we were at home we felt safe.  In my neighborhood we played and rode our bikes.  It was when we turned that next corner that the roads got bigger, it was too scary to ride (and our parents told us not to!).

This has been true throughout the ages, the earth needs to be subdued (kāḇaš).

As you read the Gospels, when you read the phrase "into the wilderness", do not envision a peaceful and tranquil place.  It was an area beyond civilization, beyond the reach of Motel-6, COSTCO, and 911.

It was into the wilderness that Jesus went to battle Satan (Mark 1:12) and where he exorcised the demons who called themselves "Legion" (Mark 5:1-20).  

It was often Hs battleground.

For

This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 105:42-43
For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant. 
So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing.

Our verses today condense the entirety of Psalm 105 into the little word "For" (kî).  It occurs only once in the psalm and points us to the reason.  The Psalmist lists over 20 actions that God took to choose, care for, and build the nation of Israel, but this is the reason, that God's promise is "holy".

This does not simply mean that the promise is good, rather than evil.  The word "holy" (qōḏeš)  means that the promise comes from God's very nature and core to that nature is His unchangeable-ness.

Exodus 3:14

God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

The phrase "I am who I am" is in the Hebrew imperfect tense.  It is not the arrogant and frequently heard English phrase "It is just the way I am".  Instead it means that the way God is never stops.  And because God cannot change, the promise made to Abraham cannot change.

Now, imagine being in the crowd and hearing Jesus say:

John 8:58

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”