I/me/my

This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 138:1, 3

I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your

praise. ...On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you

increased.

In this verse we explore a person (Reread it looking for "I/me/my").  

The heart (lēḇ) is the center of emotions and from which true thankfulness pours. A healthy heart is whole (Psalms 86:11).  When it is sick it is divided (Matthew 6:24).

The soul (nep̄eš) is the center of our being into which the spirit enters to give the body life (Genesis 2:7) and what exits the body with the spirit upon death (John 19:30).  A healthy soul is strong, but not in might but rather stability, in which we rest (Psalm 62:1-2).

To strengthen the soul you call upon God.  To heal the heart we worship Him alone.

sanctify

This week we begin worship with:

John 17:17-19

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Our verse this week is part of the High Priestly Prayer, that Jesus prayed following the Upper Room Discourse and the institution of the Lord's Supper.  It may have been spoken on the way to or at the Garden of  Gethsemane (See transition at John 14:31).

Knowing that His time on earth was short, and that His work to guard what was entrusted to Him would soon end, Jesus prays that God the Father would ". . . keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one" (John 17:11).

But there was a second unfinished task.  Jesus had also been entrusted with the word (John 17:14).  He had faithfully spoken that word, but the word had not yet had its full effect.  Jesus prayed then that God the Father would continue that process and "sanctify" (hagiazō) them through the word.

To sanctify is the opposite of the verb to "profane".  To profane takes something holy and makes it unsuitable for the act of worship.  To sanctify means to make something suitable for the act of worship.  

This prayer, in part, was answered though Paul who explained the process of sanctification in the first half of his letter to the Romans and the new form or worship in the last portion of that book, where he explained that we are now "holy and acceptable" so we can be a "living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1-2).

May the word spoken today encourage and equip us to do so.

voice

This week we begin worship with:

John 10:16

I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

There exists a sport called pigeon battles.  Competitors own a roost and care for a flock of pigeons.  During a battle, the opponents release their respective flocks, which intermingle in seemingly a choreographed flight, but then using their voice and their whistle, they call the flock back to the roost and count the result.  If they have more birds than at the start of the battle, they are declared the winner.  

The fold does not determine the flock.  Rather it is the voice of the Shepherd.  In our verse today, our Good Shepherd the LORD Jesus Christ explains in parable to a very exclusive Jewish audience that it will be His voice that will unite those that will listen into a single flock.

That voice must be heard over the din of life.  Pigeon battles are not fought in a peaceful and quiet field.  They are fought in the clamor of the city.  The competitor's voice must be heard over the horns, the cars, and the voices of thousands.

Isaiah 30:19-21

For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 

Our Teacher's voice is here, right behind us, responding to our cry for help, and guiding us back to the path and back to the fold.

plead

This week we begin worship with:

Jeremiah 50:34

Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.

We have been taught to fear over-population.  Yes, Abraham and Lot separated because their flocks grew too large to graze together (Genesis 13:8-11), but the true spoil of war was often people.  The victor led captives back to their city.  Abraham (Genesis 14:16), Moses (Numbers 31:9), and David (2 Samuel 8:2) returned with captives after victories, for one needs people to prosper.

Our verse today follows the devastating defeat of Israel at the hands of the Babylonians, where the best of the best were taken captive:

2 Kings 24:12-17

. . . The king of Babylon . . . carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, except the poorest people of the land. And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. And the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon all the men of valor, 7,000, and the craftsmen and the metal workers, 1,000, all of them strong and fit for war . . .

We are today in a battle for the soul.  Many have loved ones who have stepped away from the faith, who were led captive by Satan.  As the prophet Jeremiah reminds us in our verse this week that battle will soon end and rest will once again return to the earth.  In fact, Paul tells us that process has begun:

Ephesians 4:7-8
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says,
“When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
    and he gave gifts to men.”

So with fervent hearts and with this week's promise in mind join our Redeemer in pleading their cause and pray they might be in that number.