very present

 This week we begin worship with:

Psalms 46:1-3

God is our refuge and strength,

    a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

    though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam,

    though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

Our God, our protector, is a “very present help”.  Is He here now?  Yes.  Now? Yes.  Now? Yes!!!

So, during a time of trouble we will not fear.  Yes, you read that correctly.  We won’t fear.  This is not a command that we are to do our best not to fear, it is a fact that we will continuously not fear during times of trouble.  Why?

Philippians 4:5b-7

The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

In a way that we cannot phantom (“surpasses all understanding”), the peace of God will “guard” or “keep” our hearts and minds.  These are military terms.  It is how an army is garrisoned (phroureō) or how a guard is set.  

But for a guard to be effective, they must be there in advance.  So, we must continuously (yes, even in the good times) place our anxiety about the future at His feet. So, when an actual time of trouble does occur, we will be covered by the peace of God.  

Fight anxiety with prayer.  Anxiety is fear about a future that has not occurred.  And it will be a future where God will be “very present”!

Lamb

This week we begin worship with:

John 1:26–29

John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Those that heard this announcement must have been stunned.

Under the Law, when a person sinned they were bound by the priest to make atonement.  They themselves would sacrifice in a literal sense, because the animal that would be sacrificed would come from their flock.  But John declared that this Lamb was "of God".  

Our atonement would be at His cost.

Also striking is the use of a lamb, for goats that were used for atonement.  Even on the annual Day of Atonement, it was a living goat that would be sent into the wilderness carrying the guilt of the nation.  Lambs are not associated with guilt and were only used when a sin was unintentional. 

Our Lord Jesus would be a sacrifice without guilt.

 

with all my heart and all my soul

This week we begin worship with:

Jeremiah 32:37b, 41

I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. 

I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.

This pair of verses are part of a prophecy in response to the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians.  It is God's promise to remove His wrath from them and restore them to what will then be an everlasting covenant.

Jeremiah 32:40

I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.

But, it concludes uncharacteristically using terms that describe God's joyous response to that reconciliation as if He were a man.  That is, "with all my heart and my soul".  God has no need for either a "heart" (lēḇ) or a "soul" (nep̄eš).  For He is spirit.

These words describe the moment God's wrath was completely assuaged, when our Lord Jesus Christ, God-incarnate, rejoiced and cried "It is finished" (John 19:30).

mercy

 This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 103:2-5

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and forget not all his benefits,

who forgives all your iniquity,

    who heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit,

    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

who satisfies you with good

    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

This is not the “Blessed” of the Beatitudes (makarios), which describes the favored state of a person.  This is bāraḵ, which like the Greek eulogeō, praises someone worthy of adoration.

Our God is worthy of praise because of what He does and because of what He will do.  

He forgives all our iniquity.  This is not an event in the past or an event we are waiting for, this is happening now.

But the other benefits that the Psalmist lists must wait.  They will happen, because we are forgiven, on the Last Day.  We will be healed.  We will be raised up from the grave.  Our youth that we once enjoyed will be renewed.  

For that is when we will receive the Crown of Life (James 1:12).  Not because of us, but because of a love that is so steadfast that it will show even us mercy.