Mercy

Today we begin worship with:

Psalm 119:103-104
How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my
mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate
every false way.

In this section of the Psalm (Psalm 119:97-104), the Psalmist exclaims that because of God’s law, he is wiser (ḥāḵam) than his enemies, comprehends (śāḵal) more than all his teachers, and is more discerning (bîn) than those who are older. 

What could do this?

God’s law tells us how life should be led, how we are to act, and what we should do.  There is no better way. There is nothing more sweet than mercy (ḥeseḏ).

Psalm 119:64 

The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love;
    teach me your statutes!

Rescued

 Today we start worship with:

Luke 15:7

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner

who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no

repentance.

This parable was addressed to quote-unquote righteous persons, or at least to ones that thought they needed “no repentance”.  The Pharisees and scribes had been grumbling because Jesus would spend time with sinners (Luke 15:1-2).  Jesus was addressing them.

We know now that everyone needs repentance. 

Romans 3:23

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

This was a lesson that Abraham had to learn.  He pleaded with God to save the city of Sodom for the sake of his nephew Lot.  Even as the number decreased from 50 down to 10, God’s answer was always the same.  If righteous were found, God would withhold His wrath (Genesis 18:22-33).  In the end, righteous were not found and only a few were found willing to leave.  Only Lot, his wife, and his two daughters took advantage of the angel’s warning and his wife famously turned back and received the just penalty (Genesis 19:15-29).

Heaven rejoices when the warning is heeded, when the sinner is rescued.

Image

 Today we begin worship with:

Genesis 1:27

So God created man in his own image, 

in the image of God he created him; 

male and female he created them.

It is lost in English that this is a song!  

This act of creation is connected (In English "So") to the previous verb "to speak" ('āmar).  This triumphant song follows God's decision and design to share His image with mankind.

Genesis 1:26a
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. 

And verb "make" (ʿāśâ) is not one-time, simply for Adam, but continuous.  God decided that each generation should reflect Him.

We should ask ourselves daily how well we are holding that mirror.

Righteousness

This week we begin worship with:

Matthew 5:6

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they

shall be satisfied.

Yes, righteousness (dikaiosynē) is the state of being right with God, but God does not make us wait for it.  In fact, two other Beatitudes do not have the familiar “shall be” phrase.  They, the first and the last (Matthew 5:3,10), say we are citizens in the Kingdom of God.  We need not hunger for that!

Our verse rather speaks of our intense desire that we, personally, live a life in which we are the “living sacrifice” (Romans 12), which is summed up as:

Romans 12:18

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

How then shall we be “satisfied” (chortazō)?  The word describes the shepherd’s task of grazing the flock so they fatten for slaughter. So in the first sense we will become the sacrifice we desire. 

But secondarily we will also see the righteousness of God executed in justice.

Revelation 19:11

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.

Law

 Today we begin worship with:

Romans 8:1-2

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ

Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus

from the law of sin and death.

Not even a little bit (oudeis).  In Christ there is nothing that condemns us. 

Right now (nyn). While most of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-10) point to a future blessing, the first and last bless us instantly with citizenship in the Kingdom, when we acknowledge we need the Spirit of life and are willing to be persecuted for that citizenship.

With this new citizenship comes a new law.  Death is no longer on the throne.  The life-giving Spirit reigns instead.  Ironically, we are then asked, as part of this citizenship, to sacrifice ourselves, but not in death, rather in life.

Romans 12:1

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Gaze

Today we begin worship with:

Psalm 11:4, Habakkuk 2:20

The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’S throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. 

The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.

Back in the day, we as kids would challenge each other who could hold their breath the longest and who would keep their eyes open the longest.  The first one to breathe or blink would lose.

These verses describe God as ever with His eyes open.  Job's complaint included:

Job 7:17-19

What is man, that you make so much of him,

    and that you set your heart on him,

visit him every morning

    and test him every moment?

How long will you not look away from me,

    nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?

Job felt examined so closely that he did not have a moment outside His gaze.

But this Psalm is not a complaint.  

At camp, we know the day at the beach is ending when the lifeguard announces with their bullhorn that they are going off-duty and that if you swim, you swim at your own risk.  

God does not go off-duty, and in this Psalm David was enjoying his protective gaze.

Psalm 11:1,7
In the Lord I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
    “Flee like a bird to your mountain,
For the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
    the upright shall behold his face.

Veil

 This morning we begin worship with:

Isaiah 25:8

He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.

The two previous verses describe how this is to be done:

Isaiah 25:6-7

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples

    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,

    of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.

And he will swallow up on this mountain

    the covering that is cast over all peoples,

    the veil that is spread over all nations.

    He will swallow up death forever; 

No longer will the wailing sound of mourners be heard.  The veil of death will be removed to reveal a feast for His people.  

The reproach (ḥerpâ) that has been the constant derision from our enemy will be removed and replaced with honor as we take our seat at the table.

Sword

This week we begin worship with:

Micah 5:4

And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.

A shepherd must stand to watch over their flocks. They must defend them from robbers and predatory animals.  The whole time the sheep are grazing they must stand watch. Only when they return to the sheep fold, could the shepherd lie at its gate and rest.

But this passage speaks of a different time, when the sheep need not fear at all, anywhere.

Micah 5:5-6
When the Assyrian comes into our land

and treads in our palaces,
then we will raise against him seven shepherds
and eight princes of men;
they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of Nimrod at its entrances;
and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian
when he comes into our land
and treads within our border.

Not simply within their borders but “to the ends of the earth”, our Great Shepherd will shepherd with a sword.

Rescue

 This week we begin worship with:

Habakkuk 3:2

O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.

When a king would take up his army and go off to war, they would not be a surprise for their enemy.  They would slowly advance on foot with their supplies and weapons.  And what would speed forward in front of them was "the report" (šēma).  Many a surrender occurred simply because of the report of what took place in the previous town.

Based on that report, the prophet's prayer was that the LORD's army would once again break camp and advance, for another army has invaded (Habakkuk 3:16).  He was calling for their rescue.

"In the midst of the years", our years, there is an enemy, our enemy.  We need God's wrath.  We need God's mercy.  We need His rescue.

Refine

 Today we begin worship with:

1 Peter 4:12–14

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

This summer the fridge went out, when we had a house full of people, the stove stopped working in the strangest way, and the boat decided when it would start and when it would not.

Those were not "fiery trials".  A fiery trial (pyrōsis) comes when you are "insulted for the name of Christ".  It is the refiner's fire.

There is a curious verse in Proverbs that illustrates this:

Proverbs 27:21

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,

    and a man is tested by his praise.

One is refined by who and what one praises.  

When you praise a Ford, when you are with a group of Mopar buddies; when you are the only one rooting for the Yankees at a Braves watch-party; when stand up of the name of Christ when it is taken in vain.  You will be tested.  That lick of flame will refine you.

Weakness

 Today we begin worship with:

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

God does not pick people based on what He can receive from them, but rather for quite the opposite.  We are chosen for how He can demonstrate His power through our weakness. 

Growing up not only was I in the running for the worst handwriting of the class, I labored to form a cohesive a sentence.  To God’s glory, today I write. 

Do I have my shortcomings (or better said “faults”)?  Yes, absolutely.  But I know that when God wants the corresponding strength demonstrated, He will supply it.