watch

This Advent week we begin worship with:

Exodus 34:1-2

The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.  

 

Exodus 34:11

“Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

 

Psalm 5:3

O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;

    in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

Imagine hearing the words ". . . which you broke . . .".  Let that fade into the background and hear the refrain that God then repeats "I will . . . ".

His only command is for us, when forgiven from the sin of yesterday, is to be ready.  Ready to receive his Word;  Ready to win the war;  Read to daily stand watch and defend the hard fought ground.

guard

This week we begin worship with:

2 Timothy 1:13–14

Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith

and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard

the good deposit entrusted to you.

Only Paul used the word “deposit” (parakatathēkē) and he only used it in his letters to Timothy. Not in any other letter.  It is what Paul entrusted to Timothy.  What he said and wrote. For that he would need the Holy Spirit:

John 14:26

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

But Paul did not simply mean the “faith”; he also instructed Timothy to guard the “love”.  It is the Holy Spirit that will prompt us to love, when we let our own guard down.

James 4:17

“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

sake

This week 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.

Sometimes Christians read this and are surprised.  Shouldn't the Christian life be perfect, if we are leading it the way God wants us to?  Sorry, but no.  This is not what Jesus promised.  Jesus described two requirements for the kingdom (the bookends for the Beatitudes):

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."

It is our "weakness", our "poverty", that permits us entrance and it is for the "sake of Christ" that we bear any marks because of our confession.

What is "sake" (hyper)?  The Greek word means "above".  We must always hold up the name of Christ.  Just as we would leap to keep the American flag from falling to the ground, we must jump at the opportunity to lift high the name of Jesus.

Acts 21:13b

[Paul] “For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

ponder

 This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 77:11-12

I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. 

I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.

Some of us can't remember where we left our keys or the name of a person.  And we have all said stepping into a room "What was I coming for?".  Frustrated we pause a moment (or even for longer than a moment) and then remember.  

In the first nine verses, the Psalmist is upset (Psalm 77:1-9).  Whatever the circumstances, he is filled with such anxiety that "my soul refuses to be comforted" (v2).

But then, in verse 10 something odd happens.  So odd, translators struggle to convey it.

Psalm 77:10 (NIV)

Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:

    the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand. 

Psalm 77:10 (ASV)

And I said, This is my infirmity;

But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. 

In the Hebrew, the grief of his circumstance begins the verse, but there is a pause, a turning, a recollection.  It is so abrupt that many translations leave off the word "infirmity"(ḥālâ).

The Psalmist then makes a conscious decision, instead of staying in that place, he declares that he will actively pause and remember, and not just for a moment (to be forgotten again!).  Once recalled the mighty works of God will be pondered over (hāḡâ) and meditated upon (śîaḥ), for it is that internal repetitive conversation that is the ladder out of the pit of anxiety.

reach

This week we begin worship with:

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

The Beatitudes are often read quickly and forgotten (Matthew 5:1-10).  The first and the last are different from the others and the difference is often missed.  The middle six are a blessing received in the future.  The first and the last are a blessing received today!

The first reads:

Matthew 5:3

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

When we approach Him with nothing in our hands, he instantly gives us citizenship in the kingdom of heaven.  This is not after a test.  This is not after we atone.  This is not after we become perfect.  This is when we become poor.

Back to today's verse.

When explaining God's patience, Peter explains that God is being patient with us.  We are the slow bit.  We don't want to be poor.  We want to continue our own way.  He is patiently waiting for us to reach the place, where we turn around.

When we do, He is right behind us, with arms open wide.  For, there is no distance between the Gates of Hell, and the Kingdom of Heaven.

goodness

 This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 25:6-7

Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been

from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;

according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness,

O LORD!

At the family reunion, at the Christmas dinner, at the most embarrassing moment possible, the phrase is heard "Remember when . . .".  What comes next is a detailed account of a time that you wished forgotten.

We all have mistakes, errors in judgement, even willful acts that we can't explain away.  We are all stained. 

The Psalmist pleads with God, "Remember not . . . ".  

He, like us, don't-have-a-leg-to-stand-on.  We have nothing to support our case.  The Psalmist leans on one thing, the "goodness" (ṭûḇ) of God.

A good God is just.

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

God is just to forgive us, because the penalty has already been paid by our Lord Jesus Christ.  It would be unjust to require that penalty to be paid again. 

paths

This morning we start worship with:

Psalm 25:9-10

He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the

paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his

covenant and his testimonies.

When this was written, there were no four lane roads connecting cities.  There were paths.  

Those that hike know the difference between a bit of logging road that runs nearly flat and is wide enough to walk two abreast, and the narrow steep rocky trails up to a vista at the top of the mountain.  When in unfamiliar territory a guide is necessary to choose the best path.  

Those who are humble (ʿānāv) and willing to be redirected, He will guide into His paths.

Those that garden know that bushes need to be trimmed or they become overgrown, so too what grows along the path.  Every hiking trail must be maintained or it quickly becomes impassible.  

Our God maintains two paths "steadfast love" (ḥeseḏ) [many translations "mercy"] and "faithfulness" (ĕmeṯ) [many translations "truth"].  There is a duality in these verses because these nouns are not verbs, and are not strictly associated with either God or to us, but to the path.

No, God is not maintaining a pasture where we are simply to enjoy His steadfast love and faithfulness.  We are on a path, where our humble obedience keeps us away from the dangers that lie just off the path.  He is loving as we are merciful.  He is faithful as we walk in truth.

Stayed

 This week we begin worship with:

Isaiah 26:3-4

You keep him in perfect peace

    whose mind is stayed on you,

    because he trusts in you.

Trust in the Lord forever,

    for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

“Stayed” is not a word we normally use. More commonly we say, “He steadied himself”.  But “Stayed” (sāmaḵ) is quite a bit stronger.  When you steady yourself, you are still trusting in . . . yourself. When you lean on something to the point of trust, you are “stayed”.

Isaiah warns of trusting in a man.  Leaning too hard on them may cause that reed to splinter and inflict incredible pain.

Isaiah 36:6
Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

But not so our LORD, the everlasting Rock. 

Matthew 7:24

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

 

heart

This morning we being worship with:

Psalm 45:1

My heart overflows with a pleasing theme; I address my verses to the king; my

tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.

This is the first verse of a Psalm that celebrates King David and the God that had appointed him.  

A long time ago, I sat in a circle of college friends at church that had formed around our now aged senior pastor.  One friend carried his mandolin and asked our pastor how he did "it" every Sunday, how he gave clear sermons that pointed us to the LORD, each and every Sunday.  His answer was similar to today's verse, and that friend, a gifted musician, then sang for us a song he wrote that week "A minstrel in the King's court".

From your heart (lēḇ), do the same with whatever gift you have been given.

1 Peter 4:10

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:

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.