oil

 This morning we begin worship with:

1 Samuel 16:1

The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have

rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will

send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among

his sons.”

Why oil?  Nine times in the Old Testament oil was used to anoint someone for service.

But in the New Testament we find something different:

James 5:14
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

Why then was oil used during healing?  When elders pray over someone who is sick, God may heal them supernaturally and immediately, heal them through the skills of the doctors and the design of the human body, or God may have decreed that this illness would be fatal.

In all cases, we are commanded to anoint them in faith for service.  Heaven will be another opportunity to serve our God.

wait

We start worship this morning with:

Psalm 130:5-8

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

    and in his word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord

    more than watchmen for the morning,

    more than watchmen for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord!

    For with the Lord there is steadfast love,

    and with him is plentiful redemption.

And he will redeem Israel

    from all his iniquities.

Those on watch know the middle of the night is the most dangerous.  As the light of day breaks, the danger abates.  They would greet the cock crowing with delight.

The Psalmist was waiting for "redemption" (pᵊḏûṯ).  Job too was waiting:

Job 14:14-17

If a man dies, shall he live again?

    All the days of my service I would wait,

    till my renewal should come.

You would call, and I would answer you;

    you would long for the work of your hands.

For then you would number my steps;

    you would not keep watch over my sin;

my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,

    and you would cover over my iniquity.

But we don't have to wait!  

Isaiah 51:11

“And the ransomed of the LORD shall return

and come to Zion with singing;

everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

they shall obtain gladness and joy,

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

On this blessed Advent Sunday, let your dark sorrow flee away as with the dawn, for our Redeemer has come!

salvation

 This week we begin worship with:

Psalm 149:1, 4

Praise the Lord!

Sing to the Lord a new song,

    his praise in the assembly of the godly!

For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;

    he adorns the humble with salvation.

When we hear the command to "praise", we often don't look far enough for the reason why.  We receive praise at work or at home when we do something good.  In verse 4, the Psalmist declares the two reasons God should be praised.

Psalm 149:4a

For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;

The first reason, is what rescued Job from his depression:

Job 14:14-15

If a man dies, shall he live again?

    All the days of my service I would wait,

    till my renewal should come.

You would call, and I would answer you;

    you would long for the work of your hands. 

Job realized that God loves us.  That He longs (kāsap̄) for us.  That not even death would keep us apart.  That God would solve the problem even if Job could not.

Psalm 149:4b

    he adorns the humble with salvation.

The Psalmist calls us to praise because God wraps with salvation (yᵊšûʿâ).

STOP.  Go back and pronounce that Hebrew word!  Yes, you now know why we should be praising God:

Matthew 1:21

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

God solved that problem in Jesus, whose Advent is soon upon us.

joyful

 This week, the week we celebrate the Annunciation, we begin worship with:

Psalm 98:4

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; 

break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

Recently, I laughed to myself uncharacteristically, and when questioned, I explained that some joy had slipped out.  Today of all days, we should let our joy slip out!

Jesus, the King and Head of the Church, 

the Prophet and Revealer of God,

our Creator and Sustainer, 

our Redeemer and Sanctifier,

our High Priest and Intercessor,

our Judge and Redeemer,

our Shepherd and Healer,

our Teacher and Advocate,

our Saviour, is coming!!!

 

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.