His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

Psalm 107: 1-7, 33-37 (November 2, 2008)
1) The Text

1O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. 2Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those he redeemed from trouble 3and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. 4Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to an inhabited town; 5hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. 6Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress; 7he led them by a straight way, until they reached an inhabited town.
33He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground, 34a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the wickedness of its inhabitants. 35He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water. 36And there he lets the hungry live, and they establish a town to live in; 37they sow fields, and plant vineyards, and get a fruitful yield.

2) The Context

This Psalm has no title, either in the Hebrew, or any of the Versions; the word "Hallelujah," which is prefixed to some of the latter, is no title, but was most probably borrowed from the conclusion of the preceding Psalm.

The author is unknown; but it was probably like Psalms 105 and 106, made and sung at the dedication of the second temple. The three Psalms seem to be on the same subject. In them the author has comprised the marvelous acts of the Lord towards his people; the transgressions of this people against God; the captivities and miseries they endured in consequence; and finally God's merciful kindness to them in their restoration from captivity, and re-establishment in their own land.

3) Interpretation

Steadfast love endures:

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures for ever!

This is the recurrent theme of the 107th psalm. It introduces the fifth book of the Psalms, the book that corresponds to the book of Deuteronomy in the Pentateuch and has the same message as that book. Deuteronomy declares the "Second Law" and that is what the name means. Deutero means "second;" nomos is "law": the second law. The First Law is the law of sin and death, the law that condemns, the law that destroys, the law that makes us feel guilty and brings us under a sense of fear and condemnation. But the Second Law, says the Apostle Paul, is the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus which sets us free from the law of sin and death. It is the way God finally redeems his people. He buys them back (redeems them) by the operation of the Second Law, of which this psalm speaks.

The Psalmist speaks of the steadfast love of God. In Hebrew, the word means "an eager and ardent desire" and refers to the fact that God's love never gives up. Today, instead of "steadfast love" read "unqualified acceptance." That is what God's love does. It accepts us without reserve.. Acceptance means you are valuable just as you are. It allows you to be the real you. That is what this psalm is all about, because that is what God does. He accepts us as we are and then sets about to make us what we ourselves are longing to be. That ability is what the Psalmist calls "steadfast love of God."

The psalm is very simple in its structure. It is divided into two major parts. The first is a testimony of how God delivered people from circumstances and difficulties which are very much like the ones we are going through today. He describes four different kinds of trouble from which God can deliver. The first description is found in Verses 4-5.

Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.

Who are these? They are what we might call the restless ones. They are the ones who wander about from place to place or from job to job from marriage to marriage, filled with questions and seeking to find where the answer lies. There are a lot of them today. They cannot find the answers. They are looking for something but they cannot find it. They keep wandering from place to place and from experience to experience, trying to find something to satisfy.

Then we are told how they find satisfaction in Verses 6-7.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress; he led them by a straight way, till they reached a city to dwell in.

Some of us are finding this true in our lives. Gradually, step by step, as we walk the straight way, God is leading us to a place of excitement and security, of adequacy, of power.

The latter part of the psalm describes the way God does this, his methods. First, to accomplish his purposes, God uses adversity. He deliberately at times sends into our pathway trouble and disaster, because it is the only way he can get our attention. You know that you never had time to listen to the voice of God until you got sick, or in difficulty, or in trouble. But when trouble loomed then you had time to listen to what God had to say. But God knows that the most important thing for you to learn is to hear his word, because that word reveals what life is all about. So he sends trouble, deliberately. C. S. Lewis put it well. "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our consciences, but shouts at us in our pain. Pain is his megaphone to reach a deaf world."

Then God can use prosperity. When you take God at his word, you walk in the fullness of his strength and supply, and you begin to fellowship with him and enjoy his presence, he rewards you. He sends you the very thing you are looking for. He meets your needs, satisfies your heart, and fills you with good things. Your prayers do not go unanswered for God moves to meet your need. And protects you. He not only supplies, abundantly, but he also protects.

4) Thought Exercise

Does God deliberately put adversity in our lives so we pay attention?
Is it possible to see God’s mercy in adversity?

How do you seek happiness?

Psalm 1 (October 26, 2008)

1) The Text

1Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; 2but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. 3They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. 4The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

2) The Context

Psalms is a collection of collections. The psalms were written over many centuries, stretching from the days of Solomon's temple (about 950 BC) to after the Exile (about 350 BC.) Psalms are of five types: hymns of praise, laments, thanksgiving psalms, royal psalms, and wisdom psalms. Within the book, there are five "books"; there is a doxology ("Blessed be ... Amen and Amen") at the end of each book.

In Psalm 1, a wisdom psalm, the character and condition, and the present and future destiny, of the pious and the wicked are described and contrasted, teaching that true piety is the source of ultimate happiness, and sin of misery. This psalm is an introduction to the book of Psalms; it contrasts the fate of the godly and the ungodly. Vv. 1-3 speaks of the happiness of the godly. They do not live as the ungodly do; rather they constantly (“day and night”, v. 2) and joyfully study and observe Mosaic law; their well-being is like trees which bear fruit. They are prosperous. But, on the other hand, the ungodly are “like chaff” (v. 4) in manual threshing: the crushed sheaves were tossed into the air, where the wind blew the chaff away. So, say vv. 5-6, their fate will be disaster: they will be excluded from the fellowship enjoyed by those who follow God’s ways, and will suffer – unlike the godly, over whom God keeps watch.

3) Interpretation

Several principles for life can be garnered from this portion of God’s word. First, as Christians we need to be meditating on the truth of God as often as we can. The more we meditate on God’s truth the more we delight in it. The less we do so, the less we enjoy it. We are not just referring here to knowing a lot about the Bible. Such a goal is rather easy to accomplish. We are, instead, talking about thinking hard about the truth of God and how it applies to my life. The goal of meditation is to know God better and to apply his word to our lives. This reaches well beyond just knowing facts about the Bible. It calls us to trust the God of the Bible.

Second, growth in character and righteousness takes time. The psalmist says that the tree will bear fruit in its season, perhaps not right away. We have to be patient and continue to maintain an honest and pure heart as well as commit ourselves to doing what is right. Paul said it this way: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” The harvest Paul is referring to is a harvest of righteousness.

Third, there is a cost at the present time for those who engage in wickedness and there will be a cost to pay in the future as well. At the present time men and women do experience the wrath of God as Paul discussed in Romans 1:18-32. In the future men and women who have not trusted Christ as savior will be permanently separated from God. The good news in the book of Romans and indeed the entire New Testament is that God’s wrath has been completely satiated by the sacrifice of Christ and anyone who trusts in Christ can be forgiven for his/her sin and moved out from under the judgment of God into the sphere of his blessing.

Fourth, for those who love the Lord and want to live a life pleasing to him, they need to know that God is the one who will keep them to the end and present them in his presence blameless and free from accusation (Jude 24-25). Jesus said, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28). We know that “the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

Finally, many people go through life seeking happiness, only to find it elude their grasp. Others always seem to be happy, even in the face of tragedy. Why is this so? Psalm 1 proposed happiness was the result of a lifestyle. The happy person made God and his will (found in the Torah) the primary goal of life; “feeling good” was a secondary effect of faith. By implicit contrast, the unhappy person was the cynic and evil-doer, the one who cared little for God’s will, the one who thought he could make himself happy. By extending this logic a little further, the happy person placed God above self and lived for God; the unhappy person lived only for the self. The way to happiness, then, was to live according to God’s commands in every conscious moment (1:2b). Notice this dedication to God was more than a commitment; it was a lifestyle and a value to pass on to the next generation. The result of that lifestyle created consistency and growth. (1:3) By contrast, the self-centered shot from fad to fad in the search of fulfillment; their lifestyle was like “chaff that blew away with the wind” (1:4). In the end, God would favor the faithful, not those who placed self above all. The faithful would gather together with him (the “assembly of the just”) while the self-absorbed would find judgment and ruin.

4) Thought Exercise

How can you use meditation to know God better and apply that knowledge to your life?
How is your faith and love for God the cause of your happiness?

God’s Surprises

Isaiah 45: 1-7 (October 19, 2008)

1) The Text

Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him and strip kings of their robes, to open doors before him— and the gates shall not be closed: 2I will go before you and level the mountains, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, 3I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. 4For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name; I surname you, though you do not know me.

5I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no god. I arm you, though you do not know me, 6so that they may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is no one besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. 7I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe; I the Lord do all these things.

2) The Context

Cyrus the Great was a Persian Shāhanshāh (Emperor). He was the founder of the Persian Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty. The empire expanded under his rule, eventually conquering most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia, from Egypt and the Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, to create the largest state the world had yet seen. During his twenty nine to thirty year reign, Cyrus ruled with an iron hand and fought and conquered some of the greatest states of his time, including the Median Empire, the Lydian Empire, and the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Cyrus did not venture into Egypt, as he himself died in battle, fighting the Scythians along the Syr Darya in August 530 BC or 529BC. He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who managed to conquer Egypt during his short rule.

3) Interpretation

There are three lessons to consider from this text. First, God works all things for the good of his people. This is hard to believe during times of financial crisis, natural disasters, illness and disease and family struggles, but it is true. Israel was in exile in Babylon, one of the most despicable, cruel, and intolerable superpowers of all time. Read the Psalms in the early forties and feel the sorrow of a people in exile as they long for the Promised Land and the Temple, as they are forced to sing their holy songs for the entertainment of their captors. Yet blessed are they who mourn, for they will receive comfort. God turned Israel’s mourning to joy. Through the work of a pagan king, Cyrus, He reestablished their Kingdom and accomplished His will. He returned them to the land of promise, where His promise would be kept in the womb of an Israelite virgin, in a manger in Bethlehem, and on a tree outside Jerusalem. Sometimes we cannot see the light of God’s wisdom shining behind his inscrutable plans, but just because we can’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

Second, God keeps His promises. When God promises something, it is as good as done, even though it may seem undoable, even though we may not know his timetable. God alone calls his Cyrus’s and alone knows how he will use them. Believing in the promise takes faith and trust.
Third, many times God enters the lives of people in the most unlikely ways. Some of the faithful expect God to "empower" them, make them the instrument of his justice and salvation. Many times, a few assume the role. But, God doesn't work that way. He likes to surprise his people.
In these brief verses, Isaiah spoke to the Jewish exiles in Babylon. How could God save them, when they lived so far from home? The prophet's answer: a power greater than Babylon itself, the great Cyrus and his Persian army. More important than this message was a simple reminder. The God of the Jews was greater than even Cyrus and his gods. He would call the great Persian to do his bidding, to guide him in his role. Abraham's God would receive glory through a pagan!
Where do we look to see God in our lives? Many times we look in the wrong places. We search for him where we think he should be, doing things we expect him to do. But, we should heed the words of Isaiah. God works for our good in the most unlikely ways and from the most unexpected directions. To truly see God working does require faith, for sometimes it tests our preconceived expectations.

4) Thought Exercise

How has God surprised you?
How has He changed your expectations?
How can we become more mindful so we don’t miss seeing these surprises?

Changing God's Mind

Changing God’s Mind
Exodus 32: 1-14 (October 12, 2008)

1) The Text

32When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.” 6They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.

7The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; 8they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!< 9The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. 10Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.” 11But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. 13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’“ 14And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

2) The Context

Exodus 32:1-6 sets the scene for the following story in which the people seek Aaron and he agrees to build a golden calf. Exodus 32:7-10 is the words of the Lord to Moses and Exodus 32:11-14 is the response of Moses to God. Moses absence is the reason given for the people's request to Aaron and not the continued grumbling which occurred earlier. This is set up as a new action. The people command Aaron with two imperatives - "up" and "make" us gods. The implication here is that the golden calf is a god. Aaron responds to the people's demand with two imperatives of his own - "snatch off" and "bring" any gold worn by your family members. After Aaron has made the golden calf he presents it to the people and they say, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt". This is quite blasphemous as they know who their saviour was. The grammar is quite peculiar in their response - 'they' (the people) are addressing Israel, really themselves. When Aaron makes the announcement that there will be a feast to 'Yahweh' before this golden calf, one has to ask about the use of the term - Yahweh. Does it mean that Aaron thinks it is alright to worship Yahweh through the means of a golden calf? After Moses refuses to leave God alone, he appeals to God's reasonableness, God's reputation and God's promises.

3) Interpretation

This passage explores three themes: (1) the contrast between the mountain and the valley; (2) the debate between Moses and God; and (3) God's change of heart.

(1) Of Mountains and Valleys: Moses is on the mountain with God; the people are in the valley with Aaron. The language of vv. 7-10 captures this contrast nicely, with most emphasis on the life "in the valley." Notice the urgency and pointedness of the divine word. God gives Moses a command, "Go down at once!" It is the most urgent language in Hebrew, as if nothing could take precedence over this command. Then, God frames his command in language that distances the divine from the chosen people. God recounts word for word the nature of their sin. And, so God reaches a conclusion about the people. They are a people who really are not worthy of the love God has showered up on them. And so God has decided to destroy them. Verse 10 is interesting because it tells us that God wants Moses to go down to the people for two reasons--to see for himself exactly what has happened but also to leave God alone. God wants to be alone when the terrible judgment is executed. This seemingly is a repeat of Genesis 6, but now with the chosen people acting like the generation of Noah. The solemnity of the occasion requires the divine solitude. Yet, even in the resolve to destroy is a sense that mercy can triumph. In this case God makes a promise to Moses that God will not destroy him with the people. Moses will be the foundational person for God's next "great work." In giving these last words God has left the divine open for negotiation and intercession. It is not as if God is giving Moses an invitation to talk back, but there are ideas now floating "out there" that are more than just anger, stubbornness and destruction. God will "save" Moses. Moses will take this as an opening to respond to God.

(2) The Debate between Moses and God: Foundational to the Jewish religion is that people argue with God. Judaism emphasizes the essential role of debate and argument with God. This, then, is the tone of vv. 11-14. God has told Moses what God plans to do. It is a devastating judgment. But Moses protests. Moses doesn't want to be separated from the people. He feels so connected to the people, so much a part of them, that he doesn't want to be removed from them. The argument Moses gives to convince God to change the divine mind is that by destroying the people, God will be destroying the divine credibility. Any future divine promises, choices, gifts and blessings will now be shrouded in a cloud.

(3) Changing God's Mind: The passage ends with what to us is a paradox. God, the one who is unchangeable changes the divine mind. We have a God who decisively will act, but we also have a God who will change the divine mind as a result of human argument. We have a God who will be "slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love" (34:7), a God who is "merciful and gracious," but who "by no means clears the guilty" (34:7). One of the most freeing realizations we can have is to realize that God is one who can be argued with. We often hear that we can express our anger to God or our feelings, but the point this passage makes is slightly different. It is that we ought, like Moses, to "make our case" to God. And, God may not simply listen to all our words but may actually change the divine mind.

4) Thought Exercise

Is it OK to argue with God?

How would you like to change God’s mind?

The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments
Exodus 20: 1-20 (October 5, 2008)

1) The Text

20Then God spoke all these words: 2I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3you shall have no other gods before me. 4You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. 8Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

12Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 13You shall not murder. 14You shall not commit adultery. 15You shall not steal. 16You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

18When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, 19and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.” 20Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.”

2) The Context

The moral outlooks of most religions are basically quite similar. Just as the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments, is the basis of Jewish and Christian ethical values, similar lists of ethical principles may be found in one form or another in the scriptures of most religions. The Qur'an contains several passages summarizing proper ethical behavior which have been called Islamic Decalogues. In Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism we find lists of ten charges or ten precepts for monks and lay people, and there are further condensations into five universal dharmas called samanya dharma. Another comparable list is found in the Buddhist Eightfold Path.

The first table of the Decalogue contains positive injunctions for right worship to establish a proper vertical relationship with God, and the second table contains negative injunctions prohibiting criminal behavior in order to foster horizontal relationships of community. These two ethical dimensions, the vertical towards the Absolute and the horizontal towards one's neighbor, are characteristic of such lists in every religion. We may regard the injunctions to renunciation and meditation in the Buddhist Eightfold Path and in other Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain lists of dharmas as non-theistic expressions of the vertical dimension. In the horizontal dimension of law, prohibitions against social crimes such as murder, adultery, and stealing are universal.

3) Interpretation

The world is divided into the poor and the rich -- those who long for freedom, and those who have freedom but don’t know what to do with it; those who long for God to come and bring justice, and those who fear that he just might. The Book of Exodus is a testament to both these conditions. It speaks to those for whom freedom is a dream, and to those who sense that freedom is becoming a curse.

The Ten Commandments are a gift to those who have been set free, showing them how they can keep their freedom. They are not an assault course, a barrier to be overcome in order to gain freedom. Freedom is a gift from God, not something that can be earned by years of striving. The commandments are not a prison in which God places his people, a straitjacket to prevent them from getting above themselves. God has done what Israel could not do for itself -- he has given it freedom in the crossing of the Red Sea. He now gives his people a second gift -- the means of keeping that freedom. In the process he shows them who he is and what freedom is.

The sequence of events is as follows. God speaks and states a fact: his people are in slavery. This is not the freedom for which he has created them, the freedom to which he has called them. He asks a question: Do you want to be free? He then acts, and delivers his people. The map searchings and heart searchings in the wilderness are all exploring what it means to be free and what it means to worship God. The conclusion is that to be free means to be a people who worship God. The goal of freedom is holiness, belonging to God. At Sinai God reveals the destiny of his people: "You shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation." In other words, just as a priest mediates God to the people, Israel will have the role of mediating God to the world.

Thus, to be holy, to belong to God and to mediate his being to the world, is to be free. It is not the esoteric longing of a few; it is what everyone wants. There is only one way to be free, and that is to be a people who belong to God. In the language of the Reformation, justification -- the liberation by God of his people so they may be free in his sight -- belongs with sanctification -- the way God makes his people holy. Liberation and law are the way God claims his people as his own. At this point God commands. How shall we be holy? How shall we belong to God? How can we keep our freedom? This is how. Worship God, resisting the alternatives, and be a people at peace with one another.

4) Thought Exercise

What does it mean to worship God?

How can we support each other to better worship God?