Treasuring God's Truth in Your Heart

Suffering in Hope

Psalm 63:5-6: My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,

and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,

6  when I remember you upon my bed,

and meditate on you in the watches of the night. [1]

When we are anxious, two desires we may have are food and sleep. Both of these are desires David may have had, and both could be denied him because he was fleeing his conniving son. [2] Food can be hard to find when fleeing in the desert. Sleep can be illusive when life is in danger. Yet, David does not feast on worry but on God’s soul-satisfying favor that sustained him each moment. [3] When David knew he might struggle to sleep, he committed himself to thinking on Who the Triune LORD is rather than his circumstance. [4]

Please understand: David’s behavior is not escapism, and ours should not be either. David understood that “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” [5] The God Who created David sustained and suffered with David. This is especially true for the elect because of Christ’s earthly sufferings and crucifixion. [6] We as believers suffer with hope because Jesus has endured the greatest trials and has given us the Holy Spirit to comfort and sustain us. [7] If you suffer apart from Christ, there is every reason to fear because your hopes lack eternal benefit. [8] Turning to Christ as your only Savior from sin will not end suffering.[9] However Jesus gives you the hope of maturing and guarantees eternity without suffering. [10] Why suffer without hope?

This blog was written by Seth Dunn

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016). Logos Bible Software &. All Scripture references will be ESV unless noted otherwise.

[2] John Calvin & J. Anderson. Commentary on the Book of Psalms, Vol. 2. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software 7, 2010), 438-440.

[3] Calvin, Psalms, Vol. 2, Logos Bible Software 7, 438-440.

[4] Calvin, Psalms, Vol. 2, Logos Bible Software 7, 438-440.

[5] Psalm 34:18.

[6] Isaiah 53; Matthew 8:17; Romans 4:13-25; 1 Peter 2:18-25.

[7] John 14-17; Romans 8; Hebrews 4:14-16.

[8] Psalm 16:4, 118:8-9, 146:3; Jeremiah 17:5-6; Jonah 2:8; Micah 7:5; John 14:6; Acts 4:12, etc.

[9] Genesis 39-40; 2 Timothy 3:12-17.

[10] Romans 5:1-5, 15:1-7; Colossians 1:3-14; James 1:2-4; etc.

Treasuring God's Truth In Your Heart

Psalm 63:3-4: “The Whole Church Says, “Amen!”

Psalm 63:3-4: Because your steadfast love is better than life,

my lips will praise you.

4  So I will bless you as long as I live;

in your name I will lift up my hands. [1]

What an incredible statement of faith from an exiled king! [2] These verses reflect the church’s heart, especially for martyrs. [3] Holding God’s love in Christ as more precious than anything is core to Christianity. [4] Also, verse 4 shows David’s private devotional life “was completed by what was outward and corporate, as verse 2 has shown, the one reinforcing the other.” [5] “Lift up my hands” refers common actions in congregation worship. [6] This language is in the New Testament, and shows the mutual relationship between personal and “corporate” worship. [7]

What is the application from these verses? First, God’s love is superior to everything. We know this because of the Trinity’s love toward us in Christ. [8] Consequently, every other love is secondary. If we love finances, personal security, other beliefs, other people, etc. more than the Triune God, we sin. Here is where all can fall. May we repent and turn to Christ. For the unbeliever: you must turn because eternal life is at stake. [9] For sinners and saints: suffering is worsened when we distrust Christ—may He spare us from false hopes. [10] Lastly, if we claim to follow Christ, our private devotion must be reflected in our corporate worship. If we lack in one, we might also lack in the other. Complete your worship by having both.

This blog was written by Seth Dunn

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016). All Scripture references will be ESV unless noted otherwise.

[2] Derek Kidner. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Psalms 1-72, An Introduction and Commentary on Books I and II of the Psalms. General Ed: D.J. Wiseman. (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1973), 224.

[3] Kidner, Psalms, Vol. 1, 225.

[4] Job 13:15; Proverbs 14:32; Matthew 19:38-30; Mark 10:29-31; Philippians 3; Hebrews 10, Revelation 6:9-11, 20:4, etc.

[5] Kidner, Psalms, Vol. 1, 225-226.

[6] Kidner, Psalms, Vol 1, 226.

[7] Kidner, Psalms, Vol. 1, 226.

[8] John 3:16; Ephesians 1:3-14; 1 John 4:7-11.

[9] John 14:6; Acts 4:12.

[10] Psalm 16.

Treasuring God's Truth in Your Heart

Help for All Times

Psalm 63:1-2: O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you;

         my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

  2      So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

beholding your power and glory. [1]

Imagine that a close relative tried to kill you and chase you from home? What would you be thinking? Where would your heart turn? What would drive your behavior and choices? Although most of us have never faced such a painful and intimate threat, this is what happened to the writer of Psalm 63, King David. [2] In fact, David had to leave everything and escape to the wilderness because his own son wanted to kill him and usurp the throne. [3] But look at the heart of David. What does David want as betrayal drives him from his home to the Judean desert? He longs for God and wants to worship the LORD in Jerusalem. [4] David so desperately desires to worship his Maker that he compares his longing for worship to someone in the desert looking for water. [5] Further, David uses this psalm to remember God’s past (verse 2), present (verses 3, 6-8), and future (verse 5) faithfulness. [6] In immense suffering, David remembers his God, he believes and trusts in the Lord.

What do you look at when you suffer? This Psalm, as well as other Scriptures, is a challenging reminder that only God sustains us through suffering. [7] When you trust in finances, people, human philosophy, politics, etc., you may find comfort (see below) for the moment, but you will not receive the enduring hope because true security is found in Christ. [8] Only by trusting Jesus as exclusive Savior and Restorer can people truly face and grow in trials, and enter eternal rest. [9] Those in Christ have a hope clearer than David did because they know Christ, and all who hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness as David did are promised “they will be satisfied.” [10]

This blog was written by Seth Dunn

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016). All Scripture references will be ESV unless noted otherwise.

[2] James Montgomery Boice. Psalms, Vol. 2: Psalms 42-106. (Grand Rapids, MI: Bake Books a division of Baker Book House Co, 1996), 516. See also 2 Samuel 16:14, 17:2, 29.

[3] Boice, Psalms, Vol. 2, 516.

[4] Boice, Psalms, Vol. 2, 517.

[5] Boice, Psalms, Vol. 2, 517.

[6] Boice, Psalms, Vol. 2, 518.

[7] Boice, Psalms, Vol. 2, 518. See also Psalm 16:4, 130; 1 Peter 1:3-9, etc.

[8] John 14:6, Acts 4:12; Romans 8, Ephesians 1:3-23, 2:1-14; 1 Peter 1:13-25.

[9] James 1:2-4; Philippians 1:6; 1 John 3:1-10; Revelation 21:1-8.

[10] Matthew 5:6; Hebrews 11.

AgapeStorm

The Calm, Crazy, Whirlwind of Love

Read 1 John 4:7-21 and John 3:16 3 times, slowly.

As soon as we say the word, love, we find ourselves, metaphorically, on a rickety rope bridge swinging and creaking wildly in a tempestuous wind, dangerously high above treacherous rocks of meaning. We all think we know where we are, and despite the danger, we feel that simple calm and confidence; love is so familiar. We all know what love is, surely. It is stamped into our DNA so securely that, when we were young, we would ask, “How do you know love when you see it?” The answer is always the same, “Oh, yoU’LL know…”

And we do, kinda. Love is a feeling and a commitment, a force and a goal. When we’re “in it,” love makes our knees weak, or strong, depending on the situation. We become heroic, or bashful; silly or serious or forgiving. Love somehow breaks us and re-makes us, wherever it takes us. It generates more poems and songs and purpose and confusion than even our pets or our cars. We know with confidence from some mystical feeling that the Beatles were right, love really is all we need, or, for a song reference with far too many artists to mention; love does make the world go round.

The irony of the lyrics to these sappy songs is that, for a Christian, these largely superficial sentiments ring true in Jesus Christ. Since God is Love, love truly is all we need, and since Jesus is God, love actually does make the world, indeed, the entire universe, go ‘round. The rest of the irony, however, is that apart from God, love is confusing and difficult to define and understand. Of course, confusion is not God’s purpose, because love is central to who he is and at the core of his plan.

So, it is no surprise that for something so critical, God has a lot to say. Love is at the very core of the eternal, triune relationship (More on that in a future blog), such that, when God decides, together, to create and sustain an entire history of the cosmos, love explodes from within the Godhead and washes over every aspect of that story. In many ways, love is the why of everything God does for us. (Footnote: His own glory could also be used as the why of everything he does.) How do we know this?

There are three ways that God reveals love to us.

First, God demonstrates love in all he does. When you open the Bible, you see what God does. Every action is that of a loving father with his treasured children. The list of ways that he does this is endless, because every action he takes is an act of love. He walked with Adam and Eve, then disciplined them, banishing them from the garden. He called and protected Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their families, and their descendents; the judges, Saul, David, Solomon, and Ezekiel, Isaiah, Hosea - everyone of his children. He listens to prayers, delivers from distress; heals, guides, teaches. He also punishes, disciplines, reconciles and restores. Every single action of God is ultimately a model of what love looks like in action. There is no better way to see what love looks like than to see everything that God does.

Second, God defines love over and over in his word. The passages abound. He tells us the characteristics of love and how to recognize it clearly. He tells us what love is, and what it isn’t. In his word, we learn why love has power and how to wield it for the good of others. Stay tuned, we are going to wade into many passages that will threaten to drown us.

Third, God incarnates love in Jesus Christ. Although I mention this last, it is by far the first in priority. It is no stretch to say that Jesus is the perfect expression of love, because Christ’s incarnation is how God chose to show us his love; a love that for us in the loftiest, most profound, and most intimate possible expression. And wonder of wonders; the eternal, triune love that Jesus has for us is best experienced through personal relationship as we are united to God through faith in Jesus. This is why John 3:16 is so precious to the church, God so loved the world that he gave his son. Wow! Suddenly, Love makes sense, but when held in contrast, this true love of God demolishes every other lesser concept of love.

Our passage from first John is a warehouse of content regarding love, but for now, we need to cook up two concepts from the passage and season it with a few other familiar ideas. Verse 11: Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another, and verse 19, We love because he first loved us. These two verses simmer in the pot and we are led to two inescapable conclusions. First, God wants us to love others the way that HE loves others (and us, by the way.) Second, God is the source of that love. The seasonings for this verse-stew are the two Great Commandments and loving our enemies. We must love God first (heart, soul, mind, strength). We must love our neighbors as ourselves. We must love our enemies.

This is a high calling. Love everyone the way God does.

Let’s cut to the chase. What is Love? What is God’s Love? What characterizes the love that God demonstrates, defines, and incarnates? What is the nature of the love we need to hold for everyone?

Here goes: God’s love is fervent, sacrificial, purposeful, gracious, expressive, bold, and covenantal. That is AgapeStorm. That is the challenge. We will begin to tuck in to this feast in the next blog.

This blog was written by Charles Fox

Proc Talk: Theology and Current Events at Proclamation

Not Your Fine China

In early December over 100 members of the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, in Sichuan province, China, were arrested and detained by the Chinese government. Among the detainees was the Pastor Wang Yi and his wife, Jiang Rong. Their son is currently staying with the Pastor’s mother. The arrest included church leaders, seminary students, and worshippers at the church, many who were in a worship service, but also many were arrested in their homes or on the city streets. As is typical of religious persecution in closed nations, there has been no way to make contact with the people arrested and there have been reports of torture and coercion.

Although the church in China is often understood as the fastest growing in the world, this is often matched with wave upon wave of official persecution from the Chinese government. It is remarkable that the church in China wears their persecution proudly like a badge of honor, and the members have stood strong and faithful. The government allows the church to meet in an “official” capacity where the teaching and worship is carefully controlled by the government. In contrast, there is a thriving unofficial church that loves the Bible, teaches the gospel, and worships the risen Jesus. The unofficial church has a stance of “faithful disobedience” to the government, which brings a heightened level of animosity upon the church. This latest round of persecution and incarceration of the church is part of a concerted action against all religions which include a massive round up of Muslims who are being held in retraining camps.

As always, God has worked in both ordinary and miraculous ways in and through this persecution. The stories of God’s faithfulness and the perseverence of his people are painful, touching and awe inspiring. We need to pray. We need to be aware. We need to worship God for his wisdom and love.

For an article that contains far more details and a copy of Wang Yi’s letter to his church, navigate to the following link: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/persecuted-chinese-pastor-issues-declaration-faithful-disobedience/

This blog was written by Charles Fox