Psalm 25:16-22 – “The Unfinished Business of Faith”

Here is my literal translation of these verses:

¹⁵My eyes [are] always toward YHVH, because [only] He will bring out my feet from the net.

¹⁶Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I [am] alone and afflicted.

¹⁷The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Bring me out from my distresses.

¹⁸See my affliction and my misery and lift off all my sins.

¹⁹See my enemies for they are many and [with] violent hatred they hate me.

²⁰Guard my soul and deliver me. Do not let me be ashamed because I take refuge in You.

²¹May integrity and uprightness guard me because I wait for/hope in You.

²²Ransom, O God, Israel out of all his distresses.

I think the Lord has taught me something through these verses. It’s one of those things that I could say, “I already knew that.” But then again, did I?

In this world, faith is an inherently unfinished business.

I have truly enjoyed every line of this Psalm, this string of pearls, this series of heavenly cordials. As is often the case with the Psalms, this one so perfectly expresses the deepest thoughts of my heart. In my own life, like David, I feel nearly overwhelmed by the sense that my feet are “in a net,” that “the troubles of my heart are enlarged,” that I know too well what it means to feel “alone and afflicted,” that I need the Lord to “lift off all my sins,” that “my enemies are many, and they hate me violently.” My soul knows all of this far too well.

On the other hand, I enjoy every statement of faith David expresses. I do want to “lift up my soul to the Lord.” I do want Him to “look on me and be gracious to me.” I do believe that He is “good and upright” and that “all His ways are love and faithfulness,” that “only He will bring out my feet from the net.” Only He can “lift off all my sins.” I believe all of these things, and, as I ponder them, I find His comfort, His refuge.

But as I read these last eight verses and studied them, I found myself deeply frustrated. The verses themselves acutely increase my awareness of my afflictions and I find I feel them even more deeply. On the other hand, the verses remind me of the victory of faith, of how good God really is, of how much it is true that He alone is the God of my deliverance. They drag me down to hell, as it were, and lift me up to Heaven. But … and here is where I found myself frustrated: having dwelt a few moments in the secret place of God, I emerge to find all the problems still there. The sea is not calmed. The leprosy is not gone. My dead are still dead.

Having faced the troubles of my heart, having sincerely expressed my faith, having begged the Lord to deliver me, nothing has changed. I go out today to live in the same world, to suffer the same pain.

My soul didn’t like that. So I would study the next verse, hoping for some kind of deliverance. But nothing changed. So I would study the next verse, hoping for some kind of deliverance. But nothing changed. Finally I studied verse 22 and the Psalm is over. But nothing changed. The sea is still raging. I still fear we’ll all drown. My evil doubting heart wants to say, “Lord, don’t You care that we’re all going to drown?”

Then it occurred to me that, in this world, faith is an inherently unfinished business.

Some won great battles and received their dead back to life. But others wandered about in goatskins and sheepskins, destitute, afflicted. They all trusted the same Lord. They all felt the same pain. They all cried out to Him in their distresses. Sometimes He granted their requests and sometimes He didn’t. Pain goes on … and faith goes on.

I think way down deep in my heart I want faith to be a finished business. I have longed for years to hear Him say to my storm, “Peace, be still,” and there be suddenly a great calm. I know He can do it. He’s done it before. But so far He hasn’t. Instead, He calls me to come out and walk with Him on the raging waves of the storm. The winds howl, the waves crash, the boat heaves and rocks, and there He stands with His gentle loving eyes, beckoning me to step out and join Him. Me and Him. Walking on the storm. My heart is telling me right now, that is the greatest victory of all, the greatest deliverance of all, to walk with Him on the storm. The storm will end. There will be a great calm. But until then, His love will be my refuge.

Whether the storm rages or not, whether today or tomorrow He grants me relief, may my heart never leave His side. May I never look away from the warmth of His gaze.

In this world, faith is inherently an unfinished business.

Faith must go on.

The Priority of Love

As I read through and study the Bible I keep running across verses that emphasize the importance of love. In my current study of Psalm 25, David prays, “Lord, show me Your ways…” What is His “way?” I am more and more convinced that it is first of all a way of love.  In younger days I would have agreed with this statement but then I would have been quick to add, “…but it is a holy love!” and felt it important to remind everyone how important it is to “keep the rules.” The truth is that, like a true Pharisee, “keeping the rules” was more important than love. I’m ashamed now that I ever allowed myself to be part of their camp. The Pharisees were Jesus’ most bitter enemies. And why did they hate Him? Because He didn’t “keep the rules.” And what did He do? He loved. But that didn’t even register on the radar screen of their legalism. I want to be like Him, not them. Consider what He Himself says in His Word:

Matthew 22:37-40: Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

John 13:34,35: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Romans 13:8-10: “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

Galatians 5:6: “…The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

Ephesians 5:1,2: “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, …”

Colossians 3:18: “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Psalm 25:12-14 – The Honor of Confidences

Here is my literal translation of these verses:

¹²Who is this, the man fearing YHVH? He will teach/shoot him [in] the way he should choose.

¹³His soul shall lodge in good, and his seed shall possess [the] land.

¹⁴The confidential conversation of YHVH [is given] to one fearing Him, and to cause them to know [His] covenant.

In my last two posts, I commented on verses 12&13. Since the subject continues to be “one fearing the Lord” I’m keeping the verses together.

This time, so far, there’s nothing about the verse that “jumps out” at me. But there are a couple of thoughts I want to record.

First of all, many versions translate the first phrase of verse 14 as “the secret of the Lord.” As I will relate, that is not a bad choice, but I feel that, up front, it is kind of obscure. When I read “secret of the Lord,” I definitely struggle to put my finger on exactly what that might mean. The word translated “secret” is the Hebrew word “sod” (rhymes with “toad”). Sod properly refers to a couch, then to a circle of friends sitting together talking or discussing, then it means intimate conversation. It can refer, for instance, to the counsel of a king as he gathers his generals and discusses a plan of battle, or the private discussions and advice given by a counselor, or the intimate knowledge shared by a friend. The basic idea of the word is the idea of confidentiality. It pictures discussions or knowledge given only to those within a circle of confidence. No one else knows. One must have some kind of unique relationship with the provider in order to be brought into that circle of confidence. Understanding all of that, as I said above, I suppose translating it “secret” is okay. But I chose “confidential conversation” because I feel that more adequately rounds out the intent of the word.

That also seems to me to be the import of the passage – to add this “confidence” as another benefit to be enjoyed by those who “fear the Lord.” In this case, we are told that those “fearing the Lord” are the recipients of personal knowledge not given to others. It makes perfect sense. Anytime we enter into a personal relationship, it means we will be privy to knowledge unavailable to others. It is one of the honors of genuine friendship or relationship, to be brought into another person’s “confidence,” to have them share their “secrets.” I suppose it is safe to say we know when we have gone beyond mere “acquaintance” when another person starts telling us things they don’t tell anyone else. So it is with God. The rest of the world can go along their merry way, ignoring God, having no desire to know Him, then one of us stumbles along and says, “I want to know You.” We look up to Christ with our dirty emaciated faces, covered in the filth of our sinfulness, barely able to whisper a prayer, and the Captain of our salvation covers us with His blood while His Spirit carries our feeble prayers to the Throne of Grace. There the Father accepts those prayers as a sweet incense, accepts our feeble attempt to love Him, and chooses to count us as someone with whom He can share His confidences. That is, of course, an enormous honor, for which I’m quite sure I am utterly and inadequately grateful. Wow. To be brought into the confidence of the King of kings. Wow. This dirty ignorant clueless peasant invited to sit at the round table of the King of kings. I certainly have nothing valuable to offer Him – accept my love. While others offer the king their sage advice, I’ll just sit here and love Him. I guess if I was a king, I wouldn’t mind that(!). And I will try to listen carefully when He does speak, try to understand the machinations of His fathomless wisdom, try to learn from Him, try to “understand the times” and know what I should do.

Once again, I don’t feel the import of the passage has adequately impressed me. But my prayer at least would be that the Lord would help me throughout my day to genuinely appreciate the privilege and honor I enjoy that the King of kings, my Father, has, is, and will share with me confidences of knowledge hidden from others.

For the record, here are some passages that bear out this idea of the Lord’s “confidences” shared only with His children:

“ Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit …But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” ( I Cor 2:9-14).

“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For God, Who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (II Cor 4:3-6).

“And the disciples came, and said unto Him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.  The disciples came to him and asked, ‘Why do you speak to the people in parables?’ He replied, ‘Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them’” (Matthew 13:10-12).

Also, a “for whatever it’s worth,” even the infinite worth of Jesus Himself is naturally hidden from our eyes. Isaiah said, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him,
nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him” Isaiah 53:2. When the Lord directed Moses how to build the Tabernacle, He filled it with gold and silver, embroidered cloths, and covered it with various beautiful colors. Over it all, however, He placed “dolphin skins,” which term is variously translated, but no doubt it was a final water-shedding skin – with no particular color at all. What did that mean? It meant that from the outside, the Tabernacle would have been a very common looking, unattractive “tent.” Only those who cared to enter in could know or experience the fabulous beauty inside. And only the priests themselves could enter in and see the indescribable beauty of the inner court and finally the Holy of holies. Outside, just another old tent. Inside, the matchless beauties of the Lord’s furnishings.

It has always been true that “the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.” The world may hear His voice as a thunder, but His children lean on His breast and enjoy confidential conversations. To them the veil is already rent.

May I today treasure the personal relationship He offers me. May my heart never leave His breast.

II Peter 3:9 – The Tragedy of Unrequited Love

[The] Lord is not being slow of promise as some are reckoning slowness, but [He] is being patient into you, not purposing that any perish but [purposing] all to have room into repentance.”

II Peter 3:9 is one of those verses I wait excitedly to study. Since I chose to study this book, I have been looking forward to the delicious hours studying the Greek words and grammar of this very verse, of considering the word meanings one by one, noticing their tenses and cases, even investigating textual variants. But I enjoy all of that because, having done it all, I then feel particularly free to ponder the meaning of the verse, to absorb its truth into my soul, possibly to have it expose some twist in my thinking and lead me to the real truth. All so tantalizingly delicious. And suddenly here I am, with my UBS open and savoring the moments. This is another one of those verses where I feel I need to take off my shoes just to ponder it.

I should probably note, obviously, this passage is another theological battle ground. The “Calvinists” and “Arminians” instantly throw on their helmets, dig their trenches, and start lobbing semantic hand grenades at each other. Just for the record, I really couldn’t care less what either of them think. The question is “What does the Bible say?” If on a particular verse, someone says, “Hey, you’re a Calvinist!,” or “You’re an Arminian!,” I really don’t care. The only question is whether my understanding of the verse is defensible or not. I just want to know God. Just for the record.

Here are some exegetical tidbits: Interesting that all of the verbs and participles in the verse are present tense while the infinitives are aorists. The aorist is of course the default tense of the Greek language (as the present is for our English). So, for myself, any time I see tenses other than aorist, I look more closely. A person writing or speaking in Greek is being deliberate when they choose any tense other than aorist. In the translation above, I tried to reflect the use of the present by translating the verbs “not being slow,” “are reckoning,” and “being patient.” The only thing I can think of is to say Peter is being very specific to the immediate argument. In other words, of course it is true that, in general, the Lord is “not slow,” that some “reckon,” and that He “is patient.” But here the question is, “Why is He taking so long?” The answer is not general. It is very specific. He is “not being slow,” even though some “are reckoning,” and in fact, the big answer is He is “being patient” right here, right now, even as we ponder our question. I think that is the point of the present tense verbs.

Thought: Is it not a mistake to ever read the Bible and think what it says is merely “generally” true? Is it not always true that what God does He “is doing.” Is that perhaps the difference between “knowing about Him” and “knowing Him?” Yes, He “works all things together for good,” but oh the glorious moment to look up and truly realize He is working all things together for good” … right here, right now(!). Aorists are nice things. It is very instructive and comforting to know what God characteristically does, what He is like, the kind of God He is. And that is important. May we all long to know more. But it is all so important that we bring that truth down to presents -- He is ___ing.

Next exegetical tidbit concerns the use of the Greek word “boulomai,” which gets translated “is not willing,” “does not desire,” “not wanting,” “not wishing.” Let me pause to say this is a delicate place because we are truly considering God’s heart. We’re actually considering His deepest motives. “Why is He taking so long?” “What moves Him to act this way?” I fear we lose an enormous opportunity to truly know Him because this very verse is a place where people’s theological obligations precede their exegesis. Indulge me one second to say that, at such an important verse, we all should leave presuppositions and obligations behind, let the words say what they say, let them tell us what they tell us about our God, truly and prayerfully seek to know Him, then reemerge with the truth and care nothing for what “camp” someone thinks we fall in. “For this is eternal life, that we might know Him …” (John17:3). Go back to the top and read the verse in this light, then please follow along and consider what I’d like to say:

There are two closely related Greek words that express the idea of “wishing,” “purposing,” desiring,” etc. – the word used here “boulomai” and its semantic bedfellow “thelo.” I have actually been watching these two words for twenty years. I have specifically noted their occurrence in verse after verse as I’ve studied. Each time, aware of their respective semantic ranges, I have thought deeply about each of those usages. I would like to offer my conclusion (while fully aware of Edie’s quote, “Interpretations are generally false in proportion to their ingenuity): The word “thelo” always expresses a wish as simply that, a wish. “Boulomai” also involves wishing/desiring but always goes on to express the idea of intention. “Boulomai” is a purposeful word. That is why in my translation above I used the word “purposing.” Here’s the semantic overlap – that there is in fact a fine line between wishing and purposing. I’ll never purpose something to happen until I first have desired that it happen. And it is perfectly right to say, “I wish (thelo) to go to town,” when in fact I have every intention of doing so. It is equally right to say, “I have determined (boulomai) to go back to school” intending to communicate to someone my desires. So we see what appears to be almost a synonymous interchange. But here again is my rub: to wish and only wish is in fact completely different than to wish and purpose it to be. Over these twenty years, in every context I have observed, thelo expresses wish/desire (which may or may not lead to intention); but every occurrence of boulomai expresses intention. Boulomai is a volitional word.

Lexicons may or may not pick up on this distinction. But Louw & Nida, for instance observes that boulomai means “to desire … with the implication of some reasoned planning or will to accomplish the goal … to purpose, to plan, to intend …” (25.1 and 30.58).

Based on all of this, wherever it occurs, I very deliberately translate thelo as “desire” or “wish.” And I very deliberately translate boulomai as “purpose,” as I have done in this passage.

Here again, it is time to put aside presuppositions and let this passage speak. What does it say? It says God is “…not purposing that any perish…”

Again? God is “…not purposing that any perish…”

We are not talking about wishing. We are talking about purpose. About volition. About resolved determination. God is “…not purposing that any perish…”

Call me what you will, but I cannot escape the belief the Scriptures clearly teach that God “has chosen us in Him before the creation of the world.” Although I believe salvation does somehow involve a volitional element on the part of the believer, yet the Scriptures abundantly teach that God predestines, that He chooses, that He calls … that I will enjoy Heaven forever because my wonderful gracious God unexplainably purposed to save me.

Some would say, “That logically implies that He has elected others to damnation, that if He predestines some to heaven, then He has predestined others to burn in hell.” Logically maybe, but human logic fails at infinity. And here in II Peter 3:9 we trespass into the heart of the infinite God and hear the very clear statement that He is “…not purposing that any perish…” I don’t know of any clearer statement anywhere in the Bible to unarguably assert that our God does not predestine anyone to burn in hell. “But, but, but!,” someone cries, “…that is the only logical …” I totally care not. God has spoken. Let Him speak for Himself. And, I’m very sorry if anyone doesn’t like it, but it is an established fact of human math that human logic fails at infinity. To divide by zero is meaningless. An asymptote goes on for all eternity yet never reaches the axis. Human logic fails at infinity. And again, we are talking about our infinite God’s heart. Is He logical? Usually. But what if He clearly says things that we find illogical? What do we do when His Word clearly says things we simply cannot reconcile in our minds? What are we to do? Fall on your knees and worship, my friend. Here it is: In His infinite, unfathomable, divine love He can deliberately plan for the salvation of some while at the same time not plan for the damnation of others! Worship!

“Love divine, all loves excelling,

                                             Joy of Heaven, to earth come down!”

This post is already way too long. But there is more:

The verse isn’t done. He hasn’t purposed any to perish, but what has He purposed? “That all should have room for repentance.” (!!!) Again, I think translations miss the boat here and maybe it’s because they’re afraid of the theology, but the greek clearly declares that what God is purposing is that all “xorasai” into repentance. The word “ xorao” means “to make room, to provide opportunity.” Read it again. Not only does it clearly say He is not purposing any to perish, but it is going on to say that what He is purposing is that “all should have room for repentance.” All. All. All. Once again, let’s let Him speak for Himself. Has He purposed some to be saved? Yes. Unquestionably. But does that mean He has purposed some to perish. No. No. No. A thousand times No. What has He purposed? That all should have room for repentance. (!)  Somehow, someway, it is inescapably true that not one single person will burn in hell because God predestined them to be there. There was room. There.was.room. For.all.

Which brings us back to the whole point of the whole verse. Why is He taking so long? What does it say? “He is being patient with you … not purposing that any should perish, but that all should have room for repentance.” He’s being patient!!! He not only hasn’t purposed that any should perish, He instead is wishing all could be saved! The door stands open. There is room. Truly, “there is room at the Cross for you!” Even as some scoff and mock at His promise, though they would deride Him His apparent delay, even as they scoff, His door stands open. Even they have room for repentance!

Love divine, all loves excelling.

And can it be?

Amazing the length and the breadth and the height and the depth of the love of Christ.

What an absolutely tragic loss for so many that they will never fall willingly into the embrace of such an infinite, unfathomable divine love.

May my own heart fill with such a love. May my words, my hands, my eyes offer such a love to the people I work with, the people I deal with day by day, the people this loving God places around my path.

“Love divine, all loves excelling,

                                             Joy of Heaven, to earth come down!”

II Peter 3:10 – Not Surprised

“…but [the] Day of [the] Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens shall vanish with a crash and [the] elements will dissolve burning intensely and [the] earth and the works in it shall be burned up.”

As I noted in the last post, there is one grand certainty which reigns above all others: “The Day of the Lord will come.”

The passage before us goes on to say its coming will be “as a thief.” (The Majority Text reads “as a thief in the night” as Paul states in I Thes 5:2 and as Jesus described in Matt 24:42-45, however, I don’t think those words “in the night” are original in this text. The overwhelming preponderance of evidence omits them).

In Matthew 24, Jesus emphasized how sudden and unexpected would be His Second Coming: “No one knows the day or the hour …” (v.36), “As it was in the days of Noah …” (v.37), “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come (v.42), “…the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him” (v44); hence this description that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief.

It has always intrigued me that He says we do not know “the day or the hour” but He never said we don’t know “the year.” (!). Now I am not suggesting we all start calculating and date setting. What I mean is that, while His Coming will be sudden, it need not be unexpected for believers. This is supported by Paul’s assertion in I Thes 5:4: “But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.”  Believers need not be “surprised” by its coming. When we purchased our home in Kewanna, there was a large ash tree in the front yard. It was a beautiful tree but I could see that at some recent time it had taken a severe lightning strike. I knew it was coming down … some time. I just didn’t know when. Again, it was a beautiful tree, so we enjoyed its presence and its shade, but I also always kept an eye on it and watched as I could see the tell-tale signs of its demise. One day we were hit with a particularly fearsome windstorm. Suspecting this was the day, I stepped out on the porch and could see the tree finally opening up at its split every time a particularly fierce gust came. I called the family out on the porch telling them, “This is it. It’s coming down today.” As they stepped out on the porch to see, one more heavy gust blew and, sure enough, down it went … right before our eyes.

It surprised them. I didn’t realize I had never pointed out to them that I knew it was coming down. They didn’t expect it. It came like a thief, suddenly. But while I didn’t know “the day or the hour,” I knew it was coming and watched for it. And, as a result, we were all standing on the porch at just the right time and actually watched it happen. We weren’t surprised.

I think this exactly illustrates the Day of the Lord’s coming “as a thief” and why believers don’t need to be surprised.

Jesus also said, “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door” (Matt 24:32,33). Jesus specifically taught that, although His Coming would be “like a thief,” believers should not be surprised.

Note this too, that the “these things” are all the horrific events previously described in Matt 24, such as the “wars and rumors of wars,” and “famines and earthquakes,” and the “abomination of desolation,” and “great distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now.” Basically, what I understand Him to be saying is, “As you begin to see world events taking the shape of those predicted for the End Time, realize His Coming can’t be far off.

At this point, you might be thinking, “Duh. Every believer knows all of this.” True. But, when it comes to God, I refuse to be content to simply “know” things. I refuse to be happy until those truths “rock my world”. He is amazing, All that He does is amazing. If He touches me and I’m not amazed, it means I missed the point.

For myself, I would have to back up and ask, “What do I see?” Quite frankly, I see world events stacking up exactly as Jesus and the prophets described the End Times. All through history events have been sweeping toward, even sometimes closely mimicking End Times. But today I see such events actually accelerating in frequency and intensity. I haven’t seen any objective data, but it seems to me that the frequency and intensity of natural disasters has increased exponentially in my lifetime. The earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis seem to come almost weekly. There in fact is a European Union (revived Roman empire) and certainly world politics seem to be moving rapidly toward one-world government. Government by mass deception also seems to be more and more the rule of the day. (How else could a far-left wing socialist get elected President of the United States and after two years half the country still doesn’t know it?).

And just before I plunge into dark depression, here is exactly where I think this passage can encourage us. “The Day of the Lord will come like a thief …” but, “You, brethren, are not in darkness, that it should take you like a thief …” The very world events which frankly “wax worse and worse” are in fact the very fig tree lessons that tell us that “it is near, right at the door.”

So rather than sinking into (another) fit of discouragement, I need to remind myself that I already knew the world would wax worse and worse. I already knew government by deception would become the rule. I already knew natural calamities would accelerate. It all tells me the Day of Lord is in fact very near—which ought to encourage me and strengthen me to keep on trying to learn to love the people around me – be busy with my Master’s work!

I don’t think it is at all wrong to be disheartened by the national and world events I see around me. At one point even the Lord Himself said, “Woe to them that are at ease in Zion” and “Blessed are they that mourn.” But at some point I have to shake off the ashes, stand up, be brave, and carry on. My good God is quite in charge. And He will have His day!

II Peter 3:11 – So What?

“Thus all these things being dissolved, what sort [of persons] ought you be in holy livings and godlinesses?”

Having dispensed with my exegetical spelunking, I must move on to applications. Ruminating on this passage, I find its overwhelming effect to recall Francis Schaeffer’s book, “How Should We Then Live?”  “…what sort [of persons] ought you be?”

I read Dr. Schaeffer’s book very early in my walk with Christ and to this day feel that it and JI Packer’s “Knowing God” are the two books which most shaped who I am. “How Should We Then Live?” Is this not the proper question of all Bible study? “How Should We Then Live?” “Thus all these things …, what sort [of persons] ought you be?” All these things being true, what effects should their apprehension have upon your life?

Again, is this not the proper question of all Bible study? My emphasis here may sound trite or cliché, but is it? In over 30 years, I have heard a lot of sermons, read a lot of books, listened to a lot of people supposedly doing “Bible” teaching. And in all that time there have been two glaring omissions: 1) too often it was obvious to me that the speaker really hasn’t spent the time studying to begin with. He or she simply does not know their Bible; and 2) even when they actually seemed to have done their exegesis, there was little or no application. I have walked away from so many sermons asking, “So what?” “Yes, those were nice verses. Yes, you are a good speaker (sometimes). Yes, you seem passionate. Yes, you presented a lot of profound observations. But, so what?” I have at times verbalized those very words at the risk of sounding blasphemous. But is it blasphemous? Is it wrong to ask at the end of any sermon or lesson, “So what?” In fact, if any sermon or lesson leaves people even tempted to ask, “So what?” is that not an indication that the speaker failed? Should not the speaker themselves have been asking, “So what?” before they ever dared to enter a pulpit and propose to speak for God? If the speaker him or herself cannot clearly answer the question, “So what?,” are they even qualified to teach it?

Again, at the risk of being cliché or trite, and at the risk of being accused of being blasphemous, is this not always where proper Bible study should lead? “…So what?”

I once listened to a very small boy (maybe 6 years old) give a little 2 minute sermon. In it, he read a verse, gave some small explanation, then applied it … well. As he stepped down from his chair (he had to stand on one to be seen over the top of the podium), there was what I honestly would call a holy hush over the room. People knew they’d just been fed spiritually. They had honestly heard Scripture and been moved to consider “what manner of persons ought you to be?” They’d heard a message from God … from a six-year old boy! What made it so moving I believe was that it really did hit home … and that from a six-year old boy!

Is this not exactly the question Peter is proposing? “Thus all these things …, what sort [of persons] ought you be?”  What will you do with this Truth?

Several verses immediately come to my mind:

“Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them”(John 13:17).

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matt 7:24).

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (II Tim 3:16,17).

“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8).

“I will walk within my house with a perfect heart” (Psalm 101:2).

The Holy Spirit didn’t write the Bible so it would gather dust but He also didn’t write it to be studied for the sake of knowledge (or whatever). He gave it to equip us. He gave it that we might know “what sort of people we ought to be”(!).

I don’t believe every time I pick up the Bible (or even every time I spend hours studying it) that I will necessarily see how it applies to my life. In fact, if a reader follows my blogs long enough, sooner or later you’ll find me “doing a Habakkuk.” Habakkuk said, “I will stand at my post and see what the Lord will answer me.” Sometimes I study and study, believe I really do understand the technical details of a passage, but still just don’t know what to do with it. So I just go into a Habakkuk: a praying mode for a few days and asking the Lord to show me. Usually He does and He blows my mind. But sometimes He doesn’t and I just have to lay the passage down and move on. Guess the point is, though, that I believe that is where we must always be headed. Yes I want to study. Yes I want to know my Bible. Yes I love Greek and Hebrew and all the ins and outs of grammar and parts of speech. But it all needs to be headed toward this very question: “So what?” or more Biblically: “What sort of persons ought you to be?”

We so need for the Lord to repackage our brains. Our own sin natures and the world and Satan have filled our minds with lies and deceptions. But as Jesus said, “When you know the Truth, the truth shall make you free.” The Bible is “… mighty through God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (II Cor 10:4,5).

And so I study on. Lord, teach me Your truth. Help me see the world clearly. Help me see myself clearly. Help me to make the connection between the Scriptures I’ve studied and the kinds of changes those truths should make in my life. In the very passage before me, I know for a fact “All these things will be dissolved.” My present material world will not last. What sort of person should I then be? “How Should I Then Live?” What sort of “holy livings” and “godlinesses” should be true in my life?

That is the question.

II Peter 3:9-15a – Nuclear Sundown

⁹[The] Lord is not being slow of promise as some are reckoning slowness, but [He] is being patient into you, not purposing that any perish but [purposing] all to have room into repentance;

¹⁰but [the] Day of [the] Lord will come as a thief, in which the heavens shall vanish with a roar and [the] elements will be dissolved burning intensely and [the] earth and the works in it shall be burned up.

¹¹Thus all these things being dissolved, what sort [of persons] ought you be in holy livings and godlinesses;

¹²looking for and eagerly desiring the coming of the Day of the God, through which [the] heavens will be dissolved burning and [the] elements are melting burning intensely?

¹³But, according to the promise of Him, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

¹⁴Wherefore, beloved, looking for these things, be diligent to be found by Him to be spotless ones and blameless ones in peace,

 ¹⁵and reckon the patience of the Lord of us [to be] salvation …

What does this passage say about how the present universe will end? I’ve read several different understandings of these verses. Some propose it doesn’t really mean the present earth will actually be destroyed but only that it will be significantly altered. Others question whether the destruction will actually extend to the “heavens” or whether it simply means that things will change from the perspective of the earth.

First of all, I would like to note that a simple reading of the text does not present anything less than an absolute and total conflagration of the entire known universe.  Note:

The heavens: “…will vanish with a roar” (v10), “…will be dissolved burning” (v12)

The elements: “…will be dissolved burning intensely” (v10), “…are melting burning intensely” (v12)

The earth: “…and the works in it will be burned up” (v10)

All these things: “being dissolved” (v11)

According to His promise, we are looking for a “new heavens and a new earth” (v13)

The “heavens” are the “sky” as we see it which is the material universe including all of the stars, all of the galaxies, and whatever else exists “out there.” Some might object that the rest of creation should not be destroyed for the sins of the earth. However, Romans 8:20-22 says, “For the [whole] creation was subjected to frustration … will be liberated from its bondage to decay … has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time …” I think it is clear that the curse of Adam’s sin fell upon the entire material universe, not just on the planet earth. It is true that man’s sphere of existence has been limited to the earth, with a few forays to the relatively nearby moon, but we are all aware that is temporary, that given enough time man would certainly find ways to conquer distance and be enabled to “go where no man’s gone before.” Only our current technology prevents us from traveling literally to the ends of the material universe. And everywhere we go, we will take the curse with us. Cain can kill Abel on some planet in the Andromeda galaxy just as easily as here.

This extent of the curse to the entire material universe is not only evident from Scripture, it is also evident scientifically. The 2^nd Law of Thermodynamics, the “Law of Entropy,” that “everything tends to disorder,” applies to the entire universe. The entire universe is obviously decaying. Where it finds water and oxygen, iron will rust anywhere in the universe. That is what Paul was referring to in Romans when he says “the whole creation will be liberated from its bondage to decay…”  The “bondage to decay” is the Law of Entropy and it clearly applies to the entire known universe – physical proof that the curse was not limited to the earth.

There is probably no question in anyone’s mind that the earth has suffered under the curse – not only from our sins and sinfulness but also just the “natural” process of decay (which is not really “natural” but rather a result of the curse). What one must realize is that even the furthest corners of the universe have been decaying down through the millennia since Adam’s fall.

I suspect that we would be (will be) shocked by the brilliant colors of the original Creation. Part of the “decay” and “aging” process is that colors fade and gray and yellow. We’ve all seen side by side comparisons of old movies “remastered” where they remove the yellowing and restore their original brightness and color. I always find that astounding. It’s hard to believe I could watch the yellowed movie and never even realize it could be so much more brilliant. So it is with our world, I believe. A flower garden is a stunningly beautiful thing but what must it have been in the Garden of Eden?? I suspect the world was made to look like a Thomas Kincaid painting with his brilliant colors. We all see the same effect on ourselves. To be young is to be colorful. To age is to gray.

My point is that this effect has impacted the entire universe, including the earth, … and us. Although sin has abounded, grace will “much more abound.” Our good God not only plans to redeem us – He will also restore the entire creation to its original unspoiled dazzling beauty. And how will He “fix” this universe? That is answered in the passage before us.

I would like to suggest that what is pictured here is actually a total nuclear holocaust of the entire universe. We saw at Hiroshima what happens when a single atom “dissolves.” What if every atom in the entire universe were to be let go at once? Personally I think that is what “elements” refers to – atoms. Even if Peter didn’t understand nuclear physics, he understood that the universe is somehow made of basic “elements” and the Lord used that perhaps foggy understanding to allow Peter to very accurately express this total nuclear holocaust. Read the passage again. Total sudden instantaneous nuclear holocaust. Probably for a brief second the temperature of the entire universe will reach billions of degrees. And then there will be … nothing.

One more reason why I think this; Col 1:15-17 teaches that:

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, … all things have been created through Him and for Him.  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

In science we learn that no one really knows what “holds the universe together.” No one knows why atoms stay together. They have a name for the “force” but the only proof it exists is the fact that it happens. Actually no one knows what “gravity” really is. We observe it, acknowledge it, model it mathematically and (hopefully) respect it. But what is it? What is this force that holds us in place? No one knows. It is simply true that the universe “holds together.” As a scientist, I just accept that. As a Christ-follower, I know what that force is. It is the Lord. “In Him all things hold together.”

What I believe will happen is, on the Day of the Lord, He will simply “let go” and every atom of every planet, every spec of dust, every drop of water will suddenly come apart. All of the energy of all of the universe will suddenly be released in a single micro-second. Go back and read the passage again. I believe this fits the description perfectly. The eternal God “spoke” (expressed energy) and that energy concentrated into matter and, according to His design, became an entire universe. He alone continues to restrain that energy into the form of matter. But the instant He “lets go,” it all goes back to energy – a single, sudden, universal nuclear explosion.

Then that same God Who created it the first time will speak and create it again in all its original form and beauty. The earth we walk in eternity will have not one evidence of the millennia of decay. Its dirt will hold not one drop of anyone’s blood. There will be no graves. There will be no mercury in the bottom of its lakes and oceans. It will be His original perfect beautiful unspoiled world.

And the heavens will glow again in all of their original beauty and color.

The Lord does nothing “half way.” When He has “His Day” we’ll get a totally recreated, spectacular, dazzling and stunningly beautiful world.

That is what I think this passage is teaching.

Psalm 25:4-6 – Pondering Deliverance

I have been offering my literal translation of these verses:

“Cause me to know Your ways, YHVH. Train me [in] Your paths. Cause me to travel in Your truth.  Train me because You [are] the God of my deliverance. On you I wait/hope all the day. Remember Your mercies YHVH and Your loving-kindnesses because they [are] from ages.”

Looking closely at these verses, it’s interesting that David adds the “because You [are] the God of my deliverance.”

He’s saying, “Show me, lead me, teach me … because You are the God of my deliverance.”

I want to think about the “because.” The word translated “deliverance” is an interesting word. It is commonly translated “salvation” which is completely legitimate. I choose instead to use the word “deliverance” since, in Christian circles, we assign “salvation” to the actual event of being born again. But, as important as that is, I think the point in this verse goes on to include all of the daily deliverance that goes on throughout our human existence. I experienced salvation over 30 years ago. I desperately need deliverance today!

I think it is cool that the word itself is derived from the Hebrew word Yashah which is where Yeshua/Jesus comes from! The word picture is “to make wide.” It is the opposite of being pinched and smashed, crushed, bound up. To experience “Yasha” is to be brought out into a wide place where you’re free to jump and move. I love that picture because that’s how life is. All of our troubles and problems, other peoples’ cruelties, our own bad habits, whatever, hold us down and hold us back. It all crushes the very life out of us. But what we’re asking God to do is to Yasha us, to bring us out into a wide place where we’re free. And that is Who He is – the God of our Yasha(!).

David asks God for all the leading and teaching “because You are the God of my deliverance.” Certainly, ultimately only God can deliver us. And sometimes it is simply miraculous. But notice how, with the “because,” David connects the leading and teaching with God’s deliverance. In fact, to know God’s ways, to be trained in His paths, to travel in His truth is to be delivered, is it not? Would it not be reasonable to say that the number one way God wants to deliver us is that we walk in His way? If we walk in His way, we certainly avoid a lot of trouble. “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He will make even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Prov 16:7). Certainly many times, the only way out of trouble is to follow God’s way.

Sometimes it is totally okay to just beg God for deliverance. You know what I mean – I don’t care if it takes a miracle … just SAVE me!!! But it is equally valid even in our troubles to be asking God to teach us His way and realize that the learning may actually be the path to deliverance.

The good news is that He is the God of our deliverance; not just our hero, not just a powerful friend. God. Our deliverance is provided by One Who is far above this world, far above the people, the rulers, the powers, the sickness and everything else that so often oppresses us.

No wonder David adds, “On You I wait/hope all the day.” As I pointed out in an earlier post, the word translated “to wait” also means “to hope” so I just put both in the sentence. As I try to learn God’s ways, as I fail miserably, as I flounder around, my heart is waiting on God to somehow, someway bring me out of this. My heart’s hope is ultimately in Him.  

If He delivers me, I’ll be delivered. Whether it is through me walking in His way or if it just flat takes a miracle, still, it will come from Him. I’m such a blockhead, I won’t even learn His way unless He teaches me and even if He teaches me, I’ll chicken out and fail somewhere along the line. Even if I know His way, I need Him to help me actually do it. And then I desperately need His blessing on my doing. I NEED Him. On Him I’m waiting/hoping all the day.

Along another line, I don’t know how much of deliverance we can be assured we’ll see in this world. I wish I could believe that, sooner or later, in this world, He’ll deliver me from all the things that crush me. But Hebrews 11 makes it clear that while some

“³³…through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the alien…”

Yet others

“…wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented … these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, …”

I think part of His being the “God of my deliverance” is that I leave the timetable up to Him. I wish He would just deliver me from it all today. But He might not. In fact, I may die still afflicted by some of the things I’ve been begging Him to change for years. But then, to die in Christ is to live forever – finally totally delivered. God will make good on His promise to save me to the uttermost, whether in this world or the next. But bottom-line He’s God and I’m just a man. The schedule is His.

I just pray for His sufficient grace that, whether He delivers me or not, that I might love well.

“On You I wait/hope all the day.”

Psalm 116: 5-6 – “Hearts that Look and Eyes that See”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁵Gracious [is] the Lord and just and our God [is] compassionate. ⁶The Lord is one guarding simple ones. I was low but He delivered me.

There is something here that I have noticed before but I think I had all but forgotten. Often in the Psalms, right in the middle of a prayer, the writer stops and inserts thoughts like verse 5, “Gracious [is] the Lord and just and our God [is] compassionate.” In essence, he is pausing to rehearse in his mind just who God is. And this is no sterile exercise in systematic theology or listing of the attributes of God for some doctrinal dissertation. As Spurgeon said, “Prayer itself derives from the nature of God.” Prayer is because God is. If He wasn’t who He is, prayer would not be. The strength of our prayers is not us but Him. What the Psalmist does here is something we all need to do often, and that is precisely to rehearse the nature of our God, to remind ourselves who He is. Part of it is simply praise, but here I am looking at the practical side even of praise.

What do I mean? I mean that it is of paramount importance that we see God, that our soul is realizing just who He is. And one of the very important ways we do this is by deliberately rehearsing His attributes in our mind. He is in fact gracious and just and compassionate. The very words are the soul of our prayers. As Sir Richard Baker said, “If He were not gracious I could not hope He would hear me; if He were not just I could not depend on His promise; if He were not merciful, I could not expect His pardon; but now that He is gracious and just and merciful too, how can I doubt of His will to help me?”

Peter could walk on the water as long as he saw Jesus’ face. When he looked instead at the wind and the waves (and lost sight of Jesus), it was then he began to sink. So it is with my heart. I just recently went through a desperate time. I was praying fervently through it but I told Him in the middle, “I can’t see Your face. Why can’t I see Your face?” I knew a lot of my anxiety and feeling overwhelmed by “the wind and the waves” would be soothed if only I could see Him, but I didn’t do a very good job. Fortunately for me, He is gracious and just and compassionate and delivered me in spite of my little faith (like lifting Peter from the sea). But I realize now, this verse is exactly what I needed to do. I needed to pause even in my pleadings and focus my mind on who He is. I needed to deliberately rehearse truths just like this verse. I already “know” that He is gracious and just and compassionate, but my soul easily loses its sense of the enormity of these things. I think this is what it means to be “looking unto Jesus,” perhaps even what it means to “abide in Him.” But it is something I must deliberately do – pause to focus my mind not on my troubles and not even on my duties but simply on who He is. Truly He is altogether lovely but the eyes of my heart are dim with sin and forgetfulness. Oh that I could keep my mind filled with His beauty.

Well, let us attempt it here by pausing to consider what these words mean. “The Lord is gracious.”  William Gauge said, “The first attribute, ‘gracious,’ hath especial respect to that goodness which is in God Himself. The root whence it comes signifies to do a thing gratis, freely, of one’s own mind and goodwill.” I almost feel we cannot ponder on this attribute too much – His grace. The word speaks of a superior granting kindness to an inferior, entirely of his own free will. There simply is no place in “grace” for whether something is deserved. The very word “deserve” is irrelevant to “grace” since, again, it is an act or quality which arises entirely in the giver – in our case, the Giver. We can count on God’s graciousness because it arises from Him and, in a sense, has nothing to do with what we do or don’t do. We are desperately needy creatures and fortunately He is a God of grace. He makes His sun to shine on the evil and the good – and that’s a good thing, since I’m one of the evil!

The second attribute I’ve translated “just” but it can also be translated “righteous.” The root word has to do with being “straight” or “according to a standard” as in weights and measures, or as in a good judge who rules “justly.” What is important here is that we can count on God. Shall the judge of all the earth do right? Yes, He will do right. He is the very standard of right in Himself. He is the Way and the Truth. This attribute of God is the very foundation of His “very great and precious promises.” As imperfect, stumbling sinners, even as we try to be gracious and merciful, we can fail to be just. We seem to usually practice either to a fault. But not so our God. He is gracious, just, and merciful, all together at the same time, in perfect balance. We can count on Him to always do us right.

The third attribute I’ve translated “compassionate” but probably its most traditional translation is “merciful.” I suppose I’m using “compassionate” out of fear that I’ve said the word “merciful” for so long I’ve lost its sense. The word itself speaks of deep feelings of love rooted in some natural bond, of inward emotions of compassion and pity, like a mother’s love for her nursing baby. These feelings are perhaps most easily prompted by things like small babies or other helpless people. I think I’ve mentioned before that, interestingly, in Hebrew, the same three consonants r-k-m, when given e’s for vowels, (hence “rekem”) means “womb.” One has to pause and get in a Hebrew kind of picture-painting frame of mind, think of a mother’s womb, of the helpless little baby inside, of the mother’s deep love for that baby, and if we ponder it long enough, then we begin to have a sense of the depth and color of this word “merciful.” Then pause to consider what the Psalmist is saying: the Lord is merciful. That’s how He is to us – tenderly compassionate.

So here I am, perhaps wrestling with my fears and struggles, pleading with Him to save me, while there He is, gracious and just and compassionate. Hmmmm. The two of us should get together!

Yes, we should.

And, again, herein is the reason and the value of pausing in our pleadings to simply ponder the attributes of God. “Prayer itself derives from the nature of God.” Our hope arises in Him. We need to see Him. We need to look past the wind and the waves and see Him in His beauty. But this is the very effort we must exert on our part – to pause and ponder. We can only see if we take the time to look.

God give us hearts that look that You might give us eyes that see.