Psalm 31:1 – “Back”

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

¹In You, YHVH, I have taken refuge. Do not let me be ashamed to ages. In Your righteousness, deliver me.

It’s time for me to ponder in the Psalms for a while. I greatly enjoy all of my Bible studies. Even as I sit here typing, I think of my studies, for instance, through the book of Ruth or through I & II Peter and good memories come like a flood. Every time I crack God’s Word He teaches me amazing things and blesses me. But I have to say, there is nothing like the Psalms.

Here, it seems to me, we meet the Lord in all the greatness of His glory. Here I see His face as if I were Mary sitting there at Jesus’ feet, just enraptured in Him. In a sense, the Psalms leave behind even thoughts of my own duties and obligations, even my own service to Him. The Psalms are so all about Him. But like Mary, it is in seeing His face that I am changed. To see Him is to be changed. To see His greatness raises my meager faith. It opens my blind eyes. Seeing Him makes me want to serve Him better … and it just seems to me there is no other book of the Bible where we see Him so clearly as we do in the Psalms.

Early in my Christian life, I embarked on the habit of reading the Bible for at least 5 minutes every night before I went to sleep. That has been a blessed habit, as it allows me to read completely through the Bible, from cover to cover, about every two and a half years. Even in 5 minute increments, there are definitely some books that are hard to work through – like Leviticus – but I found the first few times through, it was particularly difficult to get through the Psalms. It just seemed so repetitive. “Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, praise the Lord.” I just didn’t “get it.” Then I read a book, “The Letters of Henry Venn.”

Henry Venn was an old reformed pastor from I think the 1700’s in England and, as they did back then, people had saved up the letters he wrote them through the years. After his death, someone gathered up a lot of them and put them together in a book. As I read those letters, as I read the words of this good godly man communicating his thoughts, desires, wishes, and concerns to his family, friends, and church members, what I saw was a man who seemed to literally breathe the Psalms. Here was a man who had so filled his heart and mind with the Psalms that they seemed to just flow out of his mouth no matter what he was saying. And of course those Psalms he verbalized were expressions of the greatness of God woven all throughout the kaleidoscope of human life.

Suddenly I saw the Psalms in a whole different light. Suddenly, they were about God woven into the fabric of my very existence. Suddenly His greatness permeated everything! And so began this lifelong love affair with the Psalms – or should I say the God of the Psalms?

The last year or two of my life I’ve made quantum leaps ahead putting worry behind me and learning to actually just be confident in the Lord all day every day. Particularly He showed me Himself in the book of Ruth and in Psalms 111,112,&113, and then in Paul’s statement in I Thes 4:11, “Make it your ambition to be quiet …” Being quiet. “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” It has been a great blessing not to have to live on the constant emotional roller coaster of fear and doubt.

When I was young I had one particularly good boss who observed what a psycho I was and told me, “Don, life is like a boat and you can live it one of two ways – you can either run to one side and just before the boat tips over, run back to the other side, and run back and forth, and you’ll stay afloat – or you can just sit on the keel.” At the time I understood exactly what he was saying – that I was driving myself crazy, but I had no idea how to change. I suppose it is sad to admit it took 40 years to finally learn but at least I am here. The Lord has finally taught me to sit on the keel – to just let Him captain the ship.

But, all of that said, I have found lately that I seem to have slidden back into my old habits. I particularly have two projects at work that are “worrying” me. I’m afraid we won’t meet the deadlines, afraid we’ll be over budget. One of them is a client who fired our company from the last project because things didn’t get done. The other is a brand new client with a nearly impossible deadline. Another project I’m involved in, there was no budget to start with and we’ve had to work on it, all the while knowing we’re losing money. All of these factors add up to losing my grip on “quiet.”

And I say all of this just to highlight what an unspeakable blessing it is to open my Bible to Psalm 31 and read, “In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. In Your righteousness, deliver me.” 

“Never be put to shame.” That is precisely what I fear – the shame of these projects “failing.” And yet here is this verse reminding me in the Lord I’ve taken refuge. In Him I’ve put my trust. I want to be confident in Him.

Ah, the Great Physician. El Rapha – God our Healer. He knows just the medicine this weary soul needs. And when I turn to the Psalms, as so often is true, He supplies exactly that medicine.

And so, I’m thrilled to be back again, studying in the Psalms. My heart needs an infusion of quietness and confidence. I know those things come only from seeing His face – and in the Psalms, His glory overwhelms me.

Lead on, O King eternal!

I Thessalonians 5:28 – “Grace”

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

²⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you.

With this little benediction, Paul closes his letter to the Thessalonians. It’s so familiar and simple, many commentators choose to not even acknowledge it.

However, the truth is these words in a sense summarizes the entire Bible. In a sense these few simple words form the single most important truth in all the created universe. You or I could not express a more profound blessing on our family and friends than to pray the grace of Jesus to be with them.

All that said, I would like to record what these words mean to me. As I’ve ventured before -- just in case my grandchildren or great grandchildren would ever stumble across these feeble scratchings, I’d like them to know what these simple words meant to me and that I prayed this very blessing on them.

First of all, I want to note that the verse contains exactly nine words. It translates directly word-for-word into English, except that there is no “be” in Greek, as indicated in my translation above by the […] brackets. In English we have to add the “be” for the sentence to make sense to us, but my brackets indicate that I’ve added something that is not there in the original. And why is nine important? Because it’s 3x3. As I’ve noted before, three in the Bible is God’s number, and, as I have studied down through the years, I have often observed the Lord do exactly this – to say something really important in 3x3 words. If I’m right, He’s in a sense earmarking this thought as extremely important by deliberately expressing it in nine words.

But back to our verse itself, what does it mean – “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you.”

Grace is unmerited favor, totally undeserved kindness. Someone has said, “Mercy is when God does not give us what we do deserve; grace is when He does give us what we don’t deserve.” What I do deserve is hell. Instead the Lord gives me Heaven! My heart tells me He’s angry at me, that I’m a lost cause, that I’ve failed too many times. I feel like He should hate me. But then I open the Word and my eyes fall on passage after passage of unbelievable kindness. Instead of an irritated, offended judge, I find the arms of a loving Father.

And just when it’s hard for me to believe He can stand me at all, He tells me, “Listen to Me, …you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old, old age and gray hairs, I am He, I am He who will sustain you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you” (Isa 46:3,4). That is so, so, so what I need. I need Him to carry me. As I look back over my life, I realize in fact He has done just that. So many times He has prevented me from doing stupid things that literally could have wrecked my life (if not get me killed). On the other hand, He has allowed me to succeed in so many things that I now realize were completely beyond me. He’s been carrying me … and He says He will until the end. That’s grace.

The other thing we have to observe is that it is the grace “of our Lord Jesus Christ.” As much as the Lord may sit in Heaven and want to bless people, the fact remains that “the wages of sin is death.” The fact is we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. As a just judge, He cannot simply overlook our sins. They must be punished. I’ve earned hell and it must be paid. For myself, that is utterly and completely hopeless. It’s not that I can resolve to do better (as if that would even happen). The fact is I’ve already sinned. I’ve already earned hell. All the good in the world can’t change the fact I’ve already done bad. And hell is not only a terrible place, but it is eternal. The sins I’ve committed have offended an eternal God and will be punished eternally. It’s not even as if I could do a purgatory kind of thing and suffer for a few thousand years and then be done with it. Hell is forever. So I am in big, big trouble.

Enter Jesus. “For God so loved the world, He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life.” Jesus said, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life.” Jesus is the physical embodiment of God’s love. He came to earth and loved us all the way to the Cross. There he took my hell and yours so that God the Father could be both just and the justifier of those who trust in Jesus. Because Jesus paid the price, God the Father is now free to be gracious to you and me.

Now, even though He should hate me, He’s free to love me.

And the wonder of this is that it isn’t a conditional love. Because of Jesus, He doesn’t just love me when I deserve it. Frankly, I never deserve it. Grace means that, like a parent, He never stops loving me. Even if He has to bring harsh consequences into my life for my many sins and failures, He carefully crafts those consequences to, in the end, do me good.

Grace means I can believe Heb 4:16: “Let us therefore (because of Jesus) come boldly to the Throne of Grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” “…that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Words would fail to record the many times I have desperately needed God’s help but felt so undeserving I hesitated to even pray or ask, and then this verse would come to my mind. That’s grace. My Savior God who is always there.

And then I want to record practically what this means. It means I can live by grace and not by law. A huge part of the grace of Jesus is the Holy Spirit. When we embrace Jesus He sends His Holy Spirit to actually live inside of us. Because of His presence, we can actually want to do right. It’s no longer, “Here’s the rules, now keep them or else.” Instead we get to actually know God and know His heart. His law becomes not a list of rules to keep but instead an expression of the heart of this One we love and long to be like. When I do fail, I hate it too. He’s not mad at me, He’s there to help me get back on my feet and try again. He’s soooo kind to me in my failures.

And that then allows me to see the world through different eyes. I too can love people whether they succeed or fail. My love doesn’t have to be performance-based. And I don’t need to be judgmental. God isn’t that way to me. I don’t need to be that way to other people.

Grace means I’m free to love and it means I’m free to try.

The plain, simple fact is it makes my life wonderful.

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you.”

I Thessalonians 5:25-27 – “All”

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

²⁵Brothers, be praying for us. ²⁶Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. ²⁷I adjure you [before] the Lord [that] the epistle be read to all the brothers.

In my first post on these verses, I noted how this is a “brothers, brothers, brothers” passage in a book of the same. In this short little triad of three verses, we see what Christian “brothers” do.

We noted in v25 that first of all, they pray for each other. In v26, we next find them being people who express affection. Finally, in v27, we find them people of the Word: “I adjure you [before] the Lord [that] the epistle be read to all the brothers.”

I believe it is an established fact that, in the ancient world, the vast majority of the population was illiterate. For most people, if they were going to “know” their Bible, someone had to read it to them. In I Tim 4:13, Paul says, “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching, and to teaching.” The “public reading of Scripture” was essential if people were to know the Bible, since they could not read it for themselves. In fact, to Paul, it was so important that he even charges this admonition with an element of severity – “I adjure you before the Lord …”

We should pause and be thankful for how the Lord made the Bible for everyone. Stop and think about it: “… the epistle be read to all the brothers.” “… to all the brothers.” There could have been a completely uneducated slave sitting on the pew at Thessalonica. Surely it would be sufficient if the leaders of the church would study the Bible and just tell him what it all means, right? Wrong. The Lord thinks even that man has a right to know his Bible. If he can’t read, someone should read it to him! Every single person in the brotherhood of faith has a right to know their Bible – young, old, rich, poor, male, female. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” “Thy words were found and I did eat them, and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart…”  (Jer 15:16).

I guess I point that out because I think we totally take it for granted that God’s Word was meant for each of us. Perhaps because in our world “everyone” can read and because there are Bibles everywhere, we would just say, “Well, of course, anyone can read it …” But I think it worth pausing to ponder that our God, the true and the living God, is such a personal God that He doesn’t want His people to just know about Him. He wants them to know Him. As I’ve said before, somewhere, sometime, someone said, “To read the Bible is to see the face of God.” And for the illiterate? “To hear the Bible is to see the face of God!” Those of us who can read regularly experience how we literally meet God when we open our Bibles. Even for myself, I know the same thing happens even when the Scriptures are being read to us in Church. I am often very aware of the Lord speaking to me personally when the text of the sermon is being read. And I mean that in a way that doesn’t happen during the teaching or preaching. The teaching and preaching is great, but there is nothing like the very personal experience of God moving in my heart as I hear the reading of the Scripture itself … and for most of us, we have the wonderful privilege of being able to read it ourselves in our own homes.

… Which brings us back to our passage. The brotherhood of Christianity is a brotherhood of people who know their Bible. All of them. They’re a people who want to know God, who want to know His heart, who want to live lives of love and joy and peace, whose greatest joy is to sit at Jesus’ feet and drink His words.

I’m very thankful I’ve had the privilege to learn how to study the Bible even in Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic. I wish everyone could learn at least how to study to whatever extent they’re capable. But no matter what, the greatest blessing of all is simply knowing the words of the living God, and knowing them for myself.

It is a mark of the brotherhood of real believers that they know their Bible. All of them.

I Thessalonians 5:25-27 – “Affection”

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

²⁵Brothers, be praying for us. ²⁶Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. ²⁷I adjure you [before] the Lord [that] the epistle be read to all the brothers.

In my first post on these verses, I noted how this is a “brothers, brothers, brothers” passage in a book of the same. In this short little triad of three verses, we see what Christian “brothers” do.

We noted in the last post that first of all, they pray for each other. In v26, we next find them “greeting each other with a holy kiss.” Of course, as we sit here reading in America in the 21^st century, the first thing we think is “Ewww. I have no interest in going around kissing the other guys at church!” We’re all rescued by the realization that such a greeting is simply an expression of affection that was “normal” and “acceptable” in their culture. Even today there are places in the world where people greet each other with “kisses.” But we don’t. If Paul were writing to us today, he would probably say, “Give all the brothers a hearty handshake.”

The point is to show clear affection for each other.

I don’t think I’m making too much of this to say I think expressions of affection are important. There are, of course, some people in this world who are just naturally affectionate and there are people who seem to want nothing to do with expressions of affection. Even culturally speaking here in America, there are areas of the country that are more openly affectionate and other places that could be described as “cold.” I say all that to acknowledge that “affection” may mean a lot more to some people and a lot less to others.

But having acknowledged that, I still would maintain that expressions of affection are important. Expressions of affection openly and clearly communicate love to other people. On the other hand, love that doesn’t get communicated is worthless. What I mean is, what good does it do to sit in our recliner and think about how much we love someone but then never express that love in any way? What good does it do to sit at a table with our family but never say, “I love you,” to never give them a hug and tell them how much they mean to us? As I have read the Bible for the last nearly 40 years, one thing that amazes me is how affectionate God is. From cover to cover in the Bible He says, “I love you,” in a million different ways. The essence of the Gospel is, “For God so loved the world He gave …” Jesus Himself is the very embodiment of love expressed.

I think, in a sense, that is what Paul is urging here in v26. He wants us brothers (and sisters) to not only cultivate a love for each other in our hearts but then to actually express it. Even in the simple act of greeting, we can just endure the formality of it, or we can actually greet them with a warmth that says, “I like you. I think you’re important. I really am glad to see you.” People need that. People need to be affirmed. They need to know someone else likes them.

Why is that? Is it not because the world itself is so cold and cruel? All most people ever hear is criticism and at best sarcasm. They’re lied to, manipulated, pushed and shoved. They can do well and no one even notices, then make a mistake and get roasted alive. It’s no wonder that is the case, when the prince of this world was “a murderer from the beginning.” It’s no wonder there is so little love. Into this kingdom of darkness (and ice), the sunlight (and warmth) of Jesus’ love suddenly appears. People (like us) find ourselves loved. And the One who loves us says, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us…” (Eph 5:1,2).

Can I suggest a very important part of that “life of love” is affection – the open, clear verbal and physical expressions of love? Us Christians should be the first to want others around us to know they’re loved. As Paul is saying, it is a natural part of being a family, being a brotherhood. I’d like to suggest it goes far beyond that – that a “life of love” will reach beyond our church and our own families and embrace the people we work with, the store clerks and nurses – basically whomever we happen to intersect all day every day everywhere we (Christians) go. That affection needs to be expressed at times and in ways that are culturally acceptable and appropriate – but it should be expressed.

I know I’ve said a lot in this post based on a few short words in one little verse, but, once again, I’ve been reading and studying the Bible for nearly 40 years and the God I’ve come to know is a God of very open affection. I hope He has taught me in turn to be (appropriately) affectionate and I wish all of us as Christians could resolve to more deliberately communicate love to other people – to be that sunlight (and warmth) of Jesus in the lives of people we meet.

Affection. That’s what brothers do.

I Thessalonians 5:25-27 – “Praying”

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

²⁵Brothers, be praying for us. ²⁶Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. ²⁷I adjure you [before] the Lord [that] the epistle be read to all the brothers.

In my last post, I noted how this is a “brothers, brothers, brothers” passage in a book of the same. In this short little triad of three verses, we see what Christian “brothers” do.

First of all, they pray for each other. Many writers have noted the humility of the Apostle Paul, that such a mightily gifted and important man should covet the prayers of what were, on the whole, a bunch of poor and socially unimportant people. But such is the nature of people who actually know Christ. Without Him, we can do nothing – and we all are keenly aware that applies to all of us. The very essence of our real relationships with Jesus is that He is a great Savior and we each need desperately to be saved – all of us. It’s “‘not by might nor by power but by My Spirit,’ saith the Lord.” In real Christianity we all desperately need Him and whether “great” or “small” in His kingdom, I am what I am by grace. I need the Lord. And so I need prayer. Whoever I am.

It is true that Paul’s humility is commendable. On the other hand, amongst us “brothers” who really know Christ, it’s just our life. And so we pray for each other and so we ask each other for prayer. Often some of my wife’s last words to me as I leave for work are, “I’ll be praying for you.” Words cannot express how much I appreciate that. I’m keenly aware that everything I’m doing is so far over my head, only the Lord Himself can grant that I should actually succeed in trying to help the communities and people I work with. I need her prayers. I can always count on my mother to be praying for me and again, words fail to express how deeply I appreciate (and need!) that kindness.

I’m struck again with the thought of people I know from work who are believers. I don’t think in all my life I’ve ever thought how much they need my prayers. If I truly see them as “brothers and sisters in Christ,” then I need to be realizing how much their lives are no different than mine – desperately in need of the Lord’s help. Together, His desire for us is that we should “adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things” – by our work (Titus 2:9,10). Even as I type these words, I confess it has never occurred to me how much I need to pray for them, or even how much I, like Paul, should covet their prayers.

As I have often noted, I believe the very genius of the Gospel itself is not that we meet together in a building but that, having met together as a church, we fan out to literally blanket our communities with our faith. Particularly our jobs carry even a small church into literally every corner of a community. If we in fact go there with real faith, with a real relationship with God, with a real determination to love God and love others, to be kind, to be dependable, we could become to our communities “a savor of life unto life.” But it’s not by might, nor by power!” We will succeed not because we tried but because the great God of the universe chooses to bless our feeble efforts – and that means prayer.

And of course that leads us back to the “fanning out.” From where? From our churches – where some of us brothers and sisters meet together. It is there in particular that we intersect with our ministers. We know from Eph 4:11,12 that He “gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up …” We need their Holy Spirit-gifted ministry to be the strongest people we can be. Which means, in a brotherhood, we realize they need our prayers too. Whether it’s at work or at church, we “wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph 6:12), and “we are not ignorant of Satan’s devices” (II Cor 2:11).

Speaking of Satan and his devices, I suppose if he wants to undermine the power of the Gospel, the two roots he must strike are 1) our own personal study of the Word and 2) those who would minister it to us. It’s up to each of us to carve out the time to personally seek the Lord’s truth, but obviously we need to be praying for the people who minister it to us. Paul, as a minister, knew he needed it. We mustn’t neglect to know ourselves that they need it.

I must say, although I have made it a point over the years to pray for others, I don’t think I’ve ever really seen it as an expression of our “brotherhood.” As I sit here pondering, I am asking the Lord to help me deliberately recognize others I know at work and in the community who are believers and to pray for them – and even to ask their prayers for myself, and to renew my determination to pray for my pastor and fellow church members. We are brothers. We need each other. I need them. They need me. We all need the Lord.

Let us pray.

I Thessalonians 5:25-27 – “Family”

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

²⁵Brothers, be praying for us. ²⁶Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. ²⁷I adjure you [before] the Lord [that] the epistle be read to all the brothers.

I want to begin by noting what I think are significant features of the grammatical structure of these three verses. I first note that the word “brothers” occurs 3x. The number three is invariably important in Scripture, being often a mark of divinity. Of course my baseball friends consider this an evidence of that sport’s divine origin – 3 bases, 3 strikes, 3 outs, etc., etc. 😏. That, of course may or may not be rue, tbut, in our passage, not only does “brothers” occur 3x, but it is the first word of v25 and the last word of v27, forming “bookends” of sorts.

Then I notice too that the word “brothers” itself occurs a total of 17x in the book of I Thessalonians. Not counting this last 3x, that leaves 14x or 2 sets of 7x. I suspect that is deliberate and that somehow the two sets form some kind of logical units. I have pondered over it and can’t see what might be happening, but I strongly suspect there is some kind of deliberate order there. The word “brothers” might be being used as a sort of bookmarks or perhaps telic dividers – but again, I can’t see it.

As usual someone at this point thinks I’m intrigued with the irrelevant but I beg to differ. I would suggest it highly significant that the word “brothers” appears in the book exactly 2 x 7x’s, then in a final triplet (3x) to conclude the book. I particularly note in this final triplet that, even in hearing it read, the “brothers … brothers … brothers” in short succession would itself leave an impression on the alert listener.  What is Paul saying? Is it not the message of the book itself? “Brothers, brothers, brothers.”

Allow me to digress. This thing of “brotherhood” is monumentally important to the church. Hebrews 2 records, “But we see Jesus … Both the One who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers … For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way …” (vv.9-17). As the old saying goes, “The ground is level at the foot of the Cross.” Jesus broke upon a world invariably divided by class, sex, nationality, ethnicity, and whatever other reason people can find to hate each other. Suddenly there was this “church” thing where they all met together and called each other brothers. One early Roman retorted something like, “Their first Law-giver led them to believe they are all brethren!” Yes, that is right. Brothers. Rich met together with poor. Masters met together with slaves. Jews met together with Greeks. It was a marvel of the first century how Christians loved each other.

I should note that we are told in the early church men sat separate from women, and that may or may not be true, but I would suggest if it was true, that was just one of those things that was so culturally dominant (like slavery itself) that the Lord didn’t necessarily challenge it directly. I say that just to acknowledge that possible historical reality but to say I don’t think it detracts at all from this truth of the fraternal essence of Christianity. Anyone who knows their Bible knows that the “brethren” includes the “sisteren.”

This fundamental truth of “the family of God” is extremely important. God is our Father. Jesus is our elder brother. And each of us are brothers and sisters. Jesus was not ashamed to call us brothers, and neither should we be.

I know some churches try to live this out by calling each other “brother” and “sister.” That may be nice, but I wonder if its truth isn’t much larger than that. No doubt we each need to ponder our attitude toward the other Christians in our church. Do we truly in our hearts see them as brothers and sisters (whether we do or do not deliberately call them that)? Do we treat them like brothers and sisters? But then I wonder if the Lord doesn’t want us to go further and see all Christians everywhere as our brothers and sisters. I am particularly thinking at work and in the community. I wonder if we shouldn’t make a bigger deal about our brotherhood all throughout our workaday world? I work with a lot of people I may either know or strongly suspect are believers. I wonder if I shouldn’t make it a habit to actually call them “brother” or “sister” at appropriate times in order to acknowledge their faith and to encourage them that I consider them “special” to me.

I would suggest, based on the grammatical recurrence of the word, the book of I Thessalonians is a “brothers” book.

Lord help all of us to live a “brothers” life.