Psalm 43:5 – The Good Fight

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

⁷You were running well. Who cut in [on] you to not be obeying the truth? ⁸This persuasion [is] not out of the One calling you. ⁹‘A little leaven leavens the whole lump’. ¹⁰I am persuaded concerning you in the Lord that you will think nothing differently but the one troubling you, whoever he is, will bear the judgment. ¹¹But, brethren, if I am yet preaching circumcision, why am I yet being persecuted? Consequently the scandal of the Cross is negated. ¹²O that the ones opposing you would castrate themselves!

In my last two posts, I looked at verses 7 & 8. I also want to record some thoughts from the little proverb in verse 9, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump”. My impression is that this was a fairly common proverb in the ancient world, much like our “What goes up must come down.” Like them, we all “know what it means” and we can use it to apply to many different situations. I would also observe that the proverb itself apparently possessed no connotation negative or positive. Jesus quoted it in Matthew 13:33 as an illustration of the Kingdom of Heaven: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.”  Paul quotes it here and also in I Cor 5:6 in the context of the immoral church member: “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” 

Obviously, it was simply a way of pointing out that seemingly small influences often can grow into pervasive impacts. Jesus was saying the Kingdom of Heaven can be that way; and it is certainly true that one person’s good influence can transform an entire family, a business, a church, even a nation. On the other hand, as Paul uses it in I Cor and here in Galatians, he is applying it to evil influences, which can themselves grow to corrupt entire people groups.

As I have pointed out earlier, it seems to me Paul is no longer writing in any kind of smooth logical flow. He has already built his case logically over five chapters and now, in verses 7 through 12, his passion seems to erupt in a series of exclamations, this proverb being one of them.  I think it is fair to say the consensus would be that he has in mind the teaching of the Judaizers, that in his mind there are only a handful of them, or perhaps he is thinking of their emphasis on the rite of circumcision – as if that were the “only” requirement the Galatians will have to submit to – when, as he has pointed out earlier, once you embrace legalism there will be no end to it.

Regardless, Paul’s point, Jesus’ point, and the point of our proverb is that we should ever be aware, both for better and for worse, that small influences should never be discounted or underestimated. Here in Galatians, the point is obviously, one way or another, the influence of false doctrine, and this is precisely where my blog devolves into more questions than answers.

Here’s my rub: on the one hand, it makes perfect sense to me that we must ever be on our guard against doctrinal error. Truth is truth, and, as I have said before, to be in error will be at least frustrating and may in the long run prove fatal. On the other hand, there is some measure of wisdom in knowing what “truth” is worth fighting for and what “truth” can be delegated to the realm of giving others the space to learn themselves. As a Christian, I have been “learning” for over 30 years. I don’t even agree with me from a month ago, much less from 5 years ago, or 10 or 20. And it should be that way. God help us if we can be around the Bible and Truth and not be constantly learning. But to learn is to realize I’ve been wrong. Was it “okay” that I was wrong? Was it “okay” that I myself had to learn to get where I am today? And then, what about the people around me? When is it okay for them to be wrong? When does the “wrong” call for correction? When is the “wrong” the little leaven that (dangerously) may leaven the whole lump?

What particularly brought this to mind was reading Marin Luther’s comments on this passage. He makes the statement, “This goes to show again how much importance Paul attached to the least points of Christian doctrine, … What right, then, have we to make little of doctrine? No matter how nonessential a point of doctrine may seem, if slighted it may prove the gradual disintegration of the truths of our salvation. Let us do everything to advance the glory and authority of God’s Word. Every tittle of it is greater than heaven and earth. Christian love and unity have nothing to do with the Word of God. We are bold to curse and condemn all men who in the least point corrupt the Word of God, ‘for a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.’”

Again, on the one hand, what Luther is saying makes perfect sense. Truth is truth. What isn’t truth is error and may grow into the very destruction of an entire people group. But where is the balance? “No matter how nonessential a point of doctrine …,” Luther said. Is that true? Hmmmm. While I deeply appreciate Luther and Calvin and their championing of the Scriptures such that there could be a Protestant Reformation, I am utterly unimpressed with the vituperative spirit they all seemed to do it with. If you go back and read their writings and the history of the Reformation, you will find they all hated and cursed each other. Luther tacked up his 95 theses on the Wittenberg Chapel door in 1517, and only 10 years later, in 1527, the first protestant was martyred by protestants. Felix Manz was drowned because he differed with them on the mode of baptism. Drowned? Executed? Really? Go back up to the last paragraph and read again what Luther said. Would he have someone executed because they differed with him on the mode of baptism? Yes.

Once again, I can read what Luther is saying and it can make perfect sense. Yet, somehow, I cannot and will not accept such a condemning spirit. Yes, “a little leaven leavens the whole lump;” but which leaven can be left to the process of sanctification in others’ lives and which leaven is worth going to the mat over?

Frankly, I don’t think I know the answer to these questions. I hope I will always be a champion for truth; but somehow I also want to live out the graciousness of a God who’s big enough to give me space to grow and still love me through it all.

For whatever it’s worth, I think the issues I’ve raised are of monumental significance. As I would live my faith, I have to live it in a world that is broken. The best anyone (including me) can be is learning. The best anyone can be is to be about the business of trying to fix the brokenness. So therefore there is no perfect church or church group. There are no perfect Christians to fellowship with. Therefore, and I think this is an enormous “therefore,” I cannot take Luther’s position to “curse and condemn all men who in the least point corrupt the Word of God.”  Somehow grace must be willing to overlook much, much, much in my church, my immediate Christian acquaintances, and even in the broader circle of who I align myself with – not to mention the non-christian world I live and work in.

On the other hand, the devil, like a roaring lion, still wanders about, seeking whom he may devour. A little leaven still leavens the whole lump. Error is still in the short run frustrating and in the long run fatal. To be wrong is still a dangerous thing. As in Paul’s case here in Galatians, sometimes error is serious enough to get a godly man into an emotional froth – to even start proposing castration! Love of people sometimes gives them room to grow, but it may also need to call error error and sin sin. How can we, for the love of grace and truth, determine where to draw these lines?

Once again, I don’t think I know the answers to these questions. Guess that is where I’ll have to leave this one. God grant us the wisdom to live, to love, and to fight well.

Psalm 43:5 -- The Real Battle of Faith

O my soul! Why are you downcast? And why are you groaning within me? Hope in God: for I shall yet praise Him, the salvations of my face and my God.

As I study Psalm 43:5 I enjoy the advantage that Psalm 42:5 and 11 and essentially identical. So when one goes to read the thoughts of all my old buddies, I can go to three different places to see what they said. I am enjoying feasting at such a sumptuously set table! One commentator who very often speaks directly to my heart is John Calvin. His comments on these words as they're found in Psalm 42:5 are so thought-provoking, I would like to record them in their entirety here. If you find yourself discouraged and your soul groaning within you, if the troubles of this life seem currently to be robbing you of joy, read slowly and thoughtfully what Calvin has to say. Every single line is another pearl on a string of help and hope:

"O my soul! why art thou cast down? From this it appears that David contended strongly against his sorrow, lest he should yield to temptation: but what we ought chiefly to observe is, that he had experienced a strong and bitter contest before he obtained the victory over it; or we might rather say, that he was not delivered from it after one alarming assault, but was often called upon to enter into new scenes of conflict. It need not excite our wonder that he was so much disquieted and cast down, since he could not discern any sign of the divine favor towards him. But David here represents himself as if he formed two opposing parties. In so far as in the exercise of faith he relied upon the promises of God, being armed with the Spirit of invincible fortitude, he set himself, in opposition to the affections of his flesh, to restrain and subdue them; and, at the same time, he rebuked his own cowardice and imbecility of heart. Moreover, although he carried on war against the devil and the world, yet he does not enter into open and direct conflict with them, but rather regards himself as the enemy against whom he desires chiefly to contend. And doubtless the best way to overcome Satan is, not to go out of ourselves, but to maintain an internal conflict against the desires of our own hearts. It ought, however, to be observed, that David confesses that his soul was cast down within him: for when our infirmities rise up in vast array, and, like the waves of the sea, are ready to overwhelm us, our faith seems to us to fail, and, in consequence we are so overcome by mere fear, that we lack courage, and are afraid to enter into the conflict. Whenever, therefore, such a state of indifference and faint-heartedness shall seize upon us, let us remember, that to govern and subdue the desires of their hearts, and especially to contend against the feelings of distrust which are natural to all, is a conflict to which the godly are not unfrequently called. But here there are two evils specified, which, however apparently different, yet assail our hearts at the same time; the one is discouragement, and the other disquietude When we are quite downcast, we are not free of a feeling of disquietude, which leads us to murmur and complain. The remedy to both of them is here added, hope in God, which alone inspires our minds, in the first place, with confidence in the midst of the greatest troubles; and, secondly, by the exercise of patience, preserves them in peace. In what follows, David very well expresses the power and nature of hope by these words, I shall yet praise him; for it has the effect of elevating our thoughts to the contemplation of the grace of God, when it is hidden from our view. By the term yet, he confesses that for the present, and in so far as the praises of God are concerned, his mouth is stopped, seeing he is oppressed and shut up on all sides. This, however, does not prevent him from extending his hope to some future distant period; and, in order to escape from his present sorrow, and, as it were, get beyond its reach, he promises himself what as yet there was no appearance of obtaining. Nor is this an imaginary expectation produced by a fanciful mind; but, relying upon the promises of God, he not only encourages himself to cherish good hope, but also promises himself certain deliverance. We can only be competent witnesses to our brethren of the grace of God when, in the first place, we have borne testimony to it to our own hearts. What follows, The helps of his countenance, may be differently expounded. Commentators, for the most part, supply the word for: so that, according to this view, David here expresses the matter or cause of thanksgiving — that yet he would give praise or thanks to God for the help of his countenance This interpretation I readily admit. At the same time, the sense will not be inappropriate if we read the terms separately, thus: helps or salvations are from the countenance of God; for as soon as he is pleased to look upon his people he sets them in safety. The countenance of God is taken for the manifestation of his favor. His countenance then appears serene and gracious to us; as, on the contrary, adversity, like the intervening clouds, darkens or obscures its benign aspect."

May we all today find His countenance serene and gracious and may the joy of the Lord truly be our strength!

Psalm 43:3,4 – With Him

As usual, here is my fairly literal translation of these verses:

³Send forth Your light and Your truth. Let them guide me. Let them bring me to the mountain of Your holiness and to Your dwelling places, ⁴and I will come in to the altar of God, to God the joy of my rejoicing, and I will praise You with a lyre, God my God.

In my last post I noted how the Psalmist here desired to be in God’s presence. Verse 4 adds, “And I will come in to the altar of God …” Once again, note that the context of this psalm is trouble. Yet, while the psalmist wants the trouble to end, it makes his heart long for God’s presence.

It is interesting to me to realize that first of all God wants to be in our presence. He wants us with Him. Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2,3). “…that you also may be where I am”-- There is no question Biblically speaking whether God wants to be with us. The question is whether we want to be with Him! In a sad sense, hell is God giving people what they wanted all along – to get away from Him. Thankfully, a believing heart has been redeemed from such eternally fatal foolishness. But still, the business of “practicing God’s presence,” of deliberately seeking His presence, is a learning process. What trouble does is jumpstart that business. As long as this world is all pleasant and wonderful, we can simply leave God out. When someone throws us in a lion’s den or a fiery furnace, all of sudden it is easier to treasure God’s presence! But I would suggest that maturity is to learn to value His presence whether in trouble or not. Maturity is desiring to be with Him constantly. He wants to be with us. Maturity is when we begin more and more to want to be with Him.

It is interesting to note in verse 4, the name God is used four times. There’s certainly no question where is this psalmist’s focus!

It is also interesting to note how he sees God. He calls Him, “the joy of my rejoicing.” The Hebrew here uses two words that are different yet very close synonyms. You could translate it, “joy of my joy” or “rejoicing of my rejoicing,” “delight of my delight,” or any combination thereof. I think we get the picture! He has grown spiritually to the point where it really is true that God is a delight to him. Once again, it is Biblically apparent that God delights in us: “The Lord your God in the midst of you is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over you with singing” (Zeph 3:17). Zephaniah uses the same two Hebrew words which occur in our passage. It is simply a fact, the Lord delights in us. The only question is whether we delight in Him! As soon as we do, the feelings are mutual. And that is exactly the relationship He intended from the beginning.

As with Adam and Eve, sin clouds that relationship. Our sins and our sinful nature leave us with a twisted view of God, seeing Him in some way as sinister or threatening or disinterested. But as we allow the blood of Jesus to wash those sins, as we hear Him calling to us to come boldly before the Throne of Grace, as we feed on His words and grow to truly know Him, we find Him everything our hearts ever desired. We find Him to be the “the joy of our rejoicing.”

One sad interjection here is to note that when we allow legalism to be our sanctification, it also clouds our view of God. Just as with the Pharisees, we may make up rules which appear very religious, which appeal to the others in our group, and which allow us to feel we’ve attained quite a level of spirituality. The problem is they’re not God’s rules. They’re not His truth. When we believe they came from Him we think they reflect Who He is. But He isn’t. He is YHVH, “I am that I am.” He is who He is and any other view of Him is simply in error. Legalism eclipses the face of God. The only hope is to diligently read and study and and let the Bible say what it says. Let it tell us Who God is, what He’s like, and what in fact He expects from us. When Jesus was here, He spoke to some of the most legalistic people who ever lived and said, “Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). I would suggest His “rest” comes from truly knowing Him for who He really is – this God who delights in us and Whom we will also find a delight to us, the more we truly know Him.

The key is to be “with Him.” He is with us. He said He’d never leave us. The only question is whether we’re with Him. To see Him as our psalmist sees Him, as the joy of our rejoicing, is the privilege and the end of a believing heart. In fact, Heaven itself will be the consummation of such a relationship here on earth. There we’ll forever be with Him, delighting in Him as He delights in us.

Here on earth, our adversities move us to desire His presence. Here in our psalm, the writer’s affliction moves Him to desire God’s dwelling place and His altar. But may the relationship we find there continue on, even after “these calamities pass by”.

Isn’t it great we can enjoy such a relationship now? Lord help us know You better and better and may it be true that whether in adversity or not we find in You “the joy of our rejoicing.”