Galatians 1:13,14 – Considering What We're About

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this passage:

¹³For you heard [about] my former lifestyle in Judaism, that I was excessively persecuting the church of God and destroying it, ¹⁴and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many ones of the same age in my race, being exceedingly a zealot of my ancestral traditions.

Obviously, Paul’s point is to emphasize that he is not in any way unfamiliar with Jewish traditions. His repudiation of them in the Gospel is no way rooted in ignorance of them. As Luther observed Paul saying: “I have,” he says, “at one time defended the traditions of the Pharisees more fiercely than any of your false apostles. Now, if the righteousness of the Law had been worth anything I would never have forsaken it”.

Looking at this verse actually reminds me of three things:

1. Zeal is a delicate thing. Notice it says of Paul that he was “excessively” persecuting the church” and he was “advancing in Judaism beyond many” and he was “exceedingly” a zealot for his ancestral traditions. Paul was a zealous person. But, as it says in Prov 19:2, “It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.” Paul observes of the Jews (like himself) in   Rom 10:2: “For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge”. Zeal is, of course, in itself a good thing. God made us to work and to work hard. It is good to “throw oneself” at a task. “Whatever you do, do it with your whole heart …” Col 3:23. The problem in a sinful world is that we have the freedom to be zealous for anything, good, bad, or indifferent. We should be zealous but we need to be careful what we’re zealous of. That is one way I think parents can help their children, by helping them think through what they’re throwing their energy at. They can, of course, be so easily enamored by things that are wrong, or simply unimportant, but they’ll be far better off to pursue things of value. I suppose it’s even incumbent on all of us who are “older” to try to guide the “younger” to channel their energies into things that will really matter, whether at work, at church, in our extended families, in chance encounters, whatever, we should sincerely try to help young people channel their zeal in valuable directions. Zeal is a very good thing but it is also a delicate thing. “It takes a steady hand to carry a full cup.”

2. Our strengths are also our weaknesses. Interesting, Paul says, “You heard about my lifestyle …” My lifestyle. Paul wasn’t just occasionally zealous about something. It was his lifestyle. It was one of the strengths of his character that whatever he did, he did it with uncommon energy. Occasionally we all know someone like that, someone seeming to have an endless reserve of energy. Whatever they do, they go at it passionately, whether a job assignment, a competitive game, a new hobby, whatever. It is a strength that some people possess. Unfortunately, that same strength becomes their weakness when it gets channeled in a bad direction or used in selfish or inconsiderate ways. Martin Luther was another person like that. He said of himself: “I too may say that before I was enlightened by the Gospel, I was as zealous for the papistical laws and traditions of the fathers as ever a man was. I tried hard to live up to every law as best I could. I punished myself with fasting, watching, praying, and other exercises more than all those who today hate and persecute me. I was so much in earnest that I imposed upon my body more than it could stand. I honored the pope as a matter of conscience. Whatever I did, I did with a single heart to the glory of God.” Before he met the Lord, he was a zealous person, but that zeal was misdirected into a cruel asceticism. But when that same zeal got aimed toward the Lord, Luther became the “morning star of the Protestant Reformation.” It was true of Paul, it was true of Luther, and it is true of us: our strengths are our weaknesses; and our greatest strengths are also our greatest weaknesses. Realizing this, it is very important that we consciously sanctify our strengths.

3. Legalism makes people persecutors. It’s interesting that, before meeting Christ, Paul was “being exceedingly a zealot of my ancestral traditions.” He says in Phil 3:5 he was “…a Hebrew of Hebrews, in regard to the Law a Pharisee.” In today’s language we would say he was a howling legalist. A keeper of the rules. And what did it make him? Did it make him gracious and kind? No. It made him a vicious persecutor. The same was obviously true of the rest of the Pharisees of his day. They were a pompous, immoral, self-righteous, critical, hateful, cruel bunch of people who persecuted anyone who deviated from their rules. They even murdered the Messiah Himself because He didn’t keep their rules. (He had a little talk with them one day in Matthew 23. Everyone should read it some time.) I hope anyone reading this can see exactly where I’m going. It is my definite conclusion that still today legalism makes people persecutors. Paul will go on later in this same book to tell us that a real relationship with God, a real knowledge of Grace, will make us gracious – the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, … As far as I can see it has always been and always will be a pitfall of the church to fall into legalism. Obviously it was happening in Galatia. And obviously it is excessively common today. And how does it affect people? It turns them into vicious Pharisees. I believe that is a major reason why the face of Christianity is clearly not love but rather cruel, judgmental, rule keeping and the forcing of those rules on everyone else. Legalists are incapable of communicating grace because there’s none of it in their own hearts. I could go on and on about the subject but I’ll conclude by saying what I see is that even supposedly born-again people who allow legalism in their hearts become persecutors. To whatever extent they allow legalism, to that extent they become cruel rule-keepers. If they are a little legalistic, they’ll be a little a mean Pharisee. If they are very legalistic, they become monsters who may impress themselves and each other, but, like Paul, a tool not of God but the devil. It is incumbent on everyone who names the name of Christ to resist every possible intrusion of legalism and instead to cultivate a genuine grace relationship with Christ. That and that alone will make us gracious people. That and that alone will make us like Jesus.

I seriously could write on for hours on the three points above. When it comes to “what we’re about,” each one is monumentally important, I feel. God help me to be zealous for good things and encourage others (especially young people) the same. God help me to realize how much my strengths must be sanctified, lest they express themselves as weaknesses. And God help me fill my heart with the grace of knowing Him. May my heart truly be so filled with grace that it simply has no room for legalism and all its cruelty. In my tiny corner of the world, may the face of my faith be really truly Jesus.

Galatians 1:11,12 – The Delicate Issue of Truth

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this passage:

¹¹For  I make  known to you, brothers, that the Gospel preached by me is not according to man, ¹²for I neither received it nor was taught [it] from a man but through a revelation of Jesus Christ..

This passage, once again, reminds me of the importance of Truth. Obviously, as all commentators note, Paul’s opponents apparently proffered the argument that his teaching of the Gospel was not as authoritative as that of the apostles who actually learned it from Christ. “The truth he taught you,” they imply, “is not true truth.”

Interestingly, Peter engaged in the same kind of emphasis in II Peter 1:16-19: “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, …  And we have the more sure word of prophecy; to which you do well to take heed, as to a light shining in a dark place,…”    

“Truth” is a very delicate thing. What both Paul and Peter are dealing with is the problem that people must discern for themselves what is “truth;” and that they must do so while barraged by messages from a million different angles (and motives). Pilate scoffed, “What is truth?" as he looked Truth in the face and turned away. What is truth? What is true? In a sense we are all locked continually in a battle to discern what is truth? On the relational plane we must discern whether people are “telling us the truth,” whether it be at home, at work, at the grocery store, etc. And on the much larger plane, we must discern what is “truth” in the religious world or should I say in the world of values and motives and our entire “world-view.”

(I suppose I have to interject the people who want to say there is no truth. That mentality is a huge problem today but I will choose to ignore it here. I’ll just say it is as absurd as the fact that the very statement itself is a statement of truth. They want us to believe it is true that there is no truth. Absurdly illogical.)

See what is at stake here for the Galatians. If what Paul says is truth, then they should hang their eternal destiny entirely on grace. If what the others are saying is true, then they also need to include the practices of Judaism in their lifestyle. Heaven and hell hang in the balance. Yes? Yes. Each individual Galatian must make a choice. What is the truth? … and then order their life accordingly. And realize their choice is of eternal consequence. Such is our life every day.

Hmmmmmm. Since this is my blog, indulge me to meander a moment. Truth is very important to me. I don’t know if that is somehow my nature and/or the fact that I am an engineer. (The field of engineering is based on applied science – figuring out the truth of why things do what they do, harnessing that knowledge, and using it to solve problems). It may also be due to some extent to the fact that early in my life I read Francis Schaffer’s book, “How Shall We Then Live?” in which he emphasized the importance of not only truth but absolute truth. The thesis of that book was that the rise and fall of Western culture is entirely a matter of our having embraced truth, then abandoned it. For myself, I feel to this day that what Dr. Shaffer said is in fact absolutely true.

But what I see around me is that hardly anyone else appears to care about truth. It seems to me that all anyone cares about is what they want to be true. I study the Bible because I want desperately to know the truth. I know almost no one else who even cracks it. I know a lot of professing believers who I would think would be ravenous for truth. Yet they seem quite content to basically ignore the Bible and go on living based on what they want to be true. A tidbit or two from the pulpit is good enough. Where are the noble Bereans who “search the Scriptures daily and see whether these things be so”? And then no one is even interested in discussing “truth.” If I perceive that a person might be a truth-seeker, I might bring up some “truth” I’ve been pondering, only to get their disinterested “Oh” for a response. I’ve about gotten to the point where I just don’t even bring it up. I do my studies, think my thoughts, jot down some of them in this blog, and for the most part just content myself with trying to live these things out in my own life.

It is something I totally don’t understand. I am NOT better than anyone else. But that said, I just don’t understand why people don’t care about truth. I know, I know, people are sinners and naturally driven by their lusts not by truth (that was Shaffer’s whole point), and so it will always be true (in this world) that the human race as a whole will always be gullible, easily deceived, and even antagonistic toward truth. They would actually rather follow their lusts than be told the truth. But still, surely there are people who rise above that.

Oh, well. Love God. Love others. That’s my mission for today. That’s the truth. I will go on doing the best to seek and live out the truth as I discern it, and grant those around me the freedom to do the same (or not).

But what Paul is saying IS of monumental importance. What is Truth? To determine that is absolutely incumbent upon every individual and it is of eternal consequence what we determine.

As for me, I am convinced that the Gospel of the Bible, the God of grace and His Son Jesus Christ, of salvation totally by that grace, lived out in a life of gratitude is the TRUTH. God help me if I’m wrong anywhere that I would see it. And God help me where I’m right to live out that Truth everyday. And by Your grace, where I’m right, may I be a light in the life of someone else around me. Truth. Not from “man.” Not just someone’s ideas. But absolute, eternal TRUTH delivered to us from the absolute, eternal God.

Martin Luther: “God creates faith in us through the Word. He increases, strengthens and confirms faith in us through His Word. Hence the best service that anybody can render God is diligently to hear and read God’s Word”.

Galatians 1:10 – The Insidiousness of Motives

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this passage:

¹⁰For am I now conciliating men or God, or am I seeking to be pleasing [to] men? If I were yet pleasing men, I would not have been being a servant of Christ.

At first glance this seems like a fairly vanilla passage. “Right, right. Yeah those people-pleaser types. Pleasing God, not people. Yeah, that’s my goal.” Hmmmm. I suspect anyone’s natural response would be to read this passage, assume it applies to someone else (certainly not ME or the group I associate with), and read on.

That is always a baaaaaad thing to do with Scripture. The Lord didn’t write the Scriptures for “them.” When I’m reading His Word, He is speaking to me. “Ten-hut! Front and center!” I have to stop and say, “Lord, help me see that this does in fact apply to me. I’m cut out of the same bolt of cloth as everyone else. I share their weakness. But how? In what specific ways?”

As I have pondered this passage, I think it is all too applicable. In fact, I would go so far as to say it ought to be a bombshell in anyone’s life. Actually, my mind is whirling. I will try to put it in some kind of logical order.

First of all, and I have run across this before, I think the church groups of which I have been a part have grossly failed to see this sin in their own hearts. The groups I’ve been a part of clearly see the sin of making a goal of “getting rich.” They are quick to say that no one should ever “serve God” for the love of money. It’s easy to see the evil of the televangelists. Most of their pastors, missionaries, and seminary professors live in relative poverty (by American standards). They are quite sure that is proof-positive that they are serving God, not money. But what no one sees is that one can “get rich” in more ways than money. And the verse before us addresses another perhaps more insidious way – people pleasing.

I fear it is really easy for a church-group to become an approval system. Like the Pharisees of Paul’s day, one can join the group and then literally ride the approval wave. Since the group thinks everything they do pleases God, one can conform zealously to their practices and convince oneself and the group I’m pleasing God. Just a few verses further in Galatians 1, Paul says of himself, “I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers” (v14). In Judaism (Pharisaism), Paul could literally ride a wave of adulation. He could strictly and zealously conform to the traditions of the group and thereby garner their enthusiastic applause, all the while convincing them and himself that he was quite the servant of God.

Yet, all the while, he was nothing but a people-pleaser. He was “getting rich” in applause, adulation, and approval. I suspect he is referring back to that when he says, “If I were yet pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Notice the “yet.” When he met the risen Christ and chose to follow Him, he knew he was giving up that entire approval system. From now on, those same people would hate him and malign him. No more applause. No more easy “just follow the rules” approval system. I’m afraid we all err greatly if we let our church affiliation become an approval system. Greed is greed no matter what it is I “want.” And it is an abomination to make any group’s “rules” or “traditions” the standard of righteousness. Too, too often in my own life, I have conformed to the group’s standards of “righteousness,” often even myself questioning, “Where is that in the Bible?” But that is one thing I am trying hard to correct now. I want the Bible and it alone to be my standard of righteousness, whereby I measure myself and people around me. And my goal should be to be constantly letting God measure my heart and life according to that standard and not any other. As Paul says in I Cor 4:3,4: “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.” Even my own conscience isn’t a reliable guide. Even it needs constantly to be submitted to the correction and oversight of the Scriptures.

I guess the sum of it all is to say that I think it extremely important, being a part of a church group, to constantly be guarding my heart and making sure I do not simply conform to their “approval” system, but rather that I am, in fact, a servant of Christ, and Him alone. The idol of “approval” is just as insidious (maybe more) that the idol of wealth. Yet, we cannot serve two masters.

That is, ultimately, I think Paul’s point here. What is he saying? He is actually allowing his own motives to come under scrutiny. “What was my goal in preaching to you?” Note that, even in proposing the question, he’s making a profound logical connection: errant teaching arises from a heart with ill motives. He is asserting the purity of his own motives to accredit the truth of his teaching. Matthew Henry noted, “He did not, in his doctrine, accommodate himself to the humors of persons, either to gain their affection or to avoid their resentment; but his great care was to approve himself to God.”

As Someone important once said, “Go and do likewise.”

Galatians 1:6-9 -- Thoughts and Encouragement

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this passage:

⁶I am astonished [continually] that you are so quickly transferring from the One who called you in [the] grace of Christ into a different gospel, ⁷which is not another except some [are] agitating you and wishing to subvert the gospel of Christ. ⁸But even if we or an angel out of Heaven should be preaching to you [something different] from what we preached to you, let him be anathema. ⁹As we said before and I am now saying again, if someone is preaching [to] you [something different] from what you received, let him be anathema.

As I said before, this isn’t necessarily the book I would choose to study, but I am excited to in fact study it just for that reason. I love when the Lord leads me to think about things I wouldn’t choose to think about, to show me things I would not have looked for.

Even in this opening passage, there a couple of things that “surprise” me and one that is a very pleasant thought.

The first thing that surprises me arises out of Paul’s statement, “I am astonished that you are so quickly transferring …” Robertson laments, “It is a continuous amazement today that so many are so silly and so gullible to modern as to ancient charlatans.” I agree. But it surprised me how much I agree. His words were like salt in a wound. “Astonished” is hardly strong enough. Sickened. Shocked. Disappointed. Incredulous. It has long been a grief to my soul to watch the human race and see this so true. A man can do an excellent job preaching and teaching straight from the Bible and gather no following at all, but the miserable charlatan televangelists garner followers by the millions year after year after year. And no matter how many of them go down in disgrace, the same people flock to listen to the chicaneries of the next one.

And it isn’t just in religion. Politics is no different. We have in Washington now beyond a doubt the worst, most grossly unqualified president in US history. Yet polls continue to say about 50% of the people approve of his performance. What?????? Every time he gets up to speak I personally hear very clearly that he is telling people what they want to hear. He’s pandering. There’s no substance whatsoever to anything he says. He just says “all the right things.” But I can also hear that he does it in that familiar smooth way that I already know will in fact appeal to the masses. Pied piper. It is a crying shame that there are so many people who could do an excellent job, but we would all say, “They’re probably not electable.” Why not? Because they aren’t “Hollywood” enough. What does Hollywood have to do with choosing the best person to serve as the President of the United States (or any other office for that matter)? Gullible masses. That’s what Hollywood has to do with it.

And what really drives me crazy is that too many times I’ve known these people. I would take them for reasonably sensible, intelligent people. And then to hear them fall headlong for the chicanery just utterly befuddles me.

Now here’s my rub: I don’t like the “way” all of that bothers me. I sense that somehow I’m simply “bothered” by it. Irritated. Not a godly thing, you understand. Some kind of personal thing. Which is not good. Like I said earlier, “like salt in a wound.” Paul goes on to write a whole book to these people. God commits one whole book of Scripture to Paul’s appeal. I haven’t studied very far yet, but already commentators note how loving and gentle he is considering the seriousness of the offense. I don’t think I’d be that way. I would just be fed up and go spend my time with someone else. Have said for years I wish I could charter a Mayflower and sail to the new world. Hmmmmmm. Obviously have something to learn here. As I study through the book, I hope to learn some things from Paul’s heart. Hope to learn how he clearly could keep on loving and not get fed up. Hmmmm. Always fun to study Scripture. Challenges my mind right down to the depths of my heart.

Now here’s a second thing that surprised me as I began to study: It surprises me to realize how much I don’t know how to balance a couple of things. Obviously, Paul is lit up about the Galatians defection from the Gospel. He sees the need to pounce on their embracing “another gospel, which is no gospel.” Obviously, within the church there is a time to confront error, to affirm truth, and obviously, this Judaizing of the Gospel is one of those times. On the other hand, in my experience, there has been way, way, way too much witch-hunting in the church groups I’ve been involved in. “Standing for the truth” has meant cutting off a young man from mission support because he’s decided maybe the rapture will come in the middle of the Tribulation. That’s “worth” pulling a couple off the mission field? Once I knew of two Baptist churches in the same (very) small town. I asked a member of one congregation about the other and they replied, “Oh, they’re kind of funny on the Holy Spirit.” That’s worth the complete disgrace of two Baptist churches in the same (very) small town? From my reading of history, I strongly suspect that witch-hunting was the destruction of the English church. In the 1500’s, 1600’s, 1700’s and even somewhat into the 1800’s, there was an enormous amount of profoundly sound teaching from many, many truly godly people in England. How then could that nation turn almost completely godless? The one thing that I read that does NOT impress me is how viciously the various Christian groups attacked each other. And that over such important issues as how to organize the leadership of the church – to which the Bible actually says very little. I strongly suspect their constant in-fighting completely destroyed their credibility with a watching world until today when English people want nothing to do at all with “church.” The Reformers themselves were shockingly vitriolic toward each other. Calvin hated Luther hated the Anabaptists hated … Every time any one of them learned anything from the Bible they pronounced an anathema on anyone who disagreed with them.

I could go on. But I hope you see my point. How does one balance the safeguarding of “truth” without becoming a carping witch-hunter? I can’t say I know the answer except that I think there ought to be an enormous amount of humility and prayer invested before we do anything less than openly love other professing Christians. “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.”

At this point, I don’t know if I have any answers. Once again, I don’t like the way it bothers me. I think there may be some things the Lord wants to teach me. And I hope, again, I can learn something from the heart of Paul to change my own. Hmmmmm.

Finally, I want to note something encouraging I see in this passage. Paul says he’s astonished how quickly they are transferring “from the One Who called you …” Note he doesn’t say “from the Gospel.” It’s “from the One Who called you …” I’m continually blessed by the fact that real Christianity is not just a “belief system” but rather an intensely personal relationship. I wonder how arresting it was to the Galatians to have it suggested they were transferring “from the One Who called you …”? It’s one thing to change one’s opinion on a matter. It’s an entirely different thing to cut off a relationship! One of the earliest delights of my own Christian experience was realizing that it wasn’t just a “belief system” but rather a matter of “knowing God.” Early on I ran across John 17:3, “For this is eternal life, that they might know You …” And I, of course, consumed JI Packer’s book, “Knowing God.” From the very beginning, He has been very personal with me. Without any doubt, I can say that what I treasure most about it all is this personal relationship with Him. The rest of life swirls about my head, profoundly important questions pummel me for answers, uncertainties and doubts and fears surround me, but I can honestly say I find a refuge in Him. He is, in the end, really truly all that matters. And the worst thing that could happen to me is not that I would get something wrong in my belief system, but rather that somehow I’d lose my connection with Him. I wonder sometimes how much I’ve offered to other people a belief system and how much I actually offered them a relationship(?). I wonder how many people supposedly embrace Christianity but only as a belief system, and never really ever get to enjoy the simple soul-pleasure of a relationship?

Great start to the book. Already has me thinking on some things and encouraged by others!

Galatians 1:1-5 – More Miscellaneous Thoughts

Here is my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹Paul, an apostle, not from men neither through a man, but through Jesus Christ and God [the] Father Who raised Him out of [the] dead ones, ²and all the brothers with me, to the churches of Galatia: ³Grace to you and peace from God [the] Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴Who gave Himself on behalf of our sins, in order that He might rescue us out of the evil of the present age according to the desire of our God and Father, ⁵to Whom [be] the glory into the ages of the ages. Amen.

Just some more miscellaneous thoughts I want to jot down before going on:

Notice how in verse 2, Paul adds, “²and all the brothers with me, …”. I realize that he may make mention of “all the brothers with me” in an attempt to augment his case, that not only is he himself a divinely called apostle, but that his message is not in any way unique to him – it is shared by many others. However, that said, I have many times noted how much of a team player Paul was. He was not in any way, shape, or form a lone ranger. He deeply valued the talents and contributions of his friends and associates. Think about it: In verse 1 he asserts his own miraculous calling, then right away in verse 2 he’s thinking of all those with him. Point is just that I think we all need to seriously learn to value the people around us, those we work with and associate with, our spouses, families, etc. When we think somehow we really don’t need them (desperately) we’re missing it big time.  

In verse 4 we are reminded that Jesus gave Himself “on behalf of our sins” and then the text goes on to note why He did it. There is a textual variant in the “why” that is at least interesting to think about. Many translations follow one variant and will read something like “to rescue us from this present evil age.” However, there is another variant which changes the word order and based on that I translate it “ that He might rescue us out of the evil of the present age…”  It is a minor point, but notice that, in the first He recues us from the age, while in the second (mine) He rescues us from the evil. I personally think the evidence slightly favors the latter and I also think it is more Biblically precise. For whatever it’s worth, my good friend John Eadie agrees with me, so it must be right (!). Again, I know I’m splitting exegetical hairs and even my variant could be reasonably translated to read just like theirs.

But … I think it is a very sad mis-emphasis in the Christian world to see the present world as evil. The world is not evil. This is the world God created. Yes it is spoiled and contorted with evil but it is a sad, sad mistake to be unable to mentally separate the beautiful wonder of God’s creation from the distortions of it. Jesus’ entire mission is to deliver us from the evil of the world. He Himself prayed, “I ask not that You take them out of the world, but that You would deliver them from the evil …” The Lord’s prayer is not that He would deliver us from the world but that He would deliver us from evil. I’ve probably said enough but I strongly believe one of the reasons Jesus Himself got along so well with people in this world is because He saw even the people themselves as God’s creation. He saw their sin and their evil as a contortion of the beauty which still resided in them. He could honestly value and respect prostitutes and tax-collectors by seeing them in the inherent dignity of their creation in the image of God. He could look straight at them and mentally separate that dignity from the contortions caused by their sins. They obviously sensed His respect for them – which they got nowhere else, and as a result they valued Him and many received Him. It is sadly very common for believers to have an attitude that basically this world is useless and evil and the only way they can be spiritual is to somehow escape it. Such a mistake. Even in II Peter 1:4, we’re told that God has “given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Notice that, through faith in His promises we escape “the corruption that is in the world…” I think it is an enormous step of Christian maturity to make this distinction.

Finally one last note: In verse 5 we are told all of this happened “according to the will of God the Father.” Here is another place where I think we need to note the distinction between the Greek words boulomai and thelo. The two words are both translated something like “will” and are considered by many to be essentially synonymous. I personally beg to differ and I do not think it is a matter of splitting hairs in this case. I think a lack of translative precision in the case of these two words is at the root of much theological confusion. Boulomai is specifically a word which speaks of deliberate purpose while thelo speaks of desire. Even in English, there is a huge difference between deliberate purpose and simple desire. Again, even in English, the two can seem to overlap: One sets about a deliberate purpose because he no doubt desires something and we can say that someone obviously desires something because he sets about a deliberate purpose. However that doesn’t change the fact that the two ideas are, in and of themselves, not the same. And I personally think it is often critically important to understand whether God simply desires something, that He in some way expresses the wish that something be true, as compared to those cases where He has clearly purposed that something will be true, that it will come about. One passage where this distinction is of profound theological importance is II Peter 3:9. (Anyone interested can look up my notes on that from back around 2010). At any rate … in this particular verse, the word used is thelo (or specifically the noun form thelaima), so it is specifically expressing God’s desire, not necessarily His purpose. And so how does it read? “According to the desire of God the Father …” Jesus “gave Himself … to rescue us out of the evil of the present world … according to the desire of God the Father.” He obviously also did it as a part of God’s eternal deliberate purpose, His eternal plan, but in this passage what’s in focus is God’s desire. I personally think that is significant. In this case, He’s showing us His heart. He didn’t offer grace as some kind of wise governmental policy. He wants us to know grace.

Maybe someone is reading this and thinking I’m quite obsessed with minutiae. However, I think not. I would suggest that many see God as someone far away, issuing royal decrees and being only somewhat available or even interested. I maintain that, while it is true that He is a great King, the Sovereign of the Universe, and we must acknowledge Him in that role, yet to know Him is to know His personal, generous, affectionate, embracing, totally benevolent heart. I think it is critically important that someone not only accept His plan of salvation, His offer of grace, but that they realize He’s offering it because He wants to. That’s Who He is. Go ahead. Climb in His lap. Bury your face in His big strong chest. Feel His arms around you. Even enjoy Him tickling you now and then. But know this: He loves you.

He’s a wonderful Savior. If only we could all see Him clearly. We’d all rush and jump in His lap together. It's certainly fitting to conclude with the words, "to Whom [be] the glory into the ages of the ages. Amen."

Galatians 1:1-5 – Miscellaneous Thoughts

Here is my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹Paul, an apostle, not from men neither through a man, but through Jesus Christ and God [the] Father Who raised Him out of [the] dead ones, ²and all the brothers with me, to the churches of Galatia: ³Grace to you and peace from God [the] Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴Who gave Himself on behalf of our sins, in order that He might rescue us out of the evil of the present age according to the desire of our God and Father, ⁵to Whom [be] the glory into the ages of the ages. Amen.

These opening verses are in no way arbitrary greetings. Verses 1&2 affirm Paul’s authority as an Apostle, while verses 4&5 assert the doctrine of grace. The two surround v3, his benediction of “grace to you and peace…” Note Lightfoot’s observation: “The two threads which run through this Epistle—the defense of the Apostle’s own authority, and the maintenance of the doctrine of grace—are knotted together in the opening salutation. By expanding his official title into a statement of his direct commission from God, he meets the personal attack of his enemies; and by dwelling on the work of redemption in connection with the name of Christ (v. 4.) he resists their doctrinal errors.”

As I have begun to study, it seems clear Lightfoot is right. The purpose of the book seems to be Paul’s response to the errors which had infected the Galatian church and specifically they are: #1 – the deprecation of his authority, and #2 – their deviation from the doctrine of grace.

This is an interesting place for me to start. I selected this book particularly because I have a John Eadie commentary on it through which I’ve never studied. When it comes to Bible study, him and I are kindred spirits. It’s too bad he’s been dead for 150 years. I would sure enjoy studying with him today. But to follow along his commentary through any book feels like I’m studying with him and I seriously enjoy it. However, wading into the book, my first reactions are less than enthusiastic. As Chrysostom noted, “…this Epistle breathes an indignant spirit.” Here’s my rub: The book itself is a fight. Paul needs to fight. This battle is one which must be engaged, no less than Jesus’ castigation of the Pharisees in Matt 23. The problem for me is that I am not a fighter. I don’t want to fight. With anyone. Over anything. I’ve never been a fighter. I have fought plenty of battles in my life. But I hated every one of them. I did it because I must. But I don’t like it. And so, as I look ahead to several months of studying a book about fighting … well, you understand my quandary.

However (and this is a HUGE however), this is the very reason I love to study the Bible. I can essentially pick any book at random and know that the Lord will make me think about things I didn’t necessarily intend (or even prefer) to think about. And there is even a sense of excitement when He leads me to something I “don’t like.” … I know that means He wants to teach me something. He wants to rock my world, to blow my mind, to “cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of Christ.” So I wade in – on the one hand wishing I could study something more pleasant, but on the other hand, in anxious anticipation of what He’ll teach me. Come back and visit me in about a year. Hopefully, I will have learned something that makes me more like Christ, more ready to fight the battles which must be fought. Cool.

Another random thought: I found a new friend. My good friend Joe Fleener recommended some websites where I could find commentaries on the book. In the process I wandered across translations from John Chrysostom, who lived from 349 to 407 AD. The guy is another real exegete! He takes each verse phrase by phrase and actually considers the Greek, the meanings of the words, then draws applications. Cool. Another kindred spirit – even if his bones are quite cold by this point 1600 years later!

Another random thought from the first five verses: Notice God’s goodness: He specifically, deliberately, and miraculously called out an apostle for us Gentiles. He raised Jesus out of “the dead ones,” that we too might have life from the dead. He wishes “grace and peace” for us. Jesus “gave Himself for our sins.” He wants to “rescue us out of the evil of the present age.” This all was very specifically God’s “desire” for us. As I mourned before, it seems to me that so many people think hard thoughts of God. But if they would just read the Bible and let it say what it says, they would realize what it says is, “I love you,” over and over and over and over and over. Like John, we should all lay our heads on Jesus’ breast and long to never leave.

Another thing I’m looking forward to is following Martin Luther’s commentary on this book. I am a history nut so I relish his writings for their profound historical significance. But I also simply relish hearing the thoughts of the man who was the “morning star” of the Protestant Reformation, and especially when those thoughts are rising from one of the very books of the Bible which fueled his cause. Here is just one quote of his from the opening verses: “Grace remits sin, and peace quiets the conscience. Sin and conscience torment us, but Christ has overcome these fiends now and forever”.

Looks like fun.

I will probably post again on these five verses as I would like to record a few exegetical thoughts.

Psalm 25 – “Walking with Him … in the Storm.”

As I look back over this Psalm, I feel like I have learned a LOT. Probably the biggest thing I’ve learned though I would summarize under the heading of “walking with Him in the storm.”

Here’s the deal: One of my favorite stories in the Bible is Jesus calming the storm. The storm was raging, the waves crashing, and a bunch of seasoned fishermen were quite sure they were all going to drown. (In fact, to add to the drama, I have felt for the years that the storm itself was probably demonic. I strongly suspect that Satan thought he was going to drown Jesus and the disciples the same way he killed all of Job’s children with a single micro-blast of wind). What did Jesus do? He just stood and said, “Peace! Be still!” and the storm not only stopped, the Bible says, “There was a great calm.” Connection? I know that He can do the same with the “storms” in my life. All He has to do is say, “Peace! Be still!” and all my problems could be over. Any time. He has the power. And He might. I wish He would.

Working through this Psalm, David’s pain in one sense only reminded me of mine. I wish so much He would just say, Peace! Be still” and make it all go away. But as I finally worked my way down to the final verses of the Psalm, I realized that faith is by its very nature an unfinished business. David was praying that prayer, “The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Bring me out from my distresses.” But I know that, as the words finished coming from his mouth or he laid down his pen, the problems were all still there. Would they go away? Maybe. Eventually yes. But I have never really thought about the fact that most of the time we pray in faith, beg God for answers, for help, for strength, for deliverance only to stand up to live in a world that hasn’t changed at all. We go on in faith believing that God has heard us and that He will, in His time, in His way, give us what is best. But … that is unfinished business.

It would be wonderful to sit in that boat and actually see that “great calm.” What a rush that must have been. Storms don’t just “end.” They subside. Wow what it must have been like to sit there in that boat, knowing just a second ago there was a horrific storm howling and now … now the lake is completely calm. Yeah. Jesus. It would be so nice if that could happen in my life.

But I realized that isn’t usually the case. And faith must go on. Then I read that little quip, “When the Lord gives us a bitter cup to drink …” and I thought it would say, “He delivers us from it” only to read on and instead see “… He’ll give us the strength to drink it.” Now that’s different. “Strength to drink it.” Once again, I’d rather be delivered. But He gives strength to drink it, to face it, to go through it.

Then I noticed something I’ve never seen before. In at least one of those storms, Jesus had Peter step out of the boat and walk on the waves, on the storm, so to speak. I’ve never thought about what a rush that must have been for Peter – not just to be delivered from the storm, but actually to be able to walk with Jesus in it. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked with Jesus in the fire. Peter walked with Jesus in the storm. Here’s my deal – I am sure, in a sense that neither Peter nor the guys wanted it to end. And all of a sudden, in my life, I’m finding a never before experienced sense of joy; a joy of walking with Him in the storm. The storm has really howled the last couple of weeks. The fire is definitely “seven times hotter.” Yet, as I’ve suffered through it all, I have been more aware than ever before that He is with me in it, that He is giving me the strength to face it, to keep walking through it. He is with me in the storm. And honestly, there is a very soul-deep sense of joy in that, a joy I can’t say I’ve ever really experienced before.

It still hurts. A LOT. This body gets exhausted. I almost can’t take it. But then, there He is. Like Phil 4:13, He is giving me strength. And a really, really strange thing happens. I almost don’t want it to end. If only He’ll keep carrying me, if only somehow He’ll keep making a way minute by minute, then in a sort of faint way I can see that “strength to drink it” is almost a better answer than “deliver me from it.”

This is NOT to say I’m asking for trouble. I do get tired and I do long for all of this  to be over. I still wish He’d just say, “Peace! Be still!” and calm the storm.

But having studied this Psalm, I am more aware than ever that He may not. But I’ve also made some kind of a step. I faintly see that higher plane. And my soul values it.

Another thought on it all – as I’ve been trying to live this: what got Peter? … while he was walking with Jesus in the storm? We’ve all read it. He stopped looking at Jesus and started looking instead at the wind and waves. That is exactly when I’ve been losing it. that’s when I’ve been getting irritable with other people, feeling hopeless, etc. … when I start focusing on the storm and forgetting Who I’m walking in it with. It’s like a mental discipline I have to keep practicing. The Lord is good. He is with me. He will “give me the strength to drink it.” It will end. I’m going through this with Him. There are definitely points where I am seriously struggling to stay up and I find myself praying, "Lord help me see You." I can only "make it" if I can keep seeing Him -- "with my gaze fixed on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith."

So that’s the biggest thing I think I’ve learned. To walk with Him in the storm … and actually find a joy in it.

Hmmmm. Wow. He gives such good gifts. I suppose I started studying this Psalm maybe hoping I’d learn something that could somehow end the storm. Instead He gave me something better. Something I didn’t even realize could be a gift, to actually know joy in the storm.

I’m so glad that it will all end some day. I wouldn’t mind if He decided it was today. But then again … maybe I’d rather keep working on this thing, this walking with Him in the storm.

May He give me the strength. May I really know what it means, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”

To whoever stumbles across my feeble thoughts, may it encourage you some way too. May you know Him, walk with Him, know His love and loving Him. Blessings on you.

On to Galatians I think. Hope to study it with my good old friend John Eadie. He always lifts me to praises beyond what I’ve known before. Looking forward to it.

Psalm 25 – “Structural Thoughts on the Psalm as a Whole”

Having studied through the entire Psalm, here is my literal translation. I’ve inserted some lines to break up what I think are the major sections and also indented to indicate what I think is the logical progression. YHVH is the four letters for the Lord’s name “Yahveh” or “Jehovah,” the great “I Am.” Words in [ …] do not appear in the Hebrew but I have inserted them in an attempt to make sense in English. I also underline pronouns which are emphatic in Hebrew. My intent is to translate as close to the Hebrew as I can, for study purposes, not necessarily to make it readable. Here we go:

Psalm 25

¹[Given] to David: To You, YHVH, I lift up my soul.

²My God, I trust [recklessly] in You. Let me not be ashamed. Do not let my enemies triumph over me.

³Also, do NOT let ones waiting for/hoping in You be ashamed. Let be ashamed ones dealing unfaithfully without cause.

⁴Cause me to know Your ways, YHVH. Train me [in] Your paths.

⁵Cause me to travel in Your truth.  Train me because You [are] the God of my deliverance. On You I wait/hope all the day.

⁶Remember Your mercies YHVH and Your loving-kindnesses because they [are] from [the] ages.

⁷Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellions. According to Your loving-kindness may You remember me, in answer to Your goodness, YHVH.

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⁸Good and upright [is] YHVH, therefore He will teach/shoot sinners in the way.

⁹He will cause humble ones to travel in discernment, And He will train humble ones [in] His way.

¹⁰All the paths of YHVH [are] love and faithfulness to ones keeping His covenant and His testimonies/warnings.

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¹¹In answer to Your name YHVH, even forgive my perversion because it [is] great.

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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 ones fearing Him, and to cause them to know [His] covenant.

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

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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.

First of all, some thoughts about the structure of the Psalm: It is an Acrostic as noted by everyone, although it departs in a few places from a perfect acrostic order. Verse 5 would be the vav but instead starts with aleph-vav. Verse 18 should start with Pe but instead both vv 18 & 19 start with resh. Verse 22 starts with a Pe which is not acrostic at all. However, verses 1 (first),11 (middle), and 22(end) would spell aleph. Some scholars suggest that these deviations from the perfect acrostic order should be attributed to the text having been corrupted down through the years. Personally, I rather think the deviations are deliberate and intended to provide emphasis.

What do I mean? I’m not sure why v5 starts with aleph-vav rather than just vav. However, it is interesting that, as one would read down through the Psalm in Hebrew (or listen to it recited), it would be notable that suddenly verse 18 has a Resh, not a Pe, which would cause one then to notice that the next verse also starts with Resh – two in a row, only to come to the “end” of the acrostic in verse 21, then suddenly to hear the missing Pe. It is as if David is saying, “I never intended to leave out the Pe. It was coming. I just wanted you to think about verses 18&19.”

We could do the same thing in English. Our “poetry” is written specifically so that there is a notable “rhythm” and the ends of the lines rhyme. One way to make a line stand out (for emphasis) would be to break that rhythm or have a line that suddenly doesn’t rhyme at all. It would have the same effect – the perfect order is very pleasant to our ears but it can also be hypnotic, to where we aren’t really “listening” to the words, just enjoying the flow. To break the flow would definitely cause us to “wake up” and say, “Hey! That isn’t right!”, only to “get their drift” when we see they’ve made a significant point. I guess I’m suggesting that the departure from a perfect order might be very deliberate and intended for emphasis, not a result of transmission errors.

The other thing, as far as order is that it seems clear to me that the Psalm can be broken up (as indicated by my lines and indentions) as verses 1-7 (General Requests), vv 8-10 (Statements of faith about YHVH), v11 (the middle verse and a Request), then vv12-15 would correspond to verses 8-10, only now they’re statements about the “one fearing the Lord,” then verses 16-22 would correspond to vv 1-7, only now they are very specific and personal requests. It strikes me that this order is very logical. As I noted in my study, faith is the fuel that keeps altar-fire of prayer burning. So it makes perfect sense that this “prayer” is a mixture of requests and statements of faith (which would support those requests). It is also logical that the first “round” of requests are more general, while the latter get very specific and personal. It also strikes me as logical that the first round of faith statements concern the character of God Himself, while the second concern the believer living under that God.

The Hebrew words included in the Psalm are most colorful. All three major words for “sin” appear, along with a wide assortment of words for “affliction.” The name YHVH appears ten times. Verse 7 and 11 notably repeat the phrase “In answer to Your goodness (v7)/name (v11), YHVH.” Also the words for “way” or “path” appear six times.

This all probably sounds quite tedious but as I sit back and look at the Psalm as a whole, I feel like I understand it better, seeing this structure. I think I will plan to write one more post (when I’m able) summarizing my thoughts as I look at it as a whole.

Psalm 25:15-22 – “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.

Psalm 25:16 – “Alone and Afflicted”

Here is my literal translation of this verse:

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

“…alone and afflicted.” The first thing I note is how these two travel together. Is it not too often true that to be afflicted is to be alone? The word translated “afflicted” is the same word as back in v9 where I noted it means to be crushed, beaten down, conquered, afflicted, etc. When we get “beaten down” by whatever it makes us very aware of who around us really cares. To realize that, really, no one cares, only adds to the pain. Then sometimes it is true that there are people who really do care very deeply but simply cannot do anything to help, besides offer their sympathy and kindness. Though perhaps they care deeply, still we find ourselves seemingly alone in the sense that we suffer with no one to deliver us.

As hopeless and despondent as this may sound, yet is it not true that it is at these very times we most realize our utter dependence on God? David here prays to the Lord, “Turn to me and be gracious to me …” because clearly there is no one else to help him. Either no one cares to or no one is able. Either way, in this world, he is very painfully alone.

I want to interject at this point that sometimes there is something someone else can do. It occurs to me that we should all strive to be more aware of when people around us are hurting and there really is something we could do to “help.” God help us all, as we realize how deeply it hurts to suffer alone, to do all we can to be the kind of friends who really are “there” when others need us.

But then, going in another direction, studying this verse reminds me that, as much as I may care, as much as I may want to help, it will too often be true that I simply cannot help them. I can’t get away from work, don’t have the money, simply don’t know what to do, lack the expertise, etc. All I can offer is my sympathy and love. As valuable as that may be, it still leaves the other person “alone.” But that is not all bad. There simply is a time when we all have to realize that other people need God too, that we cannot take His place, that when human resources are spent, even people we love must, in a sense, be left alone to nurse their relationship with the only One Who really can help. It would be great to go to someone and say, “I desperately need $50,000 to pay some bills that are crushing me,” and have them say, “Here’s a check. Go take care of it.” But can we say it is in the end a far greater privilege, realizing there is no one, to find our souls grasping Heb. 4:16 and going boldly to the Throne of Grace, to “obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need,” only to find there that we truly have known communion with God, have known the comfort of His presence, have savored the little cordials of love from His gentle hand, and perhaps, eventually, even enjoyed one of His great miraculous deliverances?

I think I can honestly say, as much as it hurts to suffer alone, as much as it hurts to live with no earthly deliverance, yet I’d rather go on suffering only to one day die and be able to say, “But I have known God.”

So I guess both are true. On the one hand, God give me the eyes to see the pain in others’ lives, to do all I honestly can to relieve that pain and to at least be sure they don’t suffer alone. But, on the other hand, if all I can give is my love, may I give it, while at the same time releasing them to know God themselves, praying to that end for them. God give me the wisdom to know the difference.

We all so desperately need for God to be gracious to us. Note that, once again in Hebrew, the “I” is emphatic (which is why I underlined it). Interesting that, on God’s side of the ledger David asks Him to be gracious. On David’s side of the ledger he says, “As for me (I), all I have to offer is that I am alone and afflicted.” No merit. No “You really should help me …” It’s just, “I need You.” Here is where the blood of Jesus shines. Dirty wretched rebels getting far less than they deserve can crawl to the Throne of Grace and say, “I need You.” And if God be for us, who can be against us?

For whomever may stumble across this blog,

The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.

Shalom, my friends.

Psalm 25:15 – Which Way to Look?

Here is my literal translation of this verse:

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

“…because He will bring out my feet from the net.” The “net” is of course the Hebrew equivalent of a snare. In order to catch birds, somehow they would set out a net. When the bird tried to take the bait, somehow its feet would get tangled in the net and thus it would be caught. That’s not exactly the way we think of “catching something in a net,” but the imagery certainly isn’t unfamiliar. I can certainly say for myself, I have no trouble conceiving the idea of my feet tangled in a net and being unable to escape. We all find our feet tangled in nets of perplexity, doubts, difficulties, dangers, even the threat of death itself. The “problem” proposed in this verse is finding ourselves in any of a seemingly million different ways entangled in some kind of “net” of trouble.

The question is what will we do? How do I deal with all these threats and fears and difficulties? Interestingly, David says emphatically that “He will bring out my feet from the net.” In Hebrew the “He” is emphatic, which is why I’ve underlined it. That is precisely the point we need to get fixed in our minds, that “He will bring out my feet from the net.” Only the Lord can rescue me. I may have plenty to do, steps to take, phone calls to make, etc., but I must realize that, still, it will be Him Who delivers me, or I’ll not be delivered at all. When I follow my own devices, I may escape some current danger only to land in something worse. It’s the old cliché, “Out of the frying pan into the fire!”

That is where the first half of the verse comes in: “My eyes are always toward the Lord, …” Calvin said, “It is rather our nature when in distress to devise for ourselves various methods of deliverance and salvation … We must learn to be contented with God alone.” Barnes noted, “[Ours is] a religion of dependence on God, for man’s only hope is in Him.” Thus we are admonished in Hebrews 12:1,2: “Let us run with endurance the race that is marked out for us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.” It is one of the exercises of Christian maturity to strive to keep our eyes on the Lord, by faith to believe that even while I do my duties, He remains the Master of my fate. I must cultivate this “look” of faith, of confidence, of trust and admiration, of wonder, humility, obedience, reverence, and last but not least, of affection.

Eve “saw that the fruit was good for food and pleasing to the eye …” when she should have seen that the Lord is good, that His beauty is matchless. She “looked” the wrong way and with Adam plunged the entire Creation into the misery of sin. So for us. We fall in part because of the “lust of the eyes.” Jesus said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness” (Matt 6:22,23). Our eyes are “bad” when we’re “seeing” the wrong things, valuing that which is temporal. The eye is “good” when, while fully cognizant of the present, it looks by faith beyond this world and sees the God Who’s over it all, strives to value the things He values.

The key is that, even in distress, I cannot let go my grip on Him. Even in my distress, I must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him, that the surest route to deliverance is the path of duty and love before Him, that I must “do right ‘till the stars fall,” that I must at all times and in all ways love God and love people, that I must never let love and faithfulness leave me. God’s way is the right way. Any other path will lead only to the Dungeon of Despair. And I must keep up this belief, though the deliverance seem long in coming, though the pain grows worse, not better. I must keep on saying, as this Psalm began, “Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul …”

I was reading the other day and someone remarked, “When the Lord gives us a bitter cup to drink …” In my mind, I instantly foresaw the conclusion, “He will deliver us from it.” However, I was surprised to see that wasn’t the following phrase. Instead it said, “He will give us the strength to drink it.” (!)  “When the Lord gives us a bitter cup to drink, He will give us the strength to drink it.” I realized that is actually far more encouraging. I would love to be delivered today from all my troubles. But I’ve lived long enough to know first of all it’s not going to happen and second, even if it did, a whole new host of problems would rush in to fill the vacuum. It’s far more important to know, in this world, that the Lord will give me the strength to keep on, to help me keep my eyes on Him.

Even as I suffer, even as I fear, may He remain the “apple of my eye.” May I struggle even believing that “He will bring out my feet from the net.” He’ll do it His way, in His time, and my task is simply to keep on striving to follow Him, to keep “looking” to Him.

Lord help us. We love You. Help us love You.

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 ones 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 “ones 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 – except my love. So, I suppose, 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).

“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.

Friday Morning Thought

Jeremiah 32:38,39: "They will be My people, and I will be their God. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and the good of their children after them."

Oh for "singleness of heart and action" to always do right ... especially if in any possible way my life can mean blessing to my children. Lord help us.

Psalm 25:12,13 – The Blessing of ‘Good’

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.

In my last post, I recorded my thoughts regarding verse 12. Verse 13 continues expressing blessings that come to the man who fears the Lord.

The beginning of verse 13 says “His soul shall lodge in good …” Spurgeon notes, “He who fears God has nothing else to fear.”

Then the latter half says, “His seed shall possess [the] land.” Barnes observes, “Next to our care concerning our souls is our care concerning our seed, and God has a blessing in store for the generation of the upright … their children shall fare the better for their prayers when they are gone.”

Those two quotes pretty much sum up my thoughts.

But a few technical details:

I think it significant that the verb in the first phrase is “lodge,” not “dwell,” which is probably the more common translation. There is a Hebrew word yashab which means “to dwell, settle, remain” and carries the idea of a settled existence. That word corresponds to the Greek verb oikeo (an oikos is a house). But yashab is not the word here. It is lavan or lun, which means literally “to lodge, to spend the night.” The Hebrew word for an inn is malon, where the last three Hebrew letters are the same as the verb lun. The Greek word that corresponds to lun is aulizomai, which means “to lodge, to bivouac, to pass the night in a place” and the Greek word aulai refers to the unroofed courtyard in the middle of a typical oriental house. In the Septuagint, aulizomai is the Greek word selected to translate lun in this verse. Both the Hebrew lun and the Greek aulizomai are words expressing a sense of transience, contingency, impermanence, even uncertainty, as compared to yashab or oikeo, which express settled permanence. My conclusion is that the first phrase of this verse should at least express some sense of transience rather than settled existence, and so I translate it, “His soul shall lodge in good, ...”

Someone will object that I’m splitting hairs, but, as always, my answer is that this is the Word of God. My first goal in studying is to do my very best to understand exactly what He has said (and what He has not said). With that (hopefully) crystal clear in my mind, then I feel free and confident to suggest translations, meanings, applications, even extrapolations and interpolations. But first we need to be precise. Just in case someone reads this and still thinks I’m trifling, is it not true that you wish people were more careful to understand what you say? Is it not a common grief that people listen carelessly to your words, then run off and inaccurately report to others you said this or that? How much more important must it be to listen carefully to God, to spend the extra few minutes trying to be sure I understand exactly what He has said (and not said)?

Anyway … case in point: One commentator suggested that this first phrase refers to the believer’s eternal dwelling in Heaven, “His soul shall dwell in good, …” It is true that believers’ souls will dwell in good for all eternity. Even sweetly true. But would you not agree that, understanding the difference between lun and yashab, that is not at all likely the Lord’s meaning here? Once again, the word chosen expresses some sense of contingency or transience. That being the case, it has to refer somehow to our earthly existence. In Heaven there will be no transience, only settled security. Only here (and only here(!)) is a believer’s bliss transient.

So somehow it is true that, while living in this world, a believer (the man who fears the Lord) will lodge (transiently) in good. Being completely frank with one another, doesn’t that rather perfectly express our experience? I do enjoy “good” here. The Lord is good. He does good things for me. He provides me with good. But even as I enjoy a “good,” I’m very aware that enjoyment here is temporary. I can be sitting comfortably in my chair counting my blessings only to have one phone call shatter it all and leave me reeling and struggling to once again see the “good.” Yes? God is good. I’ve been born again. I’m His child. But I still live in a threatening world. And, as if demonic hosts and an evil world system weren’t enough, I have my own sin nature always working overtime to kill me. Yes, as a believer here on earth, I fully expect to enjoy the good things of the Lord, but I also know reality says to enjoy them with an open hand. While logically I “dwell” in good, experientially I “lodge” in it.

I wonder why it is “His soul shall lodge in good, …” Why “soul”? The mention of the word is probably what sent the one commentator suggesting the verse was referring to eternity. I don’t think David is meaning to distinguish “soul” from body. Hebrew isn’t usually that technical. I would rather think the more common Hebrew use of the word is to express man in the totality of his existence. “The Lord breathed into him the breath of life and the man became a living soul.” I would rather think that is the idea. “Who is the man who fears the Lord? His whole being, the totality of his existence, every corner of his life shall lodge in good.” As discussed above, this is not to say he doesn’t know pain and heartache. But that said, still there’s no corner of his life where he doesn’t experience the good of the Lord. I must hold His “good” things with an open hand, but, when they come, they touch every corner of my being.

And it is “good.” Back in verses 7&8, David said, “… remember me, in answer to Your goodness, Lord. Good and upright is the Lord …” Some versions translate it “ease,” “his soul shall dwell in ease.” I don’t care for that translation. It is limiting the simple word “good” to only one small expression of its meaning. And, if I may add, I don’t even think the translation, “His soul shall dwell in ease” communicates the meaning of the verse. Where it is going is this: The Lord is good. It is His very nature to be good, to do good. That’s precisely why one will “lodge in good” if he tries to walk with God. The Lord is good. To walk in Antarctica is to be cold, because it is cold. To walk in the Sahara is to be hot, because it is hot. To walk in the rain is to get wet, because it is wet. To walk with God is to “lodge in good” because He is good. It is not a cliché: The Lord is good. Our minds need to settle on the Lord’s goodness like a fence post in concrete, like a spike in a wall. Even when it seems we are only “lodging” in good, yet we must fix our thoughts on His goodness. The Lord is good. All that He does is good. He can only do me good, because He is good. If Eve had not doubted God’s goodness (… the Lord knows [there’s something He’s holding out on …]”, she would never have reached out and taken the fruit. And you and I would not sin except in some way we think there’s something “better” out there that God is holding back from us. We must settle our hearts upon His goodness.

And speaking of good, the Lord really knows the very deepest recesses of our hearts – what is the good He mentions in this verse? “His seed shall possess the land.” Our children. As Barnes noted, “Next to our care concerning our souls is our care concerning our seed, and God has a blessing in store for the generation of the upright … their children shall fare the better for their prayers when they are gone.”

Their children. Barnes is right. I certainly want to spend eternity in heaven. But I feel in my heart that right next to that (and even completely overlapping it) is my care for my children. To the very deepest recesses of my soul I feel that as long as they fare well, my soul is satisfied. I wish the best for the rest of the world, but I can think of no greater “good” the Lord can do for me than to “know my children walk in truth,” that they are blessed, happy, that they marry well. I have said before and I still think it true: If I could know that all my children will walk with God and be blessed and all my grandchildren and their children after them will walk with God and be blessed, I could simply die today and be gone. My work would be “done” here. In a sense my soul’s deepest desire to live at all is for whatever opportunity I might have to do my children good. The language “shall possess the land” is exactly the same wording for Israel’s “possessing the land” and I would suggest David’s intent is to paint that same picture. In a Hebrew mind there could have been no greater blessing than to know his children would live on in the Promised Land. And I can think of no greater good the Lord could do for me than to see that my children live on in the Promised Land of the Lord’s amazing good.

The Lord is good. All that He does is good. He has promised to always do me good.

May I live like I believe it today. May I enjoy all these privileges. May my soul know it is “lodging in good” and may my children lodge in that same goodness all the days of their lives. Now that’s blessing.