Monthly Archives: August 2009

For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the deeps.

Psalm 135:5-6

It’s often very easy to lose sight of who it is we’re dealing with (or rather, Who’s dealing with us) when it comes to the LORD. I strongly believe that it’s a good idea to regularly dwell on the character and nature of God- who He is and what he’s like. After all, He’s the One we were created to worship, love, obey, enjoy, honor, fear (as well as so much more). Our whole lives are to be directed to him.

The LORD is great indeed! There’s no one above Him and no one that doesn’t answer to Him. He’s in complete control of everything. What an amazing privilege it is to know this God and be known by Him. My prayer is that we will regularly press in to know Him more and more.

Psalm 131- Oh LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with it’s mother; liked a weaned child with its mother is my soul within me. Oh Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.

Pride is a beast; A beast that rears it’s ugly head and desires to exalt “self” above everyone else…including God. Maybe this statement strikes some as a bit extreme, but I think it’s fair and pretty well attested to from the scriptures. James 4:6 says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble”. What a fearful thing it is to be opposed by God Almighty Himself. That’s one battle no man can win! God opposes pride precisely because it is a sinful desire to exalt “self”.

In Psalm 131, we are given a tiny but powerful glimpse into what a life removed from this sort of arrogance and pride looks like. David here shows us a picture of humility and godly contentment.

Oh LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high- David is affirming to God himself that he is not proud…he‘s not full of himself, AND that he has not exalted himself so as to look down on other people. A big part of what it means to be proud is to be full of oneself and to have feelings of superiority over other people. These things run counter to what the scriptures describe as the kind of character that pleases the LORD. We are to “Put on…as God’s chosen one’s, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience” Colossians 3:12.

Instead of looking down on others we should, “do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves“. Philippians 2:3. David, by God’s grace is able to display such godly qualities.

Next he says, “I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me”. I believe what he has in view here when he speaks of “things too great and marvelous for me” is sinful ambition. People often get filled with the kind of ambition that leads them to be discontent with what the LORD has given them and drives them to figuratively kick God to the curb in an attempt to pursue whatever it is that they desire.

We live in a world that says WHATEVER THE COST (what ever you have to do or say….whoever you have to step on or deceive or worse) YOU GET YOURS! This is a decidedly ungodly attitude. Pastor/ Author James Montgomery Boice had this to say concerning ambition and the culture in which we live:

“If we are to be true Christians in this area, we must learn to stand against the distorted values of our culture, knowing that character is more important than career, godliness more important than success, and helping others more important than amassing great wealth.”

In order to avoid the pitfalls of pride and sinful ambition we have to learn to rest in the LORD and His provision for us. David closes this Psalm by likening his soul to “ a weaned child with it’s mother”. He learned to humble himself and to be content with the LORD’s ability to meet his needs. Folks, instead of exalting ourselves let’s have soul’s that are like weaned children. Let’s heed Peter’s words in 1 Peter 5:6:

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.”

The Bible affirms that people are created in the image of God. God is exists as a Trinity- Three distinct persons, who are fully God & somehow one. The Father is God, The Son is God, The Holy Spirit is God. From before time began, God existed in perfect community & fellowship with himself. The 3 members of the Trinity share profound unity in love for and knowledge of each other.  This is the believers basis for puruing this kind of community with other believers.

Part of what it means to bear the image of God is to know and love other people within the context of a community. Jesus Christ died to redeem a bunch of sinful people and create such a community…to restore the image of God  in his people. Paul speaks of this new humanity of people in Colossians 3:9-11

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off  the old self with its practices ¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of  its creator. ¹¹ Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Believers have been placed into a new community where Christ is supreme. We are to put away everything that doesn’t reflect this new position that we have been given. Our identity in Christ is what now defines us. Our character and our actions should be becoming of those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and we ought to live in such a way that we seek to mirror the unity of community that we see diplayed by our Triune God. Pastor/ author Tim Keller had this to say,

Ultimate reality is a community of persons who know and love one another. That is what the universe, God, history, and life is all about. . . . We believe the world was made by a God who is a community of persons who have loved each other for all eternity. You were made for mutually self-giving, other directed love. Self-centeredness destroys the fabric of what God has made.

Tim Keller from The Reason for God (pg. 216-15)

Oh that the LORD would give us hearts that long to preseve the unity that Jesus has afforded us by his death. Let’s reflect Him well.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

The passage above is taken from Paul’s discussion of the wrath of God in Romans 1. Verse 18 of chapter 1 states,

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth”

Reading this passage, you might expect sulfur and fire to follow next, but instead Paul writes,

“…they[humanity collectively] became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.” from romans 1:21.

Many people think of God’s wrath as an exclusively future event involving God’s final judgement against sin (fire and brimstone and such), but Paul makes it very clear that besides this future element, God’s wrath involves a present aspect as well. God’s wrath is presently revealed in His giving people over to the sinful desires of their hearts.

It’s a terrifying thing to think of God giving people over to sin. Sin is serious and it’s hardening effects are not to be underestimated. God is Holy and He will punish sin.

Believers should rejoice that the LORD has spared them from such a fate (being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin). Praise God that Jesus has soaked up the full measure of God’s wrath for all those who repent a believe!