Reading Psalms

 

Reading the Psalms

 

Did you know that Psalms is the most quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament? In Psalms we see the Incarnation, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. In Psalms we wrestle with how God’s justice is worked out in the world and in our lives, we confront good and evil, joy and sorrow, grief and joy, friends and enemies, ignorance and understanding.

 

In Psalms we can unashamedly confront raw emotion, from the depths of hell to the heights of heaven – there is no religious pretension in Psalms, there is even the abrupt dead end of Psalm 88.  Have you ever faced a dead end in your life?

 

In Psalms, the Holy Spirit invites us to hear the Father speaking to the Son and the Son responding to the Father. In Psalms we see “the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16) from the Creation to the Body of Christ, from eternity past to eternity future.

 

The Psalms invite us into the cosmic dance of the Trinity, not as observers but as participants. As Peter writes, we “become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).

 

In Psalms we hear the Voice of the Son, sometimes this is the Voice of the Head of the Body and sometimes it is the Voice of the Body and sometimes, as Augustine points out, we can’t distinguish between the two.  (If this sounds like a mystery, it is.)

 

What I am trying to say is that there is more to Psalms than we think there is – and saints for ages have known this, which is why Psalms has been the Voice of the Church since Moses and Miriam and Aaron sang of God’s deliverance at the Red Sea. (How have we come to lose our Voice?)

And so I want to encourage us to read a psalm each day, beginning with Psalm One and working through the book, and then beginning again at Psalm One, and so forth and so on for the rest of our lives. What we see and hear will expand and develop and grow and assume texture and nuance and fabric and point and counterpoint – and we will see and hear Jesus Christ coming to us, speaking to us, speaking through us – drawing us onward and upward into koinonia with the Trinity and the Communion of Saints.

 

If this sounds like a mystery…it is.

 

Some observations:

 

As you become familiar with Psalms you will see that there are different themes in different sections – this is part of the discovery process.

 

When I read about “enemies” I tend to think of the enemies of my own soul – my selfishness for example. However, let us not be so foolish as to think that there are not evil people and movements in the world, there most certainly are. There is unspeakable evil in the world working in and through people who have given themselves over to darkness – Psalms gives us an outlet for praying about these things, for giving them into the hands of God and trusting Him to resolve all in His time and in His Way. Psalms teaches us to be God’s Light in darkness, His hope in the midst of despair, agents of His deliverance, in Christ, for those in captivity.

 

I encourage us to read Psalms aloud – reading silently is a relatively recent historical practice, when we read aloud we hear and “see” the words – it can be like looking into a View Master…words assume a depth we didn’t perceive.

 

Why am I so excited about Psalms? Because I am excited about Jesus Christ, and He comes to us again and again and again in the Psalms.

 

Jesus says to us, “Come and you will see.” (John 1:39).

 

And as Philip says to Nathanael, I say to you in all love, “Come and see.” (John 1:46).

 

May you have a blessed 2024 in our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Reading the Old Testament in 2024

 

Reading the Old Testament

 

Good morning beloved,

 

In my reflection on reading the NT I have two immediate goals, to encourage us to read one NT chapter per day, which will lead us to read the entire NT during the coming year.

 

In today’s reflection I also have two goals, to encourage us to read one OT chapter each day, which will expose us to the entire OT – since there are 929 chapters in the OT, reading one chapter per day will not result in reading the entire OT in a year, but it is a start for those of us who need either a start or who need to renew our relationship with the Word.

 

In a third reflection, which I will hopefully send either later today or tomorrow, I will encourage us to read one Psalm each day throughout the year, indeed, for the rest of our lives.

 

Again, there are many Bible reading schedules online, such as those found at the American Bible Society and you may find a comprehensive one that appeals to you. The only way to know the Bible is to read the Bible, it is not to read about the Bible. Yes, there are resources to help us think about what we are reading, and the quality and type of resources are varied, but if we aren’t going to read the Bible we aren’t going to know the Bible. Also, as a reminder, this isn’t about information or data, it is about a relationship with Jesus Christ and our Father (and with one another) in the Holy Spirit.

 

There are 39 books in what we call the Old Testament, filled with names and places and people who are not only not familiar to most of us, but we also can’t even pronounce many of them. As for pronunciation, do the best you can, the people are all dead and won’t care.

 

When I think about the OT (in our current context), I don’t think about 39 books, I rather think of 5 sections – this is helpful to me because 5 of anything is easier to think about than 39. In terms of a mansion, I don’t think in terms of 39 rooms but rather of 5 wings or sections or corridors. In my own OT reading I want to make sure that I am being refreshed in all 5 wings throughout the year – that is, whether I actually read the entire OT in a given year I want to ensure that I am reading within each genre during the year (and please understand that my own approach to reading has varied over the years – but the key is that it has been consistent, it has been daily – I want to meet Jesus Christ in His Word in the fabric of my life).

 

I am not a proponent of reading the Bible straight through from beginning to end. This means that I am not a proponent of reading the OT from Genesis straight through to Malachi. I am not opposed to such straight through reading, it’s just that I like to mix things up and I think varying the genre we are reading is refreshing. Plus, as a whole, the OT is not written in chronological order – parts of it are and parts of it are not – on the other hand, the OT is very much integrated, it forms a coherent whole – which means that while I am reading Malachi that I am seeing its relationship with Leviticus and 1 Kings. (The more familiar with the Bible we become the more we’ll see that in reading one Biblical book we are reading all the Biblical books – but this is something you need to experience yourself).

 

Here are the 5 wings of the mansion: The Books of Moses, History, Poetry, the Major Prophets, the Minor Prophets (“minor” because their books are not as long as those of the “major” prophets). As I said, thinking about 5 is easier than thinking about 39.

 

The Books of Moses are the first 5 books of the Bible. The books which give us the story of the history of Israel and Judah are Joshua – Esther. The books of poetry (though there is poetry elsewhere in the OT) are Job – Song of Solomon. The Major Prophets are Isaiah – Daniel. The Minor Prophets are Hosea – Malachi.

 

Whatever your Bible reading plan may be, I suggest that it include each of these sections. For reading one OT chapter a day in 2024, here is a suggestion:

 

Genesis: this is foundational on many fronts, plus, there is nothing quite like the story of Joseph – a picture of Jesus in many ways. O yes, if you want to glance through the genealogies rather than deeply ponder each name, I think you will be okay. There are treasures in the genealogies to be sure, but perhaps it’s best to pan for gold another time so as not to get bogged down.

 

1 & 2 Samuel: This gives the foundation of Israel’s monarchy, centered about King David – as with Genesis, there are many foundational elements here that are woven throughout the Bible.

 

Job: I make a point of reading and pondering Job at least once each year. Not only is suffering a mystery which we will never fully understand this side of heaven, but the book of Job is a reminder of how foolish our (or at least mine) thinking can be and of the danger of justifying ourselves.

 

Jeremiah: Here we see our challenges in living for Christ in a hostile cultural and religious environment. We also see challenges in vocational ministry and in other forms of church leadership – will we be faithful to Christ, or will we cave into what the crowd wants? (2 Tim. 4:1 – 5). Will we align ourselves with the Kingdom of God or with nationalism and political agendas? I make certain that I work through Jeremiah every year, as well as his book of Lamentations (which I’ve read multiple times in 2023 – it is so contemporary!).

 

Hosea – Malachi (the Minor Prophets): I’ve included all of the Minor Prophets in my suggested reading. They span a broad spectrum of time and location. Some of these prophets were in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, some in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, and some spoke specifically to other nations (Jonah, Nahum, and Obadiah). Three of these prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, served during the Restoration after the Babylonian Captivity. Some will be easier to read than others, but don’t we want to put more weight on the bar if we are going to grow?

 

It's a shame we don’t live in these prophets because they have much to say to us about Jesus Christ and about our own life situations – as individuals, as families, as congregations, and even as nations. The Bible is more than history, it is God speaking to us and into our world today in and through Jesus Christ.

 

If nothing else, once you’ve read the Minor Prophets you will have done something few others have done…including no doubt many in vocational ministry.

 

When you get to Haggai ask yourself, “Is this a picture of me and my church? Are we looking after ourselves or are we putting the Kingdom of God and His Temple before our own agendas?”

 

Exodus, chapters 1 – 24: Here is the foundational narrative of Moses, the Exodus from Egypt, and the forming of the Hebrews into the entity of Israel – a people called to worship and serve God and serve the peoples of the earth.

 

Proverbs: This book of wisdom has many treasures, and Jesus appears throughout it if we have eyes to see Him…for let’s recall that in Him is all wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:1 – 3).

 

Judges: This takes us back to the time before the Monarchy – a time of anarchy, and yet in the midst of anarchy we see God revealing Himself to men and women and groups of people. Can we see our own society mirror the lawlessness of the book of Judges, a time when “everyone did what was right in his own eyes”? Will you and I stand with the faithful minority and seek to be faithful witnesses to Jesus Christ, or will we go along to get along and sell our souls?

 

Well, the above are simply some suggestions that will take you through 2024 by reading one chapter a day. Hopefully we will want to “read the rest of the story” – but we need to begin somewhere and somehow.

 

Much love,

 

Bob

 

 

Reading the Bible

 

Good morning beloved,

 

Based on responses I received yesterday, below is a suggested order for reading the New Testament in 2024. If we read one chapter each day we will have read the entire NT by the end of September (if memory serves me well).

There are numerous Bible reading plans available online, such as can be found at the American Bible Society. The important thing is to read the Bible – to get started and to continue with it. After all, if we aren’t practicing the basics we have nothing upon which to build. This is like learning certain steps in dance class, or certain plays in football or basketball, or learning the scales (and practicing them!) in playing music.

The suggested order is meant to give us exposure to different elements of the NT throughout the year, for example you will see that the Gospels are spread out every 2 – 3 months. You might also note that we usually have short books and then longer books, that is by design.

If you are already reading the entire NT throughout the year, wonderful! But if not, I hope you’ll please give this (or something similar) a try.

I will try to send something out about the Old Testament tomorrow or Sunday.

 

Much love,

 

Bob

 

 

New Testament – Suggested Reading Order

Mark

James

Philippians

Romans

Acts

1 Peter

Matthew

1 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians

1 Corinthians

Titus

1 John

2 John

3 John

2 Corinthians

1 Timothy

John

2 Timothy

Philemon

Galatians

Hebrews

2 Peter

Jude

Revelation

Ephesians

Colossians

Luke

Reading the Bible in 2024

 

This is my annual reflection on reading the Bible in the coming year. I feel somewhat like Peter when he wrote, “I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder…” (2 Pt. 1:13).

 

The nature of the Bible is a mystery to me, a Divine mystery. I cannot explain the dynamics of reading the Bible in the Holy Spirit, but I can describe the dynamics in some measure. This mystery is akin to what Jesus says in John 3:8, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

 

The Scriptures, rightly received, are the breath of life in Jesus Christ. I say, “rightly received” because the Bible is more than data, it is more than information, it is more than “basic instructions before leaving earth,” it is more than an “owner’s manual.” The Bible is so much more than an interpreter of current events – and it is tragic when we view the Bible in any of the foregoing manners.

 

Why is it tragic?

 

Because the Bible, rightly received, reveals Jesus Christ, His Father and our Father, and the blessed Holy Spirit. God reveals Himself through the Scriptures and draws us into the Holy Trinity; He draws us as individuals, as husbands and wives, as families, and as His People. We simply cannot see and understand the Scriptures without the Holy Spirit working within us – see 1 Corinthians 1:17 – 2:16.

 

Just as the scribes and Pharisees knew the Bible of their time (what we term the Old Testament) and yet did not know Jesus, so the professing church today claims to know the Bible but often does not actually know Jesus Christ. Those professing churches that claim to adhere to the Bible would do well to keep what Jesus says in John 5:39 - 40 before them:

 

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.”

 

I am reminded of the concept of having perceived values and actual values. Perceived values are what we think and say we value; actual values are what we actually do.

 

I have been reading the Bible for almost 60 years now and it is more exciting to me than ever for I am seeing Jesus more clearly than ever – His Light shines brighter and brighter through His Word as His Presence fills me and envelopes me. It breaks my heart that the professing church has so many substitutes for Jesus and the Bible, it just about crushes my soul that we are so easily distracted and entertained with high-gloss cheap Christianity with its therapeutic focus on our wants and needs and desires rather than on Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.

 

The first line of Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship is, “Cheap grace is the mortal enemy of our church. Our struggle today is for costly grace.” Later in the chapter Bonhoeffer writes:

 

“Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without repentance; it is baptism without the discipline of community; it is the Lord’s Super without confession of sin; it is absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without the living, incarnate Jesus Christ.” (Italics mine).

 

And I suppose I should say that reading a verse for each day, or reading a devotional book each day, is not the same as reading the Bible – the Scriptures are written to reveal Jesus Christ and to transform us into His image, the patterns and structure of what we read matters, the connected images matter, reading the Bible as a unity matters.

 

Can we cook food on a grill that only has one piece of charcoal? Can we cook food on a grill that has many charcoal brickettes if those brickettes are not close together, if they are not touching? Is it not foolish to think that the fire of God’s Word will live within us if we only put one piece of charcoal on the altar of our hearts each day? One verse today, maybe a short passage tomorrow, then another verse or two the following day?

 

What has happened to us? How have we come to live in this opium den of enculturated slumber?

 

The world needs us to be the incarnation of the Word, the world needs His Word to live within us and through us – and we, as the Body of Christ, need this from one another.

 

It is nice to celebrate Advent, but if the Incarnation is not to continue within us – as Jesus clearly taught (see John chapters 13 – 17) - then why celebrate Christmas? The Word of God is continuing to be made flesh in those who will receive Jesus Christ coming to them through His Word.

 

Will you live for Jesus today? Will you live in His Word?

 

Mark 8:34 – 38; 12:28 – 34; Psalm 1; Psalm 2; Psalm 19.

The Rock of My Refuge (6)

 

 

“But Yahweh has been my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.” Psalm 94:22.

 

What can we see in the immediate context of our verse?

 

Here are the two verses that precede it:

 

“Can a throne of destruction be allied with You, one which devises mischief by decree? They band themselves together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.”

 

Here is the verse that follows our verse, and which concludes Psalm 94:

 

“He has brought back their wickedness upon them and will destroy them in their evil; Yahweh our God will destroy them.”

 

There are three explicit ideas in this passage, and others that we can extrapolate from them – I am sure that there are more than I can see and share, hopefully you can complement them with what you also see…is this not the nature of God’s Word?

 

1.    We ought not to ally ourselves with powers of destruction – no matter how attractive they may be, no matter how pragmatic they may appear.

 

2.    The world is in rebellion against God and is intent on destroying those who belong to Him. Can we see the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in Psalm 94:21?

 

3.    God will destroy the wicked – their own wickedness will consume them.

 

In the midst of the foregoing, those who belong to Christ can say with the Son of God, “But Yahweh has been my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.” (See also Psalm 71:1 – 3, especially the idea that God is our “rock of habitation”.)

 

Our hearts and minds, our souls, can either live in the world or we can live within our Stronghold, our Rock of Refuge. We can either take our ideals and images from the world, or we can participate in the Image of God, Jesus Christ, and convey His image to the world as we are given grace. We can either live as if the world accurately portrays ultimate reality, or we can live with God being our present and enduring Reality.

 

Are we convinced, as Peter was, that Jesus Christ has “the words of eternal life”? (John 6:68).

 

Is Jesus Christ our Rock of Habitation? Are we living within Him?

 

As we conclude our reflections in Psalm 94, I want to encourage us to live in the Psalms, to ponder at least one Psalm each day – for in Psalms we will encounter the depth and length and height and breath of the Divine – human relationship and experience. In Psalms we will see Christ and His Body. In Psalms we will see teaching, such as that on theodicy, that will partner with us through the vicissitudes of life. In Psalms we can learn to see life as it really is, in the light of ultimate reality.

 

In Psalms we can discover the Voice of Christ, the Voice of His Body, and our own voices as we are drawn into the Trinity, and into koinonia with one another – drawn into the communion of the saints.

 

Will you accept your Father’s invitation to live with Him and the Son and the Spirit in Psalms?

The Rock of My Refuge (5)

 

 

“But Yahweh has been my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.” Psalm 94:22.

 

Without a Biblical theodicy, without an understanding of the character of God and His ultimate justice and judgment and of our destiny in Christ – we will go crazy, suffer anxiety and depression, and seek to medicate our distress in any number of ways. We may also attempt to become judge and jury ourselves and descend into hypocritical religion, forgetting the longsuffering and mercy of God, forgetting that it is God who causes nations to rise and fall (militarily, politically, economically, morally). In our feeble attempts to “make things right” we may align ourselves with wickedness, thinking that the end justifies the means – forgetting Psalm 94:20:

 

“Can a throne of destruction be allied with You, one which devises mischief by decree?”

 

Our psalmist writes, “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.” Psalm 94:19.

 

While God consoles and comforts us in many ways, the rock of His comfort is found in His self-revelation in His Word. We can trust what our Father says, and if we can’t trust Him then we have no hope whatsoever and life is meaningless – if we are the products of time plus matter plus chance then nothing logically matters in an ultimate sense and a person is of no more ultimate worth than a fly, for we are all headed for nothingness.

 

Regarding the words of God, “They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.” (Psalm 19:10).

 

When our trust is in God and His Word, we don’t deny the reality of evil and wickedness and the suffering of those around us, nor do we deny our own pain and suffering – but we do deny its ultimate victory, for we affirm the victory of Jesus Christ on the Cross, and we proclaim His Resurrection. We also absolutely insist that in Him we are resurrected from the dead today – from spiritual death – and that we are raised to new life in Him above the sin and death of the present age and its wickedness (Ephesians 2:1 – 10).

 

As citizens of heaven (Phil. 3:20), we see the ultimate futility of the leaders and governments and systems of this world (Psalm 2, Daniel 2), and the ultimate glory of the Kingdom of God in Christ (Rev. chapters 21 – 22).

 

And so, with our forebearers, we confess that we are looking for a City and Country not of this present age, we confess that we are strangers and pilgrims on this earth – we do this not as an apology, but as a declaration that we are called to greater and higher things in Jesus Christ…as we call others to join us on this ultimate journey (Hebrews 11:13 – 16; 12:18 – 29).

 

“Your statutes are my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.” (Psalm 119:54).

 

Is the Word of God our song? How are responding to Paul’s admonition in Colossians 3:16?

 

“Let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

 

O dear friends, wherever we go we are to be food trucks with the Bread of Life – feeding those around us with Jesus Christ. When we gather together we are to feed one another, when we scatter we are to feed the people of the world.

 

Who are we feeding today?

The Rock of My Refuge (4)

 

 

“But Yahweh has been my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.” Psalm 94:22.

 

Where are we seeking refuge?

 

Where are we centering our thoughts? What do we talk about? What do we watch and listen to? What do we read? What impresses us? What or who do we emulate? What do we aspire to?

 

The answers to these questions will tell us where we are seeking refuge, they will tell us where we are living.

 

The Apostle John has some stark words for us today, for we seem to be so impressed with success and glitz and glitter – both inside and outside the professing church:

 

“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:15 – 17).

 

“We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19).

 

We want the world when the world is good to us, we don’t want the world when the world is bad to us. Are we not fools? We want to make the world into our image rather than allow ourselves to be transformed into the image of God in Jesus Christ – we trade the temporal for the eternal – isn’t this foolish? We would rather receive the image of the world rather than the image of God – thereby rejecting our eternal glory in Christ…now tell me…isn’t this a peculiar type of insanity?

 

We can either dine at the Master’s table or we can delusionally eat from the slop bucket of the world…a slop bucket dipped into an outhouse. Let us make no mistake, no matter how good the things of the world look – behind the “look” is ugliness and dung – the fragrance of the world always turns to a stench – air freshener is a mask, it is always a mask.

 

All the more puzzling why so many Christians are impressed with the world, all the more tragic why much of the professing church now looks more like the world than the lowly Man of Galilee, the Servant Lord and Savior; the One who came, not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.

 

Well now, the psalmist sees that the “Yahweh will not abandon His people” and that a Day will come when God’s judgment will be manifested (verses 14 – 15). Indeed, the psalmist sees that while it appears the wicked are prevailing, that a pit is actually being dug for them (verse 13) – in fact, the wicked are digging their own pit, their own violence is consuming them.

 

Throughout the Scriptures we see the motif of God’s enemies consuming themselves – evil feeds upon itself, evil people consume one another, they eat wickedness and wickedness eats them – demonic birds of prey feast upon fools who reject God and seek to desecrate His image.

 

But you see, we really only know this when God’s Word becomes embedded in our souls, when our hearts and minds are anchored in His Word – when He is our Refuge and Stronghold, our Way of Life. What I write may be helpful – but only if it leads you to His Word, to living in His Word and His Word living in you – is He your Rock of Gibraltar? Are we living within Him?  

 

When the psalmist seeks someone to stand up for him, he recognizes that Yahweh is his help, and that God’s lovingkindess is holding him up (verses 16 – 18). Economics will not help us, politics will not help us, the Constitution is not our sacred text (nor any of its amendments!), cotton candy Christianity is not our support, popular (and usually ill-founded) Christian teaching on prophecy is a distraction, particular worship motifs can be poor substitutes, military might is a weak savior – there is no help for the follower of Jesus Christ other than the Person of Jesus Christ in the koinonia of the Trinity and the People of God. If we are to live in Him in eternity, ought we not to live in Him now? If we are to be joined with one another in eternity, ought we not to be joined with one another in Him now?

 

The psalmist asks, “Can a throne of destruction be allied with You, one which devises mischief by decree?” (v. 20). The answer of many professing Christians and their leaders would seem to be “Yes, it can.”

 

How else can we explain the political – religious alliances we see in our own nation? How else can we explain churches (such as the Russian Orthodox Church) endorsing the invasion of other countries? How else can we understand our rejection of our heavenly citizenship? (Phil. 3:20; Heb. 11:13 – 16).

 

How can we be appalled at the wickedness of the world outside the professing church and not be disgusted with the wickedness within the professing church? I’m not talking about other tribes within the church, I’m talking about our own tribes.

 

Who will be identified with Jesus Christ and Him crucified? Who will be determined to know nothing but Him, to have no other message than Him? (1 Cor. 1:17 – 2:5). Who will proclaim and teach that in Jesus Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”? (Col. 2:3).

 

The longer we dwell in a Psalm, in a passage of Scripture, the more we can see in Christ, the clearer our vision becomes. How do we know we are moving in the right direction in Scripture? When we see Christ, when we are drawn to Christ, when our hearts delight in Jesus Christ.

 

How are you seeing Jesus Christ in Psalm 94? How is He coming to you in this psalm?

The Rock of My Refuge (3)

 

“But Yahweh has been my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.” Psalm 94:22.

 

How does God become our stronghold and the Rock of our refuge?

 

What do you think about the foregoing question? What do you think about its wording?

 

Is it God who “becomes” or is it we who “become”? Yes, I realize this is a manner of speaking, this question of how God becomes our stronghold and rock, but we nevertheless ought to realize that at the heart of the question must be the realization that God is our stronghold and rock precisely because He does not change, He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). God in Christ changes us so that our vision and understanding and character and heart and mind are transformed into His image as we enter into Him and as He enters into us – we live in Him and He lives in us.

 

An element of our transformation is discipline and chastisement as His Word works within us and upon us (Heb. 4:9 – 16).

 

“Blessed is the man whom You chasten, O Yah, and whom You teach out of Your law; that you may grant him relief from the days of adversity, until a pit is dug for the wicked.” (Psalm 94:12 – 13).

 

Let’s consider the context of these two verses. The psalmist is distressed at wickedness and oppression and is calling out to God for justice - an element of God’s response to his prayer is discipline. That is, while the psalmist is looking at the wickedness of others, God is looking at the psalmist and is disciplining him and teaching him out of the Word of God. While God is indeed looking at the wickedness of others, and while God will indeed judge the wicked, God the Father is also looking at His sons and daughters and is disciplining them so that they may be granted “relief from the days of adversity” (Ps. 94:13). As Hebrews 12:4 – 11 teaches us, the Father disciplines His children so that they may “share His holiness” and yield “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

 

The psalmist responds to God’s discipline by saying, “Blessed is the man whom You chasten O Yah, and whom You teach out of Your law…” He (the psalmist) is assured that, “…Yahweh will not abandon His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance.”

 

Our Father disciplines us so that we will not be judged with the wicked, He reminds us that there must be no partnership between righteousness and lawlessness, or fellowship between light and darkness; nor can there be agreement between the temple of God (we are that Temple!) and idols (2 Cor. 6:14 – 7:1).

 

The injustice we see in the world must not be found in us. The wickedness of the present age ought not to be found within the Temple of the Living God. It is the mercy of God which disciplines and convicts and transforms His children – and we are called to rest assured that He corrects us because He loves us, and that He “will not abandon His people.” This is all part of the process by which we come to know God as our stronghold and the Rock of our refuge.

 

Even as we recognize wickedness around us, we are called to pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting Way” (Ps. 139:23 – 24).

 

This is akin to realizing that when we pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” that “on earth” ought to begin within my earth – within my heart and mind and soul and body – God’s will and work must begin within me before I look for it in others. Yes, we want God’s will to be done “out there,” but it must begin “in here, in me,” before it begins out there. Am I willing to be the answer to my prayer for His will to be done on earth? Are you?

 

Wickedness can be seductive. Augustine realized that hideous and bloody gladiatorial games had their seduction about them, and while we may recoil at this thought, the truth of Augustine’s observation is borne out with our fascination with violence in its many forms – from sports to video games to television and movies and song lyrics and political rhetoric to news…sadly even within some “Christian” productions. We ought not to be ashamed at being innocent regarding violence and wickedness any more than we should be ashamed at being sober rather than drunk.

 

And let’s remember, we can’t help others if we are drunk.

 

How is our Father’s discipline transforming you into the image of His Son?