5808 Yes we must lift up our souls to Him for
comfort. Because we face loneliness and affliction. The world is not
only full of attraction but it is a place where there is constant
friction and hatred. And we are confronted by being in the public arena
with the schemes men have devised so that the spirit is one of
treachery. We can lift up our souls to God so that we might find rest in
His love and forgiveness. Because when we have learned to find all of
our rest and comfort from this world we are able to say as His purposes
are being worked out through us that we will not be put to shame. He is
the access we have to Him. Here is Gods method of treating us who are in
Christ. Since we can lift our souls to Him we are under such a spirit
of love that our purposes will not be thwarted in the end. When we lift
up our souls to Him we are hoping in Him. There is no greater evidence
that our hopes will not be turned aside by Him seeing that He valued our
purposes that He sent His own Son to die and earn salvation when we did
not deserve it. God valued us so much that He gave His most glorious
gift for us.
Now all of our days are spent in following His purpose
for us. Because we are convinced by His goodness alone that what He
wants is best for us. We face so many personal troubles that we cannot
see sometimes. We are full of uncertainty in our best days. Since He
teaches us to walk in His ways then He is constantly reminding us that
we are freed from any kind of anguish that we are confronted with. We
have a conviction to want to walk in His ways. Now in our identity with
Him we are being freed from our uncertain worry.
Now that we are on
His path we are free from our past corruption and sins. He promises not
to remember the sins of our youth. And since we have this promise then
we are reminded that there is no lack of understanding that we will face
in going before Him for wisdom. Because in forgiving us the we are seen
as being in Christ. We are seen by the Father as completely righteous.
There is nothing good that He will not lead us in or teach us by leading
us. Since we suffer physical pain and the pain of being in this world,
that is all of the fears and troubles we can find our full confidence in
coming to Him for forgiveness. We know that He is just as certain to be
our help as we are to find all of our peace from His forgiveness. What
other end in His teaching us is there? If we have peace with God we have
all we need. If we have peace with God then He will bless us with all
that we need in this life. He will not only lead us to know that He has
cast our sins as far as the east is from the west, but He is determined
to bless us more than we could ask or think.
Oh He brings us
through many trials in His path for us. So that He leads us to cry to
Him for peace and relief. Then we are made aware that we have a
protection that is not natural. Then we know that He will keep us from
the dread of the wicked. All our days will be spent in praising Him for
being such a big and loving Father! Psalm 25
Ps 143 3 The enemy pursues me,
ReplyDeletehe crushes me to the ground;
he makes me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.
4 So my spirit grows faint within me;
my heart within me is dismayed.
The Psalmist has suffered some king of physical trauma or trouble from the schemes of his enemy's. This trouble has put him on his back. He is unable to get up and begin his daily routine. He is comparing his terrible pain with Gods promise to descend lower than the lowest experience in life. Gods hand is always under the worse experiences of His elect. Ps 37 23 If the LORD delights in a man's way,he makes his steps firm;24 though he stumble, he will not fall,for the LORD upholds him with his hand." The elect live in a world where there is a fierce spiritual battle. When Christ descended from His throne in His incarnation the scripture compares this to descending into hell. The world is run by Satan. The bible calls this the course of the world. The power is not from evil men who are in darkness but its from the evil forces in the heaven-lies that use the system of man to turn Gods government upside down.
This is why we face opposition that is too strong for us.Ps 18 16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me;he drew me out of deep waters.17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,from my foes, who were too strong for me." The system of this world is on the level that is beyond our control. This is why there are times when our security is reduced by the size of the opposition. Our trust in God is shaken. We must understand that the real world is Gods heavenly armies fighting against the forces of evil in the heaven-lies. We are caught in a universal struggle of mystical forces. Here the Psalmist feels overwhelmed by the opposition and he is comforted in the promise that if Gods judgement depended upon man then the Psalmist would have no hope. But God lowers Himself below our lowest experiences because He has provided us with a promise that He will never leave us or forsake us in His covenant. Ps 94 14 For the LORD will not reject his people;he will never forsake his inheritance.15 Judgment will again be founded on righteousness,
and all the upright in heart will follow it."
The Psalmist is teaching that when we face opposition or injury that makes us feel powerless that we are experiencing a world that is disjointed. Our hopelessness is brought about by a world where everyone is unable to walk uprightly. The world has gone astray from Gods law. When men sin they create violence in society. Every sin against God is an attack on mans neighbor. When men sin they violate the rights of their neighbor. The Psalmist is saying that God is not taken by surprise or thwarted in His judgements. God has decreed all things and has judged the world so that He has recreated complete unity in His pronouncements. He blesses some men and He curses others. We are in need of complete deliverance. He is saying that God always promises to deliver us completely. He will reorder our lives so that we will experience His judgement coming together with His protection of us.
This is why God has gifted us with the Holy Spirit. He is the advocate who is the perfect spokesman for us that brings us complete deliverance. He says 143 10b " may your good Spirit lead me on level ground." Here the Psalmist is praying that the Spirit is the person who acts to bring about Gods blessing and cursing. The Spirit speaks for us as if Christ was walking in our path. This is why the Psalmist commands the Lord to send the Spirit to create his full deliverance. 11 For your name's sake, O LORD , preserve my life;in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.12 In your unfailing love, silence my enemies;destroy all my foes,for I am your servant." When we are opposed we must not faint or lose heart. But we must resist in the confidence that God will come and remove all our opposition. He will make it so that we can walk firmly in this life.
Ps 115 1 Not to us, O LORD , not to us
ReplyDeletebut to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness."
There is only one God. There is the living God and the dead gods. The curse of the law is the antithesis of the expression "Not to us, O LORD , not to us but to your name be the glory," This is God declaring that" the buck stops here" and is enforced by the pronouncement of death to law breakers. Those who are not elected by the sign of the covenant are under the condemnation of the law. They worship "dead gods." They possess power that is borrowed from God.
The Psalmist teaches that if God were not absolutely sovereign over all things then the earth would be ruled by dead men. In other words the only hope that is found in the world is under the control of Gods sovereignty. Outside of Gods sovereignty is the potential of the total annihilation of man and the earth. 2 Why do the nations say,"Where is their God?" (A question from someone who wields absolute power in pronouncing Gods gifts. ) The only thing that is preventing man from destroying everything is Gods withholding the full destructive desires that are in the heart of man. "140 8 do not grant the wicked their desires, O LORD ;do not let their plans succeed," (a pronounced wish) We must rise up to the pure standard of the line between cursing and blessing in order to find all of our hope in God and push away our hope that man can bring righteousness to the earth. 8Those who make them will be like them,and so will all who trust in them."(they are dead like the idols as if the king observes the bodies of the enemies of Israel lying on the ground after the battle.) In other words Gods love is His gift of the curse to us that brings the future judgement into our present experience.17" It is not the dead who praise the LORD ,
those who go down to silence; " (actual reality vs the wicked imagination.) In this Psalm eternal life is contained in the absolute power of God to pronounce life and death.
This Psalm is teaching that God does not need to add to the terrible consequences of sin. Man has the total destruction of the world dwelling in his heart. But God displays His love for His covenant people by doing as He pleases. 3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him. " Now listen this Psalm is teaching that God has the wicked on a leash. The leash has a pull chain on it. Every wicked person that is in our lives is on Gods leash. God controls the leash by blessing and cursing. The Psalmist is saying that Gods covenant people need to be encouraged so that they are able to pull the chain to prevent further destruction.12 The LORD remembers us and will bless us:He will bless the house of Israel,he will bless the house of Aaron,13 he will bless those who fear the LORD -small and great alike". Our problem is that we are under confident and lack the patience to see the withholding power of God.
We have a hard time believing that all men have a wish of death that they carry around. And they are completely blind to their destructive desires. We know that in order to subdue a ravaging wolf we must first prevent them from destroying themselves and protect Gods covenant people from being destroyed. We possess God covenant promise to curse those who destroy us. But this terrible thrashing spirit that rules the wicked world is too powerful for us to subdue. This is why God pronounces death to law breakers because Christ had to defeat the Devil by destroying his works on the cross and being enthroned over the earth. When Christ became the curse and died He subdued all the power of the Devil so that the curse becomes the universal withholding power over evil. Gods people live in a kingdom where the communication is yea and amen.. We must learn to pronounce Gods gifts in order to rule the earth that God has gifted to us as His earthly kings. 16 The highest heavens belong to the LORD ,
ReplyDeletebut the earth he has given to man.17 It is not the dead who praise the LORD ,those who go down to silence;18 it is we who extol the LORD ,both now and forevermore." ("extol" means to rule with stoutheartedness.)
2 Tim 4 16At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. 17But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. 18The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen."
ReplyDeleteThe apostle teaches that the gospel message itself is the remedy. Here he is teaching that the gospel must oppose anything that is corrupt. This means that even tho we seek to get along with other men , because we are sinners, we still stand in their way of the full salvation that is in the gospel. We cannot lower the gospel so that we can control the message and the strength that it provides for each man.Just like David having to face a more powerful enemy in needing Gods help to win, so we cannot control the power or the effects of the gospel. This is why Gods work through the gospel in and through us is always anti intuitive.
You see that it is very hard for us to take the gospel and apply it so that it is so big that it creates its own culture.We like to define and control the message so that it can give practical answers to problems. But the gospel is "the power of God unto salvation." The gospel answers the problems that we cannot describe or control. We must understand that the gospel is Gods eternal word spoken from eternity past in redeeming everything that is corrupted. This is why the apostle says that the gospel rose up to the importance in the apostle that led to all men deserting him. But at the same time the gospel overturned all the attempts to destroy the apostle.
We must see that the message of the gospel has the power over the great apostle who had more authority than any other human being in the history of the church. Whether the apostle was forced to be by himself or he was traveling all over the world , yet the gospel defined the apostles identity. In this sense the gospel is life that we live in which the kingdom of God that dwells in us can be successful in the world by its success in us. Through word and prayer we can promote the gospel in a universal way. In the end we cannot even control the method by which God uses us to make the gospel a success.
The gospel has been successful in the pronouncement of blessing upon Gods elect. The blessing of God is far greater than we could ever imagine. This gospel success is determined upon Gods work done by His covenants, laws, decrees, curses , and promises. Every thing that has ever been created both physical and meta physical is ordered or reordered for God glory because of the gospel. The standard of judgement for all things is the gospel. So we can say that the purest message of the gospels success is the perfect line between blessing and cursing. This is why the apostle is showing the weight of the circumstances does not depend upon the success of the gospel. Because the gospel is hid in God in that in order for us to experience the full power of the gospel we must rise to the level of mystery.This is why God has taken the control of the gospel out of our hands. Because His purposes that we observe in the success of the gospel are hidden in the purposes that are span into eternity...that are interwoven with the whole history of the world.