David loved to write and sing praises to the Lord. Can you think of a better reason to sing? Get your praise on today and watch your worries slip away. Let God be your fortress and strength. For He loves you with a “steadfast love.”
David loved to write and sing praises to the Lord. Can you think of a better reason to sing? Get your praise on today and watch your worries slip away. Let God be your fortress and strength. For He loves you with a “steadfast love.”
The apostle Paul wrote to correct those who had fallen prey to the “gospel” of the Judaizers, who insisted that new believers had to follow all the laws of Moses. He challenged them not to desert the “grace of Christ” revealed in the true gospel. Every generation must face a similar challenge. For every generation is faced with those who would add to or subtract from the gospel, proposing a “different gospel,” as if there could be another. But there is only one true gospel. Christ died for our sins, he was buried, and he rose again on the third day. If you will confess Jesus Christ as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved (Rom. 10:9). This is the only gospel.
This beautiful benediction closed Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. Paul’s trinitarian blessing bestowed three powerful attributes of the Godhead upon the believers at Corinth. 1) The “grace” (χάρις – charis) of Jesus. Which is Christ’s free and unmerited favor. 2) The “love” (ἀγάπη – agape) of God. Which is God’s unconditional love and chief attribute. 3) The “fellowship” (κοινωνία – koinonia) of the Spirit. Which is the abiding communion of the Spirit living in those of us who believe. May this threefold blessing be yours today!
More than a motto on our money, this is a declaration of faith. Trust in God above all others. Written by the one who slew Goliath, it is not hyperbole, but a tested conclusion, i.e. “since God is greater than man (even giant ones), I will not fear man, because I trust in God.” Wherever there is fear, especially fear of man, there is lack of faith.
On this 15th anniversary of 911, it is good to be reminded that God hears our heartfelt prayers. This Davidic psalm speaks of the spiritual discipline of praying three times a day. Just as we eat three meals a day to sustain our bodies with bread, so we should commune with the Bread of Life in prayer to feed our souls. David started with “evening” prayers because the Jewish day began at sunset. He arose at daybreak to morning prayers and paused at noon for midday prayers. Prayer times marked his days more than meal times. Do you have a spiritual discipline of daily prayer times?
“What’s in a name?” So asked Shakespeare’s Juliet of Romeo, the implication being that his family name didn’t matter to her. Yet, David appealed to God’s “name” as the means of his salvation. He recognized the power expressed in God’s name, as he wrote in another psalm, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower” (Psa. 18:10). For God’s name is the manifestation of His character, revealing His divine attributes. And what is the “saving” name of God by which we might call? As Peter preached to the Jerusalem council, that name is JESUS, “for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The name “Jesus” or “Yeshua” means “God’s salvation.” God has given Him the name “above every name” (Phil.2:9). Jesus tells us to “ask anything in His name” (John 14:14). What’s in a name? In the name of Jesus, everything.
The psalmist David wrote that God is continually looking for one that would seek Him with understanding. The implication was that there were none among the “children of man” that truly sought God. They might seek a place or a theology, or even God’s hand. But who was seeking the Lord’s face with understanding? David didn’t see anyone. And so, he exclaimed, “Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!” (Psa. 53:6). David’s prayer was answered when God sent Jesus. For it was Jesus who clarified what it meant to seek God with understanding. He said that God is seeking those that would worship Him “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). Then, He revealed Himself as the Christ, the One by whom we might be born again in the Spirit, and the One who is the Truth by which we might worship God with understanding. God is still looking. He is looking to see what we will do with Jesus.
Apparently, there were leaders in Corinth who were boasting of superior authority over the apostle Paul in his absence. Some accused him of being bold in writing, but timid in person and in speech (2 Cor. 10:10). Yet, Paul was the one who had first carried the gospel to Corinth. He warned against those who boasted in themselves. They may be more impressive in stature and superior in speech, but it was the Lord who had given the Corinthians Paul as their spiritual father. Instead, the “one who boasts,” should “boast in the Lord.” Here, Paul offered a summary of Jeremiah 9:23-24 to show that such self-commendation was unwise. The only boasting a Christ follower should do, is boasting about Christ. Whatever you are, whatever you have, whatever accomplishments or successes that have accrued to you… give the glory to the Lord. Boast in Jesus, not in yourself.
After David repented of his sin of adultery, he prayed that God would “create” in him a “clean” and pure heart. The Hebrew word for “create” is the same as is found in Genesis 1:1 (בָּרָא, bera), “In the beginning God ‘created’ the heavens and the earth.” David wasn’t asking God to clean up his heart. He was asking God to give him a new and pure heart, one that would have a “right” and steadfast “spirit.” He longed to have a heart that would please God. This is a prayer and a spiritual longing that has been answered in Christ. Those who come to Jesus are made a “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17).
The Psalmist reminded the people of Israel that offering sacrifices without a heart of true righteousness and thanksgiving were not acceptable to God. His apparent “silence” over their hypocrisy and sin would soon pass and He would come in judgment. The fact that they were children of Abraham did not necessarily give them the right to say, “The Lord is ‘our’ God.” They needed more than circumcision of the flesh. They needed a “circumcision of the heart” (Rom. 2:29) in order to be children of God. God has not kept silent. He has spoken through His Son, Jesus, so that we might believe on Him as Savior and become children of God. And God will not keep silent. He will soon speak again through Jesus as Judge. He will clothe Himself in the terrible robes of justice, like a devouring fire and a mighty tempest, He will come to judge the living and the dead. God does not stay silent.