Spiritual Power Chords (Church Newsletter)

Saints,

Isaiah 40:9 Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” 

May the Lord grant to us the medicine of melody and singing. 

Blessings, 

Mike

Filling up the edges

If we want to be a people with a heart after God – we should look to the man whose heart was after God is whole life. David was a warrior. But in Yahweh’s kingdom things are done differently than they are in the world. Before we see David as a soldier or general or king, we see him as a musician subduing evil spirits. Because, as we read in Ephesians 6:12 “…we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” 

How? With music. And in this he is like his Lord. Isaiah 30:29–32 You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel. And the LORD will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and storm and hailstones. The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the LORD, when he strikes with his rod. And every stroke of the appointed staff that the LORD lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them.

Through Spiritual power chords, we are set free from evil spirits, we tear down strongholds, we ambush the enemy, and we delight our God. The weapons of our warfare must include Psalters, Hymnals and instruments. The enemy trembles when we sing and make melody. But are largely blind to the purpose of music and the power of music. We must come to understand and delight in this weapon if we are to reform the church and our country. 

1 Samuel 16:23 And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the liar and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.

Puritan Increase Mather observed, “that music is of great efficacy against melancholy,” and “the sweetness and delightfulness of music has a natural power to overcome melancholy passions.” The secular world is increasingly aware of this common grace. A meta-analysis is a statistical analysis that combines the results of multiple scientific studies. The results of 35 studies from 1995 to October 1, 2012 were compiled into a meta-analysis of the medical efficacy of music. This comprehensive summary of SRs demonstrated that MT treatment improved the following: global and social functioning in schizophrenia and/or serious mental disorders, gait and related activities in Parkinson’s disease, depressive symptoms, and sleep quality. Those who practice music therapy are finding a benefit in using music to help cancer patients… hospitals are beginning to use music and music therapy to help with pain management, to help ward off depression, to promote movement, in speech therapy, to calm patients during and after operation, to ease muscle tension…”  We are discovering that listening to music activates every portion of our brains, from emotion to memory to motor function.

Though David’s musical efforts were effective in providing relief for Saul, the writer understood that David’s success was due to the fact that the Spirit of the Lord was with him in power.  David played Spirit-empowered chords, not just chords. The Power of music over the mind and emptions, as well as over the spiritual realm is why music and song were at the heart of temple worship. 

1 Chronicles 15:15–16 And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the LORD. David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. 2 Chronicles 29:25 And he stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the commandment of David and of Gad the king’s seer and of Nathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the LORD through his prophets.

The spiritual power of chords over the spiritual enemies of Israel, was also why every facet of Israel’s life and every stage of its history were marked by music. Music was present when people greeted each other and said farewell, Laban scolded Jacob in Genesis 31:27 Why did you flee secretly and trick me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? In Israel, when they married they played music. Jeremiah 7:34 And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste. 

Major events in the life of the people, such as the Exodus from Egypt, conquering the Canaanites, recapturing the ark, dedicating the temple crowning the king and returning from exile were celebrated in music and song. This role of music and song was continued in the early church both in everyday life and worship – because worship is warfare. It is believed that quite a few sections of the NT are in fact, hymns; Philippians 2:6-11, Colossians 1:15-20, and John 1:1-17 are only a few examples.  Acts 16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Eph 5:15–21 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ

The joy expressed in music and thanksgiving and the benefits of mutual submission, then, are results of the filling of the Spirit—but also what we need to experience in our life together. The singing is a kind of conversation among believers. Verse 19 begins with the word “speaking,” which implies that the content of the songs is a communication “among yourselves.” Singing arises from the heart, implying both that it is sincere and that it is not merely superficially. It is to the Lord, which fortifies the truly spiritual nature of the song—in contrast to the unholy conversation and coarse joking in the Ephesians’ former state. Singers are no longer idolatrous grumblers, as in Romans 1, but are giving thanks to God the Father. The words always and for everything are comprehensive and indicate a way of life, not just the experience of a moment. This amplifies the meaning of being filled with the Spirit. Their thanksgiving is in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, showing that they are now in the kingdom of Christ and of God and that Christ has shone upon them.

Calvin believed that Corporate singing subdued the fallen heart and restrained wayward affections in the way of piety. Like preaching and the sacraments, singing disciplines the heart’s affections in the school of faith, lifting the believer to God. It also amplifies the effect of the word on the heart, multiplying the church’s spiritual energy. 

Calvin wrote, “The Psalms can stimulate us to raise our hearts to God and arouse us to an ardor in invoking as well as in exalting with praises the glory of His name.” St. Augustine, “When we sing these psalms…we are certain that God puts the words into our mouths as if he were singing in us to exalt his glory.” As Douglas Wilson wrote, “The psalter is a battle hymnal. If we are serious about conquering the world with the gospel through biblical worship, we will soon discover that it cannot be done without the psalms. What is a good thing to sing while swinging a battering ram at the gates of the enemy? There are many to choose from, why not psalm 68,” God shall arise and by his might, put all his enemies to flight.” 

That is why, on the night Jesus was betrayed and instituted a new Covenant is his own blood is one of the few occasions when it records singing in Mark 14:26 – and they sang the Hallel Psalms – Psalms 113-118 – of Passover. Zephaniah 3:17 – The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. When the Lord hung dying on the cross, he quoted Psalms 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 

The whole Psalm is a plot point outline about the events of Calvary, written by David, but how could David have understood the depths of what he said? Jesus, in his final struggle against his enemies, has his hands raised singing and living out Psalm 22. 

The church militant needs to restore music to its proper place in our armory, if we are to fight properly and build properly. The reformation of the church is always accompanied by the restoration of music. 

2 Chronicles 23:18 And Jehoiada posted watchmen for the house of the LORD under the direction of the Levitical priests and the Levites whom David had organized to be in charge of the house of the LORD, to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, as it is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, according to the order of David. 2 Chronicles 29:30 And Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped. 2 Chronicles 35:15 The singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place according to the command of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer; and the gatekeepers were at each gate. They did not need to depart from their service, for their brothers the Levites prepared for them. Ezra 3:10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD, according to the directions of David king of Israel. Nehemiah 12:45–46 And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon. For long ago in the days of David and Asaph there were directors of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. 

The principalities and powers of the air are running amuck. To subdue them, we need to restore music to its place. We see enemies all around. There are giants and dragons in the land. So as we take up the sword of the spirit, let us drive the evil spirits out of our hearts and minds, out of our homes and communities and the public square by singing and making a joyful noise. They fear it. We have forgotten it. Let us remember. Let us repent. Let us cry out to the great Physician for this medicine. 

Around the Web

An Apple app for learning to sing:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sing-your-part/id1483413949

The following list was compiled by Joel Eby:

KEY PSALMS TO LEARN FROM CANTUS: 

Psalm 2 – Why do the Heathen Nations Vainly Rage (note – this is the one I add a quarter note to, which may throw some people off, but it’s better) 

 Bonus: Metal version

Psalm 22 – Be Not Far Off For Grief Is Near (Redeemer) 
Psalm 22 – To All My Brothers I’ll Declare  (Redeemer) 
Psalm 40 – I Waited For the Lord (Redeemer) 
Psalm 42 – As the Hart, About to Falter (Christ Church) 
Psalm 47 – All Peoples, Clap Your Hands for Joy (Can’t locate yet; we don’t do it often) 
Psalm 98 – O Sing A New Song to the Lord (Christ Church)  
Psalm 128 – Blessed the Man that Fears Jehovah  (Christ Church) 
Psalm 148 – From Heaven O Praise the Lord (Can’t locate yet… we don’t do this one anymore, but other CREC’s know it well) 

KEY NON-PSALMS FROM CANTUS: 

The Son of God Goes Forth To War (Random guy – this is folky and kinda cool) 
At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing 
God Moves in a Mysterious Way (can’t find this one yet… will do it soon and you’ll have a recording) 
Sing Praise to God, Who Reigns Above 

KEY EASTER HYMNS FROM CANTUS: 

Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended (Cantus) (Chris Thile and Sufjan Stevens) 

Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted (Fernando Ortega) 

Devotion

Psalm 126

A Song of Ascents.

            [1] When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,

                        we were like those who dream.

            [2] Then our mouth was filled with laughter,

                        and our tongue with shouts of joy;

            then they said among the nations,

                        “The LORD has done great things for them.”

            [3] The LORD has done great things for us;

                        we are glad.

            [4] Restore our fortunes, O LORD,

                        like streams in the Negeb!

            [5] Those who sow in tears

                        shall reap with shouts of joy!

            [6] He who goes out weeping,

                        bearing the seed for sowing,

            shall come home with shouts of joy,

                        bringing his sheaves with him. 

Advertisement

God’s Grove

Genesis 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 

Psalm 1:3–4 [the blessed man] is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 

Psalm 92:12–15 The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. 

Isaiah 61:3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.

Hosea 14:5–7 I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon; his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. 

God’s Harlots

“For at the window of my house I have looked out through my lattice, and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived among the youths, a young man lacking sense, passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness.” (Proverbs 7:6-9).

“Simple,” means lacking sense, unwise, foolish. An empty-headed man heads out in bad company down the path of temptation. Paul says in Ephesians 5:16 (KVJ) “redeem the time.” Spend your time profitably, renewing the mind, mending habits, progressing in sanctification, growing up to mature manhood. 

How valuable are self-discipline, self-control, constant Godly employment and positive pursuit of God? They are the preservatives of God’s blessing from sin and danger. Idleness and habit. Bad company and an empty mind. Courting sin and tempting the tempter. These are dangers that beset us on every side. 

Looking at unholy things will lead to touching unholy things which will lead to tasting unholy things which will lead to consuming unholy things and unchecked the unholy thing – the idol, lie or false comfort will consume you. It will eat away at your friendship with Jesus bite by bite until there is nothing left. 

Repent and believe. Open your eyes and look at your habits and rituals, your daily liturgies. Where are your affections? Where is your comfort? What are you filling up on? Grace? Or the offerings of the world like this young man did with the harlot? Are you walking in the counsel of the wicked? Are you Standing with sinners? Are you sitting with scoffers and mockers of God and His Law?  Is your head empty? Are you tempting temptation? Are you easily taken in by putting yourself in a position to be tempted?

“She is loud and wayward; her feet do not stay at home; now in the street, now in the market, and at every corner she lies in wait. She seizes him and kisses him, and with bold face she says to him, “I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows; so now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you (Proverbs 7:11-15).” 

The young woman allures her victim with the garb of sanctity. She doesn’t play the harlot with man till she’s played the hypocrite with God. Sin comes closely on the heels of spiritual pride – all act without true belief. The offering the young woman mentions is the Peace-offering, in which, the majority is returned to the offeror, to feast upon with friends. 

This law of charity and generosity is abused as an opportunity for gluttony and excess. It was a pity that the peace-offerings should thus become, in a bad sense, sin-offerings, and that what was designed for the honor of God should become the food and fuel of a base lust. But this is certainly not the only example of this religious hypocrisy. The Israelites, after their miraculous deliverance made a golden calf and gathered around it to worship God in name only, using it as an opportunity to satiate their lusts. 

And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play,” (Exodus 32:6). The Apostle comments on this in 1 Corinthians 10:6–8 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. But we didn’t take the way offered us. We use the grace and feast of God’s blessing for sensual license and self-gratifying sin. We test Jesus. We grumble.  We need to take heed. God says eat and drink, but do it before Him, in His name, to His glory.  

Let us guard our hearts. As we celebrate before the Lord, as we learn to rejoice before Him, as we learn to suck the morrow out of the bones of blessing, let us at the same time be vigilant. We often do not know what spirit we are of and when we rise up to play, if it veers toward self-gratification, fornication, drunkenness, debauchery, etc., then let us remember the twenty-three thousand who fell. 

God calls us to celebrate before Him, but this is to be done in a spirit of Holiness, selflessness and generosity. Let us not use the liberty of God’s Grace as libertines or antinomians – who have no law, no ethical restraint – self-gratifying in every sensual way. 

Let us offer ourselves as sacrifices to the lord, let us heap our idols up here and rise up to play with the same holy, generous, loving spirit of our Lord Jesus and not like the harlot, tempting temptation and relishing licentiousness. 

Let us learn at our father’s table, what true feasting and festivity look like, so that rising up to play we don’t use the feast of God’s blessing as the harlot did, for her own pleasure, but us use the feast of God’s blessing for God’s glory. 

The harlot “seizes him and kisses him, and with bold face she says to him, (Proverbs 7:13) and “With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him,” (Proverbs 7:21). In this we see that temptation and sin are affectionate. Temptation and sin are patient and kind. Sin prepares for us, lures us in with decadence and excellence. We are deceived to think that sin is always tawdry, low and degraded. Egyptian cotton sheets, roasted lamb and scented candles sound pretty nice. Sin is hard to see as sin when it smells like mulled wine. Sin is rarely repulsive – it’s almost always pleasant in appearance. Think of Eve in Genesis 3:6,

“the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise.” The fruit that leads to death doesn’t sound so bad.  

The real deception of sin is that it offers real pleasure. It assaults us with kisses and flattering words. It isn’t always cruel and vile, but often is very affectionate. Eve grew in wisdom as she chewed the tasty fruit. The problem is that we are in an abusive relationship with sin. It draws us in with tenderness but always produces death. Its sugar-coated poison. When hemlock tastes like double dark chocolate, it’s hard to why it’s bad. When iniquity is so nice, how could it be bad?

 “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy,” (Proverbs 27:6).

The kisses of an enemy are meant to appease the heart in order to hide the hurt that has or is to come. A villain must bring you into intimate fellowship before they can stab you in the heart. Like Judas in the garden, it was a kiss that Judas used to betray His friend Jesus, think of the affection over an extended period – the long toil of deceit necessary to stab Jesus in the back. 

Sin is rarely presented as raunchy and vile. It can be, but more often, especially once you’ve matured a little, raunchy and vile sin is easier to avoid. Sin, most often, deceives us with kisses. It softens our defenses through affection. We all have an ongoing relationship with sin and though it no longer enslaves us, it sure is reliable and willing to comfort us – anytime, anywhere. 

So many of us are not at war with sin, but an abusive relationship with it. It entices us with affection but leaves us with black eyes, shame, brokenness and confusion. But is so ready the next morning with a kind word, a tender look and promises to not hurt us again. And delivers real pleasure, so we forget for a time the real pain. Sin deceives us because the pleasure it offers isn’t illusionary – its real pleasure. But its fleeting. It’s temporary. It costs us so much on the backend. It’s the deal that is always too good to be true. Your abusive sin – what is it? Porn? The bottle? The needle, cigarette, frying pan, soda can or television? Is it your hand-held distraction? 

What sin has enticed you and lured you into an abusive relationship – a cycle of pleasure and pain? What promises you goodness but only delivers brokenness? What offers itself to you freely like the harlot in proverbs but is always a trap of death and shame? But there is another way. The way of the cross, the way of self-denial – not of pleasure but of fleeting pleasure – abusive pleasure, pleasure that draws near with a kiss to stab you in the back.

Moses knew the way, “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” (Hebrews 11:24–26). But one greater than Moses is here, and He is the way, the truth and the life and at His right hand is pleasure forevermore. The greater prophet Jesus who chose the way of the cross for the Joy set before Him. 

Ours is not a faith of don’t taste, don’t touch, don’t look. It’s a faith in which our chief end is glorifying God by enjoying Him – forever. In the wind and work and food and drink and embrace of loved ones. In fellowship and praise. In confession and restoration. 

Let us enter the way – the narrow gate – let us enter our Father’s presence and taste and see that God is good. Overflowing with yes and amen. Sin, in the beginning was a tree of no in a vast garden of yes. And it is still so. 

“With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him. All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life. And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths, for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death,” (Proverbs 7:21–27). 

We come now to the end of the matter. The simple empty-headed man, like so many of us, has tempted temptation. Sin was all too ready and welcoming. The woman has allured him with a pietistic religious façade – offering the sacrifices of God as self-gratifying sin offerings of iniquity.

Like Judas, the woman has drawn near to the man through affectionate lies and though pleasure was found for a time, the lasting fruit is death and destruction. The young man is hunted. Sin has hunted him down. It has laid a trap for him. Like a sparrow or ox or deer – the empty-headed young man has been lured, and at times – all too willingly. Sin, like a skilled bowman or trapper or rancher – remember ranchers are the most patient and affectionate of hunters – always affectionate, methodical and forbearing hunters. This is what Satan is like. He is a prowling lion seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Sin is a smooth operator. The skilled hunter, crouching at our door seeking to rule over us (Genesis 4:7).  The lady leads the empty-headed young man down the path of death. Sin hunts us with fine speech and delectable pleasures – promises of delight and but in the end it’s the path of death – her only fruit is a pile of dead bodies – a rotting heap. 

We are prey for sin, Satan and death and sadly, all too often, oh so willingly Don’t be like the empty-headed fool, fill your mind with the truth. You need a rescuer. A defender. A friend and confidant to keep you on the true path. You need a protector and redeemer. Someone who will defend you, keep you from the prowling lion – everyday – who will guard and keep you. He had better be strong – the strongest – he better be good – the goodest. We need another path, another way around the sin, through the traps, out of the eventual grave of sin we’ve so justly earned. 

His name is Jesus. The lion of Judah, the friend of sinners, the beloved son of God, the pure lamb, the victor, the mediator – the God man. Put yourself in the way of sin and you will fall. Go unguarded for one minute and you will be hunted down like a dog. Let sin lure you in, let affection grow between you and sin, cover your idols with pietistic religious hypocrisy and they will drive the knife into your heart with a kiss. We are here to seek another way – to seek the way, the truth and the life. His power, goodness, righteousness and grace. Open before you is the peace of God, the feast of heaven, the living water, the Hightower and fortress of God – Jesus Christ. Our defender and redeemer. So open the gates of your heart to let Him in. 

Church Newsletter 2021-3-10

Saints,

Enjoy the glorious sunshine and this bit of spring amid winter. 

Here is an interesting thought from C.S. Lewis. “Do not be scared by the word authority. Believing things on authority only means believing them because you have been told them by someone you think trustworthy. Ninety-nine per cent of the things you believe are believed on authority. I believe there is such a place as New York. I have not seen it myself. I could not prove by abstract reasoning that there must be such a place, I believe it because reliable people have told mc so. The ordinary man believes in the Solar System, atoms, evolution, and the circulation of the blood on authority—because the scientists say so. Every historical statement in the world is believed on authority. None of us has seen the Norman Conquest or the defeat of the Armada. None of us could prove them by pure logic as you prove a thing in mathematics. We believe them simply because people who did see them have left writings that tell us about them: in fact, on authority. A man who jibbed at authority in other things as some people do in religion would have to be content to know nothing all his life.”^[1]

Digging deeper

Study Questions

1. Do you agree that if God pronounces judgement, we as believers must not quarrel with him but agree with him?

2.  ‘To obey is better than sacrifice.’ This is true, but how superlatively good is that ultimate Sacrifice which is itself perfect obedience (Hebrews 10:9–14)?^[2]

Filling up the edges

The Christian Life requires conforming to the standard of both God’s ethics and God’s emotions. What he condemns, we must condemn. What he curses, we must curse. What he loves we must love. What saddens him, ought to sadden us. 

Ephesians 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 

“But Jesus didn’t hate!” is a common retort. 

Hebrews 1:8–9 But of the Son [the Father] says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” 

Some of us need to stop letting the world define words like love, mercy and compassion. The fruit of the spirit does not negate the Holy War, it frames it. Some of us need to hate sin and grieve over the fall and moral failure of our brothers and sisters and stop letting the world define words like war, enemy and hate for us.  Nightlong lamentation – crying out to God over the failure of church leaders and fellow Christians, this is a prescription for what ails many of us. 

Discipleship and imitation are inseparable. The call of Jesus to “follow me,’ demanded a life-long determination on the part of his disciples to pattern their values, beliefs, and behavior after their Master. For Paul too, imitation had a cruciform character. Saul does not have a heart after God. Samuel does. Reject Saul’s version of the Christian life and imitate Samuel’s. 

So here is how I propose growing in our imitation of the Lord Jesus. These are the areas I think we should all focus on.

Learn to love properly. We must give ourselves to the love of God and the love of our neighbor. Desire to rejoice in the Lord, in the public worship of God, in the commands He has given to us. Eagerly pursue evangelism and mercy work. We must love our husbands, wives, children and grandchildren. We must love our neighbors and co-workers. 

Romans 13:9–10 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

The more we are given over to these things, the more difficult it will be for the world to accuse us that our hatreds are just “phobias,” or some other sign of a broken mind. We don’t hate because we love hating. We hate because we love what we are defending. Zeal is a prescription for what ails many of us.

Learn to hate hypocrisy. When we hate the sins of others more than we hate sin in ourselves, we are a couple of miles down the deadly road to hell. When we judge others by their actions and words, while judging ourselves by our motives, we are already in the grip of Satan. When we judge others by a different standard than the one we desire to have applied to ourselves, we are rejecting the Lord’s teaching. Judgment begins with the household of God, and this is why there will never be a restoration of the republic without a reformation in the church.

Learn to hate jargon, buzzwords – any words detached from the objects they are supposed to represent – which is what happens when we deny the correspondence view of truth.

The correspondence theory of truth is that epistemological theory that states that the truth or falsehood of any statement is determined only by how it relates to the world and whether it accurately describes that world. Our beliefs and statements must correspond to the actual state of affairs. Evolution is a theory that does not correspond to the reality of a fossil record.  Identity politics assert many things about sex and gender that do not correspond to the physical attributes providentially distributed at birth. 

So, learn to love objective truth, and hate all subjectivism. Learn to mean what you say, and say what you mean. Target every form of verbal pretension and postmodern word games and redefining of terms. We must all master precision. Put a scope on the proverbial truth rifle. Sight it in. Go out for target practice in an abandoned garden patch. Get a sight on the pumpkins of postmodernism. Use hollow points. The results will gratify you.

Learn to hate every form of egalitarianism, feminism, metro-sexuality and associated fropperies, pomosexuality, and androgyny. In the image of God He created them, male and female (Gen. 1:27). And every true Christian has since that time said, amen. 

Learn to hate every attempt to turn the Scriptures against itself. No verse trumps any other verse. Dicing up the word of God into mantras and appeals to “simplify,” our interpretation is of the devil. No word from God is at war with any other word from God. The very first thing that “red letter Christians” do in their insistence to go “by the words of Jesus only” is reject the words of Jesus about the rest of Scripture. All you need to grow in this hatred rightly is a special edition of the Bible, which you can get at any Christian bookstore, with the words of the Holy Spirit in black.  All of Scripture and only Scripture — that is the ultimate and infallible rule of faith and practice. Those who seek to divvy up the Word are hostile to the Word, and so we must return that hostility with verve and pep.

Learn to hate every form of coercion that is not mandated by the Almighty God Himself. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Love liberty and love it in every lawful form. Hate every suggestion that would — apart from an explicit requirement from the Creator — bind, restrict, limit, constrain, constrict, curb, inhibit, stifle, bridle, disallow, immure, compel, or deprive the lawful liberty of another person. This is not done for the sake of an abstract idol called “individualism.” It is nothing more complicated than love of neighbor. In this, our statist and despotic age, it is not possible to love your neighbor without also hating an intrusive police state or the Green new deal, Government stimulus or the AOC Squad all wrapped in golden promises of prosperity and freedom. Hatred of coercion also includes every form of unjust warfare — hatred of ungodly compulsion is not limited in any way to domestic politics. We must reject the evangelistic program that spreads democracy with F-18’s and tomahawk missiles and expeditionary forces. 

Learn to hate the suggestion, made by some on our side, that we “take no prisoners.” The strategy outlined by the Lord Jesusvis that we disciple the nations, baptizing them and teaching them obedience. This means that we first recognize that they are undiscipled, unbaptized, and disobedient. The whole point is to persuade them, not to nuke them. As we undertake the endeavor of imitating Christ well, in our midst we will soon enough discover more than a few who do not know what spirit they are of; Luke 9:54–55 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But [Jesus] turned and rebuked them. 

We must learn to listen to the voice of God and obey it. Let the Lord define the terms, not our feelings and not the world. Let us take up the whole counsel of God, bearing the fruit of the spirit, wield the sword of the spirit with faith and wisdom

Around the Web

Pastor Wilson has some encouraging words on being the Prophetic voice. 

When the Dogs Ate Jezebel

Here is a beautifully produced explanation of Psalm 8 

Devotion

Call my wandering heart home

Dear Lord of your people, let every evening toll the bell of recollection to call home my poor wandering heart. And when the tumult of a busy, unsatisfying, and troublesome world is over, oh for grace to do as my Lord did: to send the multitude away, and get up apart into the holy mountain of faith and love in the Lord Jesus, to meditate and pray! 

Amen.

---

^[1] Lewis, C. S.. A Mind Awake: An Anthology of C. S. Lewis . Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.

^[2] Davis, D. R. (2000). 1 Samuel: Looking on the Heart (p. 164). Scotland: Christian Focus Publications.

Giving Stew to Esau

“And Saul defeated the Amalekites…But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction” (Chapter 15:7-9).

Saul was given the assignment to carry out the “ban,” against the Amalekites. According to this form of warfare, Israel was to utterly destroy every man, woman, child and animal. The command to ban the Amalekites continued the warfare that the Lord declared on Amalek in Exodus 17:8–16. The Amalekite story is an undercurrent through the rest of the Old Testament, finally coming to resolution in the book of Esther, when Mordecai, a descendant of Saul’s father Kish, overcomes Haman the “Agagite,” a descendant of the Amalekite king Agag.

In the aftermath of the battle, Saul interprets God’s instruction in his own way. Saul makes his own value judgement about those things that God has cursed. He decides what is good and what is worthless, when God said that it was all worthless and must be destroyed.  

God waited over four centuries to fulfill his plan to destroy the Amalekites. Yahweh deemed nothing of the Amalekite nation worthy of being spared. Saul disagrees. Saul shows mercy to Agag, the king and his choicest livestock. Saul doesn’t spare the women and children, but the things Saul deemed worthy of salvation, valuable, profitable. Saul’s judgment is opposed to God’s Judgment.  Saul spares things God commanded him to destroy. 

The word translated as “spared,” means to have or show compassion. It is translated as mercy in Lamentations 2:2. This is difficult ground. Saul is showing mercy where Yahweh commanded him to show no mercy. 

Mercy is one of the most essential qualities of God so it is important to understand what mercy means. “For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them,” (Deuteronomy 4:31). Mercy designates that quality in God by which he faithfully keeps his promises and maintains his covenant relationship with his chosen people, despite their unworthiness and unfaithfulness.

God’s mercy is more than punishment withheld. At the heart of the concept of mercy is the love of God, which is freely manifested in his gracious acts of salvation on behalf of those to whom he has pledged himself in covenant relationship. The Lord says,  “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed,” (Genesis 12:3). If God were to not curse those who dishonor us, then he would not be a merciful, compassionate or a covenant keeping God. To show mercy to the Amalekites would be to withhold it from Israel. 

Christians struggle with these kinds of distinctions. We take words like love and mercy and compassion and miss apply them with our own fallen ethic, like Saul. Christians are called to hate what God hates and love what God loves. Failing to do either is sin. To give and withhold mercy based on God’s command, not our own reason.

Saul has usurped God’s moral judgements; Saul has seized Yahweh’s Lordship as Lawgiver and judge for himself. The scriptures are full of difficult passages that frame our understanding of love, mercy and hate. 

A good example of this confusion is highlighted by Paul. 

“As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills,” (Romans 9:15–18). 

God hated Esau. What is our responsibility then? To be more righteous and loving than God? God forbid such a thought. Should we hate Esau according to the world’s standards? God forbid. But many go back to Genesis hating both Esau and Jacob, treating them both as equally sinful. Or they pity and sympathize with Esau and hate Jacob. I mean, the Christian thing to do would have been to feed the hungry – like Jesus – and just give Esau the stew! And in this we show how far from God’s ethics we truly are. 

Why did God hate Esau while he loved Jacob? Only the perfect and hidden wisdom of God knows. What we have to do is reconcile ourselves to who and what God reveals himself to be and do and imitate Him. 

Remember, “the fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate,” (Proverbs 8:13). Would our Netflix cue demonstrate our hate for evil ways and perverted speech? 

God curses the Amalekites and commands Israel to show them no mercy. Therefore, showing them mercy is sin. God commands us to hate pride, arrogance, evil and perverted speech and to fail to hate them is sin. Is that easy to understand? No. Should we therefore reject it? No. God’s ways are not our ways. God’s ways are perfect and righteous. 

This issue plagues us. Christians oppose the death penalty, which God commands in Genesis 9:6. Woke Christianity wants preferential treatment for particular races while and supporting racial unity based on Critical Race Theory, which is contrary to God’s word in Galatians 3:28. Modern Christians send their children to be indoctrinated at atheistic, Marxist, Darwinian, revisionist public schools, justifying it for financial reasons or poorly conceived arguments about the Great commission or the lie that academics are, or can be, neutral. All of these violate God’s command in Ephesians 6:4. 

Christians are always compromising. Showing mercy to own sins, those “respectable sins,’ those “every-body-does-em,” sins in one another, like gluttony, drunkenness, avarice, pride, gossip, apathy and indifference. We flatter ourselves with our holiness, forgiveneness, compassion and love. But what if we are loving things God hates? Or showing mercy when God desires us to show no mercy? Or we create idols out of half-truths, supplanting biblical ethics with the idols of “nice.” As if offending people is the unforgivable sin.

Ashamed of the word of God, and of one another, we compromise with sexual sins, homosexual sins, feminism, Americanism and conservatism. Failing to differentiate between the spirit of the age – progressivism and the spirit of God. We stay home from church justifying our disobedience by ham-fisted arguments about Romans 13.  

We probably all have a favorite verse on love. But what about our favorite verse about hate? Or showing no mercy? Try Deuteronomy 25:11-12. 

“Loving your neighbor,” is used to justify all kinds of disobedience. The fruit of the spirit are used to justify all kinds of disobedience. The great commission is used as justify for all kinds of disobedience. Let the hearer understand. We need to love what God loves and hate what He hates. And must study the word of God until those definitions are down in our bones. Loving and hating the way God loves and hates. 

We need to conform to his Character and command, no matter how hickified or “old-fashioned,” or “unscientific,” the world thinks it is. We need the whole counsel of God. A Love for God and neighbor. The Fruit of the Spirit and the Sword of the Spirit. We need to baptize and teach the nations ALL that Christ commanded from Genesis to revelation. 

Marxism is not the collectivism of Acts 2. Deistic evolution is antithetical to Genesis 1. Romans 13 does not teach absolute obedience to the state. To raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, means there is not neutrality in any academic subject. The Law of God ought to be the Law of the land because it is the law of love. And our society is need of love. Homosexuality, greed, envy, sexual perversity, avarice, apathy and anger are all surefire paths to hellfire. There is no queer treasure that heaven will accept. The gay culture, just like the Scottish culture, American culture, Japanese culture and Portuguese culture – all have to die. They have to be placed under the ban. They must be refined by the fire of baptism. Everything that is Amalekite must be devoted to God in utter destruction, without mercy. 

So that the culture of heaven will prevail. 

Church Newsletter 2020-8-5

Saints,

Elder Baker’s sermon came at a providential time. God is in heaven and does as He pleases. I think many of us are getting weary over the lockdown/COVID nonsense and are aghast at the chaos and violence that is baring its teeth in the open light of day. 

In Portland, the protestors are burning bibles and crosses now. 

I am in one sense, quite thrilled by this development. The enemy is showing itself for what it truly is. This is not a culture war. This isn’t a mere political imbroglio. This is spiritual warfare. And we serve the victor. After a long peace those crosses and bibles have never meant so much, to a nation devouring itself in an orgy of emotional subjective relativism. Being a man of God and a woman of God has, in this nation, never meant so much, nor been so risky. 

Now is the time to gather. Now is the time to worship. Now is the time to show, not only the world, but so many professing Christians what it means to serve the living and loving Triune God. 

The public schools are being shut down and people are scrambling for alternatives. The idol of entertainment is being toppled. The progressive revolution is beginning to devour its children. 

You were born to live out the gospel here and now. This is what God providentially decreed. You, here, now. COVID-19 is a virus. It is being obedient as what God made it to be. It spreads, it inflicts, and it is healed just as God designed it to be. 

Are we going to be less obedient to our merciful creator than COVID? What does true obedience look like today, for you, in these circumstances? 

See you on the mountain 

Filling up the Edges

Psalm 18:1–2 I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

David was falsely accused by Saul of treason against Israel. Saul attempted to kill David several times. Saul hunted and conspired against David to destroy him. David led Israel in victory over all of her enemies like Edom and Philistia. All of these events are echoed in the life of Jesus. But both David and Jesus experienced God the Father’s protection and deliverance. Nothing could befall them outside of His will. The Father was their refuge again and again, in every danger and threat. 

The text of the psalm is almost identical to 2 Samuel 22. The two songs differ, however, in their context: Second Samuel 22 is David’s personal expression of gratitude to the Lord, while Psalm 18 is the adaptation of that song for the whole people to sing, because their well-being is now tied to the offspring of David (2 Sam. 7:4–17). 

When God’s people sang this, then, they were to give thanks for the Davidic line and to pray that its heirs would be faithful to the Lord and would be valiant military leaders, so that Israel might carry out its God-given purpose of bringing light to the Gentiles.

As Christians these are fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Psalm 18 opens with a doxological statement of confidence in the Lord’s exalted position, which provides strength and protection for His people.   

The Hebrew term, Horn of my salvation, indicates a place so high as to be beyond the reach of danger. It is a high rock or crag affording a safe refuge. Hence the figure is not borrowed from the horn of the buffalo as most interpreters argue, but from the summits of mountains, called horns in many languages, as in the Matterhorn in the swiss Alps or the Faulhorn in the Bermese Alps. The horn is frequently the figure of strength and victorious power, yet the reference here is not offensive, but defensive. 

The term is more than geographic, it is covenantal. Psalm 121:1–2 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. In view here are the covenantal hills; Eden, Ararat, Sinai, Moriah and Zion. All the summits where God met Israel’s needs. All the summits where God renewed covenant with Israel out of sheer grace and loving-kindness. The horn of our salvation is the height of God’s Divine Mountain in Heaven, our place of strength and protection – God’s exalted Son – Jesus Christ. 

Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father prophesied and rejoiced that Christ was the fulfillment of this hope, declaring joyously that “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,” (Luke 1:68–69). Our high and sure protection is the exalted Lord Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father on the temple mount in heaven. 

Psalm 18:1-2 could be translated Christologically as “I love the Lord my strength, my foundation, my fortress, my protector and deliverer; I am in Christ, who sits at the right hand of the Father, high and exalted – where my help comes from.” 

But if David’s confidence in God is so strong, how do we explain phrases like “How long shall my enemy be exalted over me,” from Psalm 13? Or this statement from Psalm 22; “For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet – I can count all my bones – they stare and gloat over me” (Psalm 22:16–17)? 

Are the protection of the Lord and a believer’s suffering mutually exclusive? There is wisdom in the fact that no matter what happens to us, we do not get what we deserve as sinners. Suffering is an integral part of God’s discipline and education of His children. Comfort is not the same thing as safety. Sometimes what is safest for us is not what we would consider safe. Like a father teaching a child to ride a bike, there is calculated risk for the purpose of maturity. 

We have to remember the words of God recorded by the Prophet Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9). This is something the Prophet Daniel knew. God, in his infinite wisdom, may not deliver us from the martyr’s end or from earthly suffering. Daniel knew that God’s ways are above us in wisdom; “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18). Daniel never doubted that God could, it was a matter of whether God would, save them. 

We have to make distinctions between the redemption of the fallen world and our final hope. No matter what circumstances and travails befall us, our enemies do not have the last word. All of God’s enemies will be defeated. We will stand in the flesh and see Christ face to face, victorious, at the right hand of God, the Father. 

1 Corinthians 15:25–26 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. Revelation 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 

Even on the pyre of martyrdom, even in the shadow of death, even in the grip of evil men – our present and future security is the exalted Lord Jesus. 

One commentator mentions that “the images, which are most of them of a martial character, are borrowed from the experience of David’s life, and the perpetual struggles in which he was engaged.^” 

These analogies are somewhat foreign to us. But the nature of the them is something like our Mother’s lap as a child; a place of security and safety and healing. No matter the booboo, no matter how scary the movie, no matter how uncertain the neighbor’s dog – mother’s lap was always the place to turn for protection. 

Defensive towers dot landscapes the world over, from the Wooden blockhouses of Whidbey Island, WA built by settlers against raiding Indians to the towers like Glendalough and Clondalkin scattered throughout Ireland to protect medieval monks from raiding Vikings. 

The second Amendment is a recognition of our desire to build towers of defense. Since the invention of gunpowder, those small grains of potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulfur are a stone tower of sorts, we build in towers of 17 round magazines. When people need protection and safety, strength and refuge – they build high towers, but what tower is higher than King Jesus enthroned on the temple mount in the Highest heavens? 

John Calvin’s comments on this passage are enlivening; “David, therefore, here furnishes the faithful with a complete suit of armour, that they may feel that they are in no danger of being wounded, provided they are shielded by the power of God…Let us, therefore, learn from his example, to apply to our own use those titles which are here attributed to God, and to apply them as an antidote against all the perplexities and distresses which may assail us; or rather, let them be deeply imprinted upon our memory, so that we may be able at once to repel to a distance whatever fear Satan may suggest to our mind. I give this exhortation, not only because we tremble under the calamities with which we are presently assailed, but also because we groundlessly conjure up in our own imaginations dangers as to the time to come, and thus needlessly disquiet ourselves by the mere creations of fancy.”

There are dangers all around. Some of our own making – the fear of men, anxiety and uncertainty about the future. There is also a pandemic, fallout from our Government’s response to that pandemic. There is social unrest stemming from the brutality and violence of Police officers which has unleashed brutality and violence of mobs. Satan likes to work on our fears to distract us from our calling. From loving God and neighbor. 

We need to remember our rock of refuge and sure foundation. We need to remember our High tower – the horn of our salvation – the Lord Jesus Christ. 

David did not just express need or assurance in receiving something; the gifts and blessings of having Jesus as our fortress. David expressed love. 

David says in Psalm 18:1–2; I” love you, O LORD.” The word is usually used to affirm God’s compassion for people. It implies the need of the one who received the compassion and is associated with a mother’s care for her children. David is expressing commitment to the Jesus, who is David’s source of strength, comfort and sustenance. “I love you,” communicates the intimacy of his relationship with the Lord based on experience. 

Do not merely cry out to God. Cry out to God with endearment, for you know what Christ has done for you and knowing that, you know that you truly have nothing to fear. You know where he sits. You know how far he is willing to go to provide everything you need. You know he isn’t safe, but you know He is good.

Around the web

Pastor Wilson gives us some uch needed aphorisms on liberty. https://dougwils.com/books-and-culture/s7-engaging-the-culture/aphorisms-on-liberty.html

Devotion

Psalm 5 

Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.

For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield. 

Amen

An Object of Scorn

Jeremiah 6:10 To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, they cannot listen; behold, the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it.

On Good Friday, the Christian Church gathers to commemorate the murder her king. This is our unique calling as Christians, to be a very different kind of people, following a very different kind of King.

Jesus, the word of God, allowed Himself to be held up as an object of scorn so that we would have our ears opened and cease to hold His words up as an object of scorn.

Jesus descended from heaven to make a way back to God, the Father, for us all.

Consider the messianic promise of Isaiah 40:3-5 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Imagine the word of God booming out over a rough land and in response, the valleys rise while the mountains recede, as the great voice crushes every rough rock and levels every forest, creating a straight path back to the Father in Heaven.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

Job’s Response to a Pandemic

When trial and tragedy came to Job’s house, it is startling to consider its source. 

Job 1:12 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

So, Satan sets out to fulfill his own evil will on Job, within the bounds set for him by God. But Satan uses means. 

The Sabeans murder Job’s servants and slaughter all his donkey and oxen.

A fire falls from heaven and consumes His sheep. The Chaldeans raid the camels and murder Job’s servants. 

Finally, a wind came and knocked down the four corners of the house in which Job’s children were having fellowship, killing them all.

But Job does not curse the Sabeans or Chaldeans or impersonal “natural forces,” that brought destruction to Job’s household. 

Job turns to the heavens. Job 1:21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

But he knows who is behind it all. Who governs it all? Who is in control of the seemingly chaotic forces at work to trouble him?

Job reasons further in Job 5:6–9 For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground, but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. “As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause, who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number.

Job does not blame God but knows that God is the one to whom he must turn. God is the one to whom he must commit his cause. 

Job knows that man was born to trouble. And that trouble is not mere sport or sadistic torture. It is the discipline and instruction a father gives His children.

Alive in Christ

Where are the Valiant?