Category Archives: Psalms

Another thought on Taylor and Tennyson

26 Friday Jun 2020

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The great difference between the two poems lies in the way the poet perceives himself on coming to God. Taylor sees himself as wretched and weak; Tennyson, while giving some acknowledgement of sinfulness, comes as a “saint”.

Psalm 6 is also a poem of coming to God, which begins:

Psalm 6:1–3 (AV)

1 O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. 2 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed. 3 My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long?

Charles Spurgeon, in The Treasury of David, writes:

“Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak.” Though I deserve destruction, yet let thy mercy pity my frailty. This is the right way to plead with God if we would prevail. Urge not your goodness or your greatness, but plead your sin and your littleness. Cry, “I am weak,” therefore O Lord, give me strength and crush me not. Send not forth the fury of thy tempest against so weak a vessel. Temper the wind to the shorn lamb. Be tender and pitiful to a poor withering flower, and break it not from, its stem. Surely this is the plea that a sick man would urge to move the pity of his fellow if he were striving with him, “Deal gently with me, ‘for I am weak.’ ” A sense of sin had so spoiled the Psalmist’s pride, so taken away his vaunted strength, that he found himself weak to obey the law, weak through the sorrow that was in him, too weak, perhaps, to lay hold on the promise. “I am weak.” The original may be read, “I am one who droops,” or withered like a blighted plant. Ah! beloved, we know what this means, for we, too, have seen our glory stained, and our beauty like a faded flower.

And so, while not the only thing to say on the topic, Edward Taylor has come in the vein of the one who was weak.

The wilderness had been changed into green pastures

14 Monday Oct 2019

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You remember how Greatheart in the Pilgrim describes the Valley of Humiliation as the best and most fruitful land in all those parts, and how that Mercy protested that she was as well in that Valley as she had been anywhere else in all their journey. That is only the old Dreamer’s way of saying that bare and sterile places have often turned out to be “green pastures.” And that is why God “makes us to lie down” in places from which we shrink. That is why He allows loss and trouble and disappointment to befall us. He knows what graces these things and their like beget in the soul, how they breed sympathy and tenderness and humility and dependence on God. They are indeed amongst the richest and most succulent pastures. And so God makes us to lie down in them in spite of ourselves. And later we come to recognize His wisdom. We realize the gain that has come to us. “It was good for me that I was afflicted.” That was a man for whom the wilderness had been changed into the “green pastures.” It is only in retrospect we recognize all this. While we are in the midst of life’s hardnesses and difficulties and trials they may appear to us to be anything but “green pastures.” But when we look back, in the mellow light of life’s evening time, we shall realize we owe some of life’s richest blessings to its troubled times, and shall be ready with David to confess “Thou makest me to lie down in green pastures, thou leadest me beside the still waters.

The King of Love, J D Jones (1922)

Practicing the Fear of the Lord, Psalm 111:10

21 Wednesday Aug 2019

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(Updated)

O GOD, glorious confession of all Saints, grant us the fear of Thy Name, which Thou hast declared to be the beginning of wisdom, that joined to the councils of Thy servants, we may be filled with the banquet of Thy mercy.

Psalm 111:10

Psalm 111:10 (ESV)
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!

Psalm 111:10 (HCSB)
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow His instructions have good insight.
His praise endures forever.

The comparison of these two translation demonstrate the translation issue in this passage: Note the second line of the translation

First the difference in the verb: The ESV has “practice” as the verb. HCSB translates the verb “follow”.

The translations also differ in the object of the verb: The ESV have “it”; the HCSB has “instructions”. The NASB has “commandments” as the object. The NIV translates the objection “precepts”.

The Hebrew relevant Hebrew word is עֹשֵׂיהֶ֑ם
In Hebrew the object can at times be attached directly to the end of the verb.

And here is the explanation:

In verse 10b all those who practice it translates the Masoretic text “all who do them” (plural, referring back to Yahweh’s “precepts” in verses 7–8); some ancient versions have “all who do it” (singular, referring to wisdom in the preceding line), and this is preferred by TOB, NEB, NAB (with textual footnotes), and by RSV and SPCL (without footnotes). HOTTP, however, says the plural form (which it prefers) does not refer back to the commands in verses 7–8, but “in a general way, the fear of the Lord with all its multiple aspects and commandments.” If the translator follows TEV, it will be necessary in some languages to recast verse 10b to say, for example, “God enables people who obey his words to decide matters well.”

Robert G. Bratcher and William David Reyburn, A Translator’s Handbook on the Book of Psalms, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1991), 957–958. The verb itself merely means “to do” or “to make”. The object is ambiguous, and the question comes: What does the Psalmist intend us to do?

Psalm 111:1–10 (ESV)
111 Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2 Great are the works of the Lord,
studied by all who delight in them.
3 Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and merciful.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy;
8 they are established forever and ever,
to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He sent redemption to his people;
he has commanded his covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is his name!
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!

The overarching theme of the Psalm is praise: it begins and ends with explicit praise. The content of verses 2-9 is a list of things for which to praise the Lord.

Verse 10 comes direction. First, the fear of the Lord is commended as something good: it is the beginning (or head) of wisdom. While the rest of the praises God for his work, verse commends an action (other than explicitly praise) on the worshipping congregation (v. 1). (However, note v. 8, discussed below).

Second, the end of the fear of the Lord is “wisdom”. The end of thing practiced is a “good understanding”.  However, it is elsewhere translated “success”, or a good outcome. Note HALOT’s comment on this meaning:

Ps 111:10 could belong to either meaning; if it belongs to the first it means good understanding for those who practise it, so KBL, NRSV, REB, and also the versions; Sept. σὺνεσις ἀγαθὴ; similarly Vulg. and Pesh., on which see also e.g. Gunkel Psalmen 488; ZürBib.; TOB; somewhat different is Dahood Psalms 3:121, 125: the understanding of the good, namely of Yahweh (in the sense of a general object, human insight is meant); if the second meaning is accepted the expression means a beautiful reward (reward as the fruit or result of success), thus Kraus BK 155:939.

Ludwig Koehler et al., The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994–2000), 1329–1330. But when we look at the verse itself, the good outcome is “wisdom”.

The strongest argument for practicing precepts comes from verse 8 where it speaks of the precepts being performed (same verb both places). An argument by analogy can be found in Deuteronomy:

Deuteronomy 6:24 (ESV)
24 And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day.

Here, practicing the commands of God are connected to the fear of the Lord: to follow the commands is to fear the Lord. Thus, an argument that one is to practice the precepts results in “good understanding” (or success) is certainly not an unbiblical concept. But the narrow question is what is meant here. And often the Scripture uses similar ideas with a difference in nuance so as to complete a concept.

In context, I would have to say that practicing the fear of the Lord is more likely than practicing the precepts mentioned in verse 7. First, proximity favors the fear of the Lord.

Second, the end of both the fear of the Lord and “practicing it/them” is the same: wisdom or insight.

Third, to jump over the fear of Lord and pick up “precepts” seems a bit arbitrary where the immediate context provides a satisfactory explanation.

Fourth, the fear of the Lord is in parallel to “praise” and it works well to complete our understanding of what the fear of the Lord means. A fear which is matched with praise is not servile or grudging or cringing. It to be in the presence of something beautiful and terrifying. It is to be praised but not taken lightly; like standing at the edge of the Sun.

 

COLLECTS

 

O GOD, glorious confession of all Saints, grant us the fear of Thy Name, which Thou hast declared to be the beginning of wisdom, that joined to the councils of Thy servants, we may be filled with the banquet of Thy mercy. (1.)

Great are Thy works, O LORD,* sought out for all Thy wills. Grant us, Thy servants, while we admire the greatness of Thy works, to praise with due confession the glory of the Creator, and search out with reverent wisdom Thy faithful commandments, and achieve with obedient fear the perfect comeliness of understanding. (11.)

O merciful and gracious LORD, (D. C.) Who with Thy wonted goodness hast long spared us sinners; fill us at length with a good understanding, and pour into our minds fear, the beginning of Thy wisdom, and make us to please Thee by living henceforth a sober and godly life. (1.)

M. Neale and R. F. Littledale, A Commentary on the Psalms from Primitive and Mediæval Writers: Psalm 81 to Psalm 118, vol. 3 (London; New York: Joseph Masters; Pott and Amery, 1871), 458.

Some notes from commentators:

As there are degrees of wisdom, so of the fear of the Lord; but there is no degree of this fear so inferior or low, but it is a beginning, at least, of wisdom; and there is no degree of wisdom so high or perfect, but it hath its root in, or beginning, from this fear.—Joseph Caryl.

C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 111-119, vol. 5 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 12.

FEAR OF GOD AFFECTS THE QUALITY OF HUMAN LIFE. TERTULLIAN: It has also been a subject of discussion, how extremely frequent is the intercourse that heretics hold with magicians, with charlatans, with astrologers, with philosophers; and the reason is that they are people who devote themselves to curious questions. “Seek, and you shall find,” is everywhere in their minds. Thus, from the very nature of their conduct may be estimated the quality of their faith. In their discipline we have an index of their doctrine. They say that God is not to be feared; therefore all things are in their view free and unchecked. Where, however, is God not feared, except where he is not, there truth also is not. Where there is no truth, then, naturally enough, there is also such a discipline as the heretics. But where God is, there exists “the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom.” Where the fear of God is, there is seriousness, an honorable and yet thoughtful diligence, as well as an anxious carefulness and a well-considered admission [to the sacred ministry], a safely guarded communion, promotion after good service, a scrupulous submission [to authority], a devout attendance, a modest gait, a united church and God in all things. PRESCRIPTIONS AGAINST HERETICS 43.1

Quentin F. Wesselschmidt, ed., Psalms 51–150, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture OT 8 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007), 268–269.

True reverence (v 10), which is demonstrated in awesome obedience of God’s laws, is the only basis for coping with life’s meaning and problems. יראת, “reverence,” has the connotation of obedience to the law, here associated with a numinous content, after v 9b (Becker, Gottesfurcht im AT, 270). This first colon of v 10 cites the basic motto of OT wisdom literature (cf. Prov 1:7; 9:10). חכמה, “wisdom,” is the ordering of life in accord with Yahweh’s moral will, as interpreted by the Israelite tradition of wisdom teaching. And there is a great incentive for such a lifestyle: the secrets of a satisfying life are opened only to the willing practitioner of God’s rulings (cf. Matt 7:24–27). Doing and praising were ever to be the dual response to the revelation of what Yahweh had done, which was celebrated afresh at each of Israel’s festivals.

Leslie C. Allen, Psalms 101–150 (Revised), vol. 21, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002), 126.

Having treated of the kindness of God, and paid a well-merited tribute to the law, the prophet goes on to exhort the faithful to reverence God, and be zealous in the keeping of the law. In calling the fear of God, The beginning or source of wisdom, he charges with folly those who do not render implicit obedience unto God. As if he should say, They who fear not God, and do not regulate their lives according to his law, are brute beasts: and are ignorant of the first elements of true wisdom. To this we must carefully attend; for although mankind generally wish to be accounted wise almost all the world lightly esteem God, and take pleasure in their own wicked craftiness. And as the very worst of men are reputed to be superior to all others in point of wisdom; and, puffed up with this confidence, harden themselves against God, the prophet declares all the wisdom of the world, without the fear of God, to be vanity or an empty shadow. And, indeed, all who are ignorant of the purpose for which they live are fools and madmen. But to serve God is the purpose for which we have been born, and for which we are preserved in life. There is, therefore, no worse blindness, no insensibility so grovelling, as when we contemn God, and place our affections elsewhere. For whatever ingenuity the wicked may possess, they are destitute of the main thing, genuine piety. To the same effect are the words which immediately follow, a good understanding have all they who keep God’s commandments. There is great emphasis upon the qualifying adjunct טוב, tob; because the prophet, in inveighing against the foolish opinion to which we have already adverted, tacitly condemns those who delight in their own wicked craftiness. His meaning is, I admit, that they are usually deemed wise who look well to their own interests, who can pursue a temporising policy, who have the acuteness and artifice of preserving the favorable opinion of the world, and who even practice deception upon others. But even were I to grant that this character belongs to them, yet is their wisdom unprofitable and perverse, because true wisdom manifests itself in the observance of the law.

John Calvin, Psalms, electronic ed., Calvin’s Commentaries (Albany, OR: Ages Software, 1998), Ps 111:10.

Sermon: Psalm 37, Part 3

06 Tuesday Nov 2018

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The previous sermon in this three part series may be found here.

Psalm 37 (ESV)

He Will Not Forsake His Saints
37  OF DAVID.

1  Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not envious of wrongdoers!
2  For they will soon fade like the grass
and wither like the green herb.

3  Trust in the LORD, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
4  Delight yourself in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5  Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him, and he will act.
6  He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.

7  Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!

8  Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
9  For the evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.

10  In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
11  But the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace.

12  The wicked plots against the righteous
and gnashes his teeth at him,
13  but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he sees that his day is coming.

14  The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose way is upright;
15  their sword shall enter their own heart,
and their bows shall be broken.

16  Better is the little that the righteous has
than the abundance of many wicked.
17  For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but the LORD upholds the righteous.

18  The LORD knows the days of the blameless,
and their heritage will remain forever;
19  they are not put to shame in evil times;
in the days of famine they have abundance.

20  But the wicked will perish;
the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures;
they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

21  The wicked borrows but does not pay back,
but the righteous is generous and gives;
22  for those blessed by the LORD shall inherit the land,
but those cursed by him shall be cut off.

23  The steps of a man are established by the LORD,
when he delights in his way;
24  though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the LORD upholds his hand.

25  I have been young, and now am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
or his children begging for bread.
26  He is ever lending generously,
and his children become a blessing.

27  Turn away from evil and do good;
so shall you dwell forever.
28  For the LORD loves justice;
he will not forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever,
but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
29  The righteous shall inherit the land
and dwell upon it forever.

30  The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks justice.
31  The law of his God is in his heart;
his steps do not slip.

32  The wicked watches for the righteous
and seeks to put him to death.
33  The LORD will not abandon him to his power
or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.

34  Wait for the LORD and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
you will look on when the wicked are cut off.

35  I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,
spreading himself like a green laurel tree.
36  But he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
though I sought him, he could not be found.

37  Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
for there is a future for the man of peace.
38  But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

39  The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
40  The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.

The Lord our Rock

12 Friday Oct 2018

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(These are from the lecture notes for a course I am teaching at The Master’s College

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Digression: The Lord our Rock

 

In this matter of making disciples, you will be overwhelmed; you will be crushed; you will be made weak: so that Christ will alone be seen as strong. You must know this to be true. If your faith is all second-hand, you will not be able to either exhibit a life or faith, nor will you be able to even speak of faith with confidence.

 

When someone comes in with a trial, your “Well, trust Jesus” will sound like empty air, sounds without meaning — unless you know for a fact that Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you. Hebrews 13:5.

 

If you do not look and live like one who knows these things to be true, your life will contradict your doctrine. 1 Timothy 4:16

1            I love you, O Lord, my strength.

2            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.

 

Psalm 18:1–2 (ESV)

 

These words may very well sound pretty but false for someone in a brutal marriage, someone betrayed, someone dying of a hideous disease. Read these words to someone who has just buried her child; or someone who has just confessed to adultery. There are times when it simply sounds false to say “The Lord is my rock”.

 

In these circumstances, we must either conclude that David was wrong — or that our understanding of God’s deliverance is wrong. How then is the Lord our Rock?

 

How can we say that the Lord is our Rock when we seem to be crushed in this life?

 

What is the Claim of Salvation?

 

One way to “solve” the problem is simply to make God’s claim small enough to match our experience. This is similar to the “openness of God” defense to the problem of evil. When we ask, “Why do bad things happen?” The answer is “God can’t/won’t stop it, because God doesn’t know what is going to happen (God is “open” to the future, so as to guarantee human freedom). Yet, as we will see, God and the saints claim quite the opposite.

Continue reading →

Fathers, Sons & Sin & Pride

12 Friday Oct 2018

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Psalm 147:

5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.
6 The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.

2 Chronicles 33:9-13:

9 Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.
10 The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention.
11 Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon.
12 And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
13 He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.

2 Chronicles 33:21-23:

21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.
22 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done. Amon sacrificed to all the images that Manasseh his father had made, and served them.
23 And he did not humble himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself, but this Amon incurred guilt more and more.

2 Kings 22:15-20

15 And she said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me,
16 Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read.
17 Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.
18 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard,
19 because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD.
20 Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.'” And they brought back word to the king.

Thomas Manton on helps to obedience

15 Thursday Jun 2017

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Obedience, Psalms, Sanctification, Sanctifictation, Theology of Biblical Counseling, Thomas Manton

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Thou has commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. Ps. 119:4

In this fifth sermon on the 119th Psalm, Manton begins by providing a help to obedience. There would be no need to speak of obedience, if it were “natural” to use. What then keeps us from obedience? Manton begins here:

Doctrine 1: To gain the heart to full obedience, it is good to consider the authority of God in his word.

Manson makes three points: the first two concern our benefit in obedience; the third, the necessity of obedience.

Our profit:  Obedience to God’s commands is both reasonable and profitable: our good lies in in obedience:

First, it is reasonable to obey God. “If we were left at our liberty, we should take up the ways of God rather than any other: Rom. vii. 12, “The commandment is holy, just, and good.”

Second, it is to our benefit to obey God, both in this life — and more even more so at the judgment. Obedience, “will bring in a full reward for the future.”

God commands:

The next motive is that of the text, to urge the command of God. It is a course enjoined and imposed upon us by our sovereign lawgiver. It is not in our choice, as if it were an indifferent thing whether we will walk in the laws of God or not, but of absolute necessity, unless we renounce the authority of God.

Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, vol. 6 (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1872), 39.

He then supports this point with three considerations:

First, God is not our equal: He is our creator, therefore he has the right to command. He is our judge and therefore has the power to enforce his commands by punishment or reward.

Second, God has not suggested but commanded:

Unless you mean to renounce the sovereign majesty of God, and put him besides the throne, and break out into open rebellion against him, you must do what he hath commanded: 1 Tim. 1:9, ‘Charge them that be rich in the world,’ &c., not only advise but charge them. And Titus 2:15, ‘These things exhort, and rebuke with all authority.’ God will have the creatures know that he expects this duty and homage from them.

Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, vol. 6 (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1872), 40.

Third, God has given us precise directions that must be followed, “precepts”.

Christians, if we had the awe of God’s authority upon our hearts, what kind of persons would we be at all times, in all places, and in all company? what a check would this be to a proud thought, a light word, or a passionate speech?—what exactness would we study in our conversations, had we but serious thoughts of the sovereign majesty of God, and of his authority forbidding these things in the word!

Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, vol. 6 (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1872), 41.

At this point, Manton stops and considers the various hesitations, doubts, questions or weaknesses which could beset his hearers. He asks, Why should I consider the authority of God? This is a key point of the best preaching: it does not merely drop information before the hearer, but it helps the hearer process in the information. The preacher anticipates questions, uncovers motives, et cetera.

The very best preaching and the very best counseling are the same: helping another to understand, to digest, to live in accordance with God’s will.

1  We take God without the seriousness deserved: it shows in how we live:

Because then the heart would not be so loose, off and on in point of duty; when a thing is counted arbitrary (as generally we count so of strictness), the heart hangs off more from God. When we press men to pray in secret, to be full of good works, to meditate of God, to examine conscience, to redeem time, to be watchful, they think these be counsels of perfection, not rules of duty, enforced by the positive command of God; therefore are men so slight and careless in them. But now, when a man hath learned to urge a naughty heart with the authority of God, and charge them in the name of God, he lies more under the awe of duty. Hath God said I must search and try my ways, and shall I live in a constant neglect of it?

Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, vol. 6 (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1872), 41.

2  Obedience requires appropriate fear: disobedience comes from taking the commands of God too lightly:

The heart is never right until we be brought to fear a commandment more than any inconveniencies whatsoever. To a wicked man there seems to be nothing so light as a command, and therefore he breaks through against checks of conscience. But a man that hath the awe of God upon him, when mindful of God’s authority, he fears a command

Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, vol. 6 (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1872), 41.

3 If God has commanded the duty, then God will make obedience possible. We need not doubt our ability, because God stands behind the obedience. If someone thinks they will fail, they almost certainly will:

Many times we are doubtful of success, and so our hands are weakened thereby. We forbear duty, because we do not know what will come of it. Now, a sense of God’s authority and command doth fortify the heart against these discouragements

Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, vol. 6 (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1872), 41.

4  The purpose or profit behind some commands are not immediately obvious. Why should God command that I not eat from this tree? Why should God command such and such a morality, a behavior? Why should God command faith? We do not need to quibble at God’s reasons when we know that it is God who commands.

5  God does not need our bare behavior. When God commands us he is seeking the  voluntary submission of our will to his:

Obedience is never right but when it is done out of a conscience of God’s authority, intuitu voluntatis. The bare sight of God’s will should be reason enough to a gracious heart. It is the will of God; it is his command, So it is often urged: 1 Thes. 4:3, the apostle bids them follow holiness, ‘for this is the will of God, your sanctification.’ And servants should be faithful in their burdensome and hard labours; 1 Peter 2:15, ‘For so is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.’ And 1 Thes. 5:18, ‘In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.’ That is argument enough to a godly Christian, that God hath signified his will and good pleasure, though the duty were never so cross to his own desires and interests. They obey simply for the commandment sake, without any other reason and inducement.

Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, vol. 6 (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1872), 42.

Nature is out of joint

07 Wednesday Jun 2017

Posted by in Biblical Counseling, Psalms, Theology of Biblical Counseling, Thomas Manton, Uncategorized

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HAMLET

Rest, rest, perturbèd spirit!—So, gentlemen,
With all my love I do commend me to you,
And what so poor a man as Hamlet is
May do, to express his love and friending to you,
God willing, shall not lack. Let us go in together,
And still your fingers on your lips, I pray.
The time is out of joint. O cursèd spite,
That ever I was born to set it right!
Nay, come, let’s go together.
Act 1, Scene 5
Human beings suffer greatly because we are out of place in the world we have expounded, as Rilke write in the Dunio Elegies, Elegy 1  “and the resourceful creatures see clearly/ that we are not really at home/in the interpreted world.” Ecclesiastes elegantly tell us the world is vain and unsatisfying. The difficulty lies in our place, we cannot be content unless we put the purpose for which we exist:

Use 1. To press you to seek God. The motives are:—
1. It was the end of our creation. We do not live merely to live; but for this end were we sent into the world, to seek God. Nature is sensible of it in part by the dissatisfaction it finds in other things; and therefore the apostle describes the Gentiles to he groping and feeling about for God, Acts 17:27. God is the cause of all things, and nature cannot be satisfied without him. We were made for God, and can never enjoy satisfaction until we come to enjoy him; therefore the Psalmist saith, Ps. 14:2, We are ‘all gone aside, and altogether become filthy.’ Nature is out of joint; we are quite out of our way to true happiness. We are seeking that for which we were created, when we seek and inquire after God.

Thomas Manton, “Sermon III”, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, vol. 6 (London: James Nisbet & Co., 1872), 23–24.

What is man that you ….

12 Tuesday Jul 2016

Posted by in Christology, Hebrews, Image of God, imago dei, Job, Justification, Psalms, Romans, Soteriology, Uncategorized

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Job 7 and Psalm 8 present a paradoxical contrast in the meaning of man before God: Why does God care for man.  Job asks why God cares so deeply as to even be concerned with men’s sin:

17 What is man, that you make so much of him, and that you set your heart on him,
18 visit him every morning and test him every moment?
19 How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?
20 If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your mark? Why have I become a burden to you?
21 Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the earth; you will seek me, but I shall not be.

Job 7:17-21

This sort of question, in the minds of some, has led to a religious impulse which creates a god who simply forgives because this god is merciful — God may be concerned about extremely wicked men (typically this requires genocide or at least extreme viciousness), but God does not care about my “small” sins.

And while this sort of religion appears to be very comforting it comes it at a very high cost. First, it comes at the cost of God: God must give up justice to simply overlook sin without redress: Imagine a judge hearing the case of someone who without question committed a gross injustice against you. The criminal is guilty, you sense your need for justice and the judge simply shows “mercy” and less the bad-guy go. Your anger would rightly rise against this situation, because “mercy” comes at the cost of justice.

What sort of a god could sacrifice justice and still be a just God?

Second, as Job notes, to simply overlook sin without more, comes at the expense of humanity. Job asks, why concern yourself with my sin? I’m not that important.

And so you see, that a merely “merciful” god regards a degradation of God and of humanity. God must be unjust and we must be without value to pull off such a “forgiveness”. It is not surprising then that our civic religion of an avuncular god who simply forgives comes at the cost of human dignity.

Scripture however presents a perfectly holy God. It also places human beings as alone bearing the image of God. For humans to be of such worth requires that God have concern for our sin: because human beings are representing God (whether good or ill).

A high view of God and leads to a high view of the value of human beings — at the very same moment, producing the humility of wonder and love:

4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? 5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

Psalm 8:4-5  This resolution of the conflict takes place in Jesus Christ. The writer of Hebrews specifically brings these strands together, God, man, sin as follows;

6 It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?
7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor,
8 putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.
9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Hebrews 2:6-9. There in the place of Jesus, God greatness and justice gather up the sinfulness of humanity and restore human beings to a place of honor.

This is how Paul makes the same argument, from a slightly different vantage:

 

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Romans 3:21–26.