The Lord will provide

Journal entry for:

November 29, 2015

Worship: Though Dangers Assail and Dangers Affright by John Newton

1 Though troubles assail,
And dangers affright,
Though friends should all fail
And foes all unite;
Yet one thing secures us
Whatever betide,
The scripture assures us,
"The Lord will provide."

2 The birds without barn
Or storehouse are fed,
From them let us learn
To trust for our bread:
His saints, what is fitting
Shall ne'er be denied
So long as 'tis written,
"The Lord will provide."

3 We may, like the ships,
By tempests be tossed
On perilous deeps,
But cannot be lost:
Though Satan enrages
The wind and the tide,
The promise engages,
"The Lord will provide."

4 His call we'll obey,
Like Abra'm of old,
Not knowing our way,
But faith makes us bold;
For though we are strangers
We have a good guide,
And trust in all dangers,
"The Lord will provide."

5 When Satan appears
To stop up our path,
And fills us with fears,
We triumph by faith;
He cannot take from us
Though oft he has tried
The heart cheering promise,
"The Lord will provide."

6 He tells us we're weak,
Our hope is in vain
The good that we seek
We ne'er shall obtain;
But when such suggestions
Our spirits have plied,
This answers all questions,
"The Lord will provide."

7 No strength of our own,
Or goodness we claim,
Yet since we have known
The Savior's great name;
In this our strong tower,
For safety we hide,
The Lord is our power,
"The Lord will provide."

8 When Life sinks apace
And death is in view,
The word of his grace
Shall comfort us through
No fearing or doubting
With Christ on our side,
We hope to die shouting,
"The Lord will provide."

Lyrics:  http://www.hymnary.org/text/though_troubles_assail_and_dangers_affri

Video:  https://youtu.be/YfTjEMVfqew

Witness:

Today my journaling was like trying to start a car on a very cold morning. It was very hard to get started. I began hours ago looking for a song that related to Psalm 23:6. [After I found a song I sang then took a long nap because I was very tired. I then listened to various different songs trying to get started again. Finally, I just stopped everything and got on my knees to pray and recenter my thoughts. When I got up I still wondered what I could say in this portion of my Journal. When I sat down I typed the first two sentences, then the sentences that follow what I am typing now, but I thought it was necessary to fill in the gap of time with what happened between worship and witness and why I said I started hours ago. Now back to what I wrote after sentence two (a bit surreal I knowJ)] One source on the internet that I use is a Hymn site that lists song according to scripture passages they relate to. That’s when I discovered this Hymn by the famed John Newton. Each verse ends with this glorious truth, “The Lord will provide”. What a marvelous truth about our all sufficient, all supplying Shepherd. Could we not sum up the truth of Psalm 23 in this short but enormous phrase? It reminds me of Genesis 22 where Abraham responds to a question by his son Isaac:

Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together. When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided." Gen 22:7-14 NIV

We know that in some way this points also, as a type, to Our Lord Jesus who said:

Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad." John 8:56 NIV

With one big difference, though. In this case, our God provided a lamb in the person of His son.

"Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29 NIV

However, we also read this in John’s Gospel:

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 10:11 NIV

So in one Divine mixing of metaphors, the Shepherd becomes the Lamb and the Provider becomes the Provided!

'Tis mystery all: th'Immortal dies:

Who can explore His strange design?

In vain the firstborn seraph tries

To sound the depths of love divine.

'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,

Let angel minds inquire no more.

'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;

Let angel minds inquire no more.

( 2nd verse of  And Can it Be? from Biblesoft Hymnal, PC Study Bible electronic database Copyright © 2003-2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

I’ll finish this section with a devotional by Spurgeon. I was opening up one of my Bible Apps to look up and to copy and paste some of the above Bible references. My App always opens to Spurgeon's Morning & Evening devotional. I thought, “Wouldn’t it be interesting if his devotional spoke about the Lord’s provision?” When I looked at the verse, I thought, “nope, not his time”. I almost skipped past the devotional, but guilt moved me to read it (you know, that feeling you get when you are rushing to get somewhere, but you don’t want to rush through something concerning God’s word). I then realized, “Yep, He did it again!”

And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this."
—2 Chronicles 25:9

A very important question this seemed to be to the king of Judah, and possibly it is of even more weight with the tried and tempted O Christian. To lose money is at no times pleasant, and when principle involves it, the flesh is not always ready to make the sacrifice. "Why lose that which may be so usefully employed? May not the truth itself be bought too dear? What shall we do without it? Remember the children, and our small income!" All these things and a thousand more would tempt the Christian to put forth his hand to unrighteous gain, or stay himself from carrying out his conscientious convictions, when they involve serious loss. All men cannot view these matters in the light of faith; and even with the followers of Jesus, the doctrine of "we must live" has quite sufficient weight. The Lord is able to give thee much more than this is a very satisfactory answer to the anxious question. Our Father holds the purse-strings, and what we lose for His sake He can repay a thousand-fold. It is ours to obey His will, and we may rest assured that He will provide for us. The Lord will be no man's debtor at the last. Saints know that a grain of heart's-ease is of more value than a ton of gold. He who wraps a threadbare coat about a good conscience has gained a spiritual wealth far more desirable than any he has lost. God's smile and a dungeon are enough for a true heart; His frown and a palace would be hell to a gracious spirit. Let the worst come to the worst, let all the talents go, we have not lost our treasure, for that is above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Meanwhile, even now, the Lord maketh the meek to inherit the earth, and no good thing doth He withhold from them that walk uprightly.

WORD:

Ps 23:6 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. NIV

Ps 23:6 6 Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live. (from Holman Christian Standard Bible® Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005 by Holman Bible Publishers.)

I have placed two different translations side by side to illustrate what I am saying about this verse (i.e. “forever” or “long as I live”). There are two ways to approach it. Most translations choose the traditional way of translating it like the NIV’84, 2011 (i.e. KJV, NASB, NASB Updated,ESV, ASV, NLT, NKJV, RSV, GW, WEB, CEV, NCV, ISV). Others translate it along the lines of HCSB (i.e. CJB, Message, Darby, Young’s Literal Trans, Amplified, NRSV, NET,Douay-Rheimes, TEV). So which is it? Far be it for me to decide this. I will give some thoughts on this tomorrow (actually later today- 3 AM and I need to get some sleep). I will share what some commentaries say. This day’s witness entry is quite long, therefore I will hold off until my tomorrow.