January 3, 2016
Worship: I will Praise Him Still, by Fernando Ortega
When the morning comes on the farthest hill
I will sing His name, I will praise Him, still.
I will sing His name, I will praise Him, still.
When dark trials come and my heart is filled
With the weight of doubt, I will praise Him, still.
For the Lord, our God, He is strong to save
From the arms of death, from the deepest grave
And He gave us life in His perfect will,
And by His good grace, I will praise Him, still.
Witness:
Yesterday I spoke of a lack of humility or a sense of entitlement in some people’s life as a reason for lacking the blessings of God. Today I read a devotional by John Piper which, while not dealing directly with the subject of entitlement, certainly encompasses it. I will share that devotional here as my witness portion for the day.
The Smallest Faith
John Piper
It depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. (Romans 9:16)
Let us make crystal clear at the beginning of the year that all we will get from God this year as believers in Jesus is mercy. Whatever pleasures or pains come our way will all be mercy.
This is why Christ came into the world — “in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy” (Romans 15:9). We were born again “according to his great mercy” (1 Peter 1:3). We pray daily “that we may receive mercy” (Hebrews 4:16); and we are now “waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (Jude 1:21). If any Christian proves trustworthy, it is “by the Lord’s mercy [he] is trustworthy” (1 Corinthians 7:25).
In Luke 17:5, the apostles plead with the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And Jesus says, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you” (Luke 17:6). In other words, the issue in your Christian life and ministry is not the strength or quantity of your faith, because that is not what uproots trees. God does. Therefore, the smallest faith that truly connects you with Christ will engage enough of his power for all you need.
But what about your successes? Does your obedience move you out of the category of supplicant of mercy? Jesus gives the answer in the following verses of Luke 17:7–10.
Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, “Come at once and sit down at table”? Will he not rather say to him, “Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink”? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.”
Therefore, I conclude, the fullest obedience and the smallest faith obtain the same thing from God: mercy. A mere mustard seed of faith taps into the mercy of tree-moving power. And flawless obedience leaves us utterly dependent on mercy.
The point is this: Whatever the timing or form of God’s mercy, we never rise above the status of beneficiaries of mercy. We are always utterly dependent on the undeserved.
Therefore, let us humble ourselves and rejoice and “glorify God for his mercy”!
Replace the word “mercy” with “blessing” and the point is still true!
WORD:
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Ps 24:1-6
24 The earth is the LORD 's, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
2 for he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the waters
.
3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false.
5 He will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God his Savior.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, O God of Jacob.b
SELAH
NIV
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Ps 24:1-6
The King of Glory
A Psalm of David.
24 The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
2 for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
5 He will receive blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.
Selah
ESV
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Strongs says the word translated “blessing” means:
OT:1293 berakah (ber-aw-kaw'); from OT:1288; benediction; by implication prosperity:
KJV - blessing, liberal, pool, present.
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
Brown-Drivers-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (Abridged):
OT:1293 Berakah —
1) a blessing
2) (source of) blessing
3) blessing, prosperity
4) blessing, praise of God
5) a gift, a present
6) a treaty of peace
(from The Online Bible Thayer's Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, Copyright © 1993, Woodside Bible Fellowship, Ontario, Canada. Licensed from the Institute for Creation Research.)
Not much new here except to reinforce the fact that a blessing bestowed is a gift bestowed and therefore excludes merit, for a gift earned is not really a gift but a reward.
Strongs says the word translated “vindication” or “righteousness” means:
OT:6666 tsedaqah (tsed-aw-kaw'); from OT:6663; rightness (abstractly), subjectively (rectitude), objectively (justice), morally (virtue) or figuratively (prosperity):
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
Brown-Drivers-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (Abridged):
OT:6666 tsedaqah —
justice, righteousness
a) righteousness (in government)
1) used of judge, ruler, king
2) used of law
3) used of the Davidic King Messiah
b) righteousness (of God's attribute)
c) righteousness (in a case or cause)
d) righteousness, truthfulness
e) righteousness (as ethically right)
f) righteousness (as vindicated), justification, salvation
1) used of God
2) prosperity (of people)
g) righteous acts
(from The Online Bible Thayer's Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, Copyright © 1993, Woodside Bible Fellowship, Ontario, Canada. Licensed from the Institute for Creation Research.)
Not much help here on face value. The context will have to determine what is meant.
It would seem that f) fits the context best.
Calvin says:
Psalms 24:5
The word righteousness may be explained two ways. It either means all the benefits of God, by which he proves himself to be righteous and faithful towards his people in keeping his promises to them, or it denotes the fruit or reward of the believer's righteousness. Indeed, David's meaning is abundantly manifest. He intends to show on the one hand, that it is not to be expected that the fruit or reward of righteousness will be bestowed on those who unrighteously profane God's sacred worship; and on the other hand, that it is impossible for God to disappoint his true worshippers; for it is his peculiar office to give evidence of his righteousness by doing them good.
(from Calvin's Commentaries, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2005-2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Okay, I understand this is rather technical gobbledygook for some, however, in order to understand a passage, sometimes I find it necessary to explore the meaning of words, refer to commentaries and seek answers to questions that arise from observations made on a passage from Scripture. Tomorrow (actually later on today) I will explore some more of the commentaries on this passage and these words. I will look at them in relationship to some questions I asked several days ago.
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