March 19, 2016
Lyrics: Man of sorrows Lamb of God By His own betrayed The sin of man and wrath of God Has been on Jesus laid Silent as He stood accused Beaten mocked and scorned Bowing to the Father's will He took a crown of thorns Oh that rugged cross My salvation Where Your love poured out over me Now my soul cries out Hallelujah Praise and honour unto Thee Sent of heaven God's own Son To purchase and redeem And reconcile the very ones Who nailed Him to that tree Now my debt is paid It is paid in full By the precious blood That my Jesus spilled Now the curse of sin Has no hold on me Whom the Son sets free Oh is free indeed See the stone is rolled away Behold the empty tomb Hallelujah God be praised He's risen from the grave Brooke Ligertwood, Matt Crocker © 2013 Hillsong Music Publishing (APRA) (adm. in the US and Canada at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission. |
Witness:
Today I had to face myself and how selfish I was. A brother in the Lord wanted me to come and join with him and others of my Band of Brothers to pray over a friend of one of my brothers. This friend, who suffers from Muscular Dystrophy, had called and said he wasn’t long for this world. My friend invited him to church along with his family. We gathered over him and his family and prayed for them all. Why selfish you ask? Because I struggled on whether to go. I didn’t want to give up my time with the Lord. I also didn’t want to go to the service that night, I was going the next day. Just before I was about to leave, another brother messaged that he had just broken his glasses and couldn’t drive without them. He asked if someone could pick him up. I waited, hoping someone else would volunteer because I planned to go before the service then leave. Picking up someone else would quash those plans I thought. It was getting late, so no one volunteered. So fighting feelings of selfishness, I volunteered. It was a great time of prayer, at least 20 brothers showed up. As it turned out the brother who needed a ride didn’t need to stay and we were able to leave, and here I am now typing this tonight. The Lord has pointed out and is working on my selfishness with my time. He is giving me time to go out and fellowship with others. I still feel a little on the outside in the crowd but being obedient to the promptings of the Spirit and the Love of God, I will seek to look for other opportunities to serve and fellowship and minister God’s grace.
WORD:
Ps 25:1-3
25 Toa you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
2 in you I trust, O my God.
Do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3 No one whose hope is in you
will ever be put to shame,
but they will be put to shame
who are treacherous without excuse.
NIV
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Ps 25:1-3
25 To you, O LORD, Io lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you Ip trust;
q let me not be put to shame;
r let not my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed,s none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
they shall be ashamed who aret wantonlyu treacherous.
ESV
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Ps 25:1-3
25 1 O LORD, I give my life to you.
2 I trust in you, my God!
Do not let me be disgraced,
or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat.
3 No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced,
but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
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Ps 25:1-3
25 To You, O LORD, I alift up my soul.
2 O my God, in You aI trust,
Do not let me bbe ashamed;
Do not let my cenemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, anone of those who wait for You will be ashamed;
1Those who bdeal treacherously without cause will be ashamed
NASU
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Here in verse 3, we have a confident declaration from David which becomes a promise of our faithful God to all the saints (all believers). However, this promise also comes with a seeming problem. It seems like a statement that is divorced from reality. It seems too confident. We know from our experience that this just isn’t the case. We have found ourselves in times where others have mocked and reviled us and have seemed to have victory over us. We know from Scripture that this is true of many of the saints of God (cf. Hebrews 11:35b-38). Was this the product of wishful thinking on the psalmist’s part?
Backing up a little, we must discuss whether this verse is translated as it is above:
No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame,
but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without
excuse. NIV
or is this to be translated like some versions have:
Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
NRSV
Is it a prayer or a promise?
Most commentaries I have seem to think it is a prayer, so they apply it after this fashion:
This petition is indicative of the wish of the pious heart that none who profess to serve God may ever be put to shame; that they may never be overcome by sin; that they may never fall under the power of temptation; that they may not fail of eternal salvation.(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
JFB calls it a prayer based on a principle:
Psalms 25:3
Let none ... be ashamed - a prayer based on a fundamental principle of God a dealings [sic]. He has common cause with all that wait, on the Lord; such cannot consistently with God's honour be put to shame. The Chaldaic, Septuagint, Vulgate, Arabic, and Syriac translate as futures, 'all that wait on thee shall not be ashamed;' thus David lays down the general principle on which he founds the confidence of his particular prayer.(from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
However, many take it to be a promise rather than a prayer;
Ellicott says:
(3) Wait on thee.—More literally, as in LXX., wait for thee, with idea of strong endurance. The root means to make strong by twisting. (Comp. Psalm 25:5; Psalm 25:21, where the same word occurs, though in a different conjugation.) The Vulgate has qui sustinent te, “who maintain thee,” i.e., as their God. The Authorised Version is in error in following the imperative of the LXX. in this verse. It should run, none that wait for thee shall be ashamed.http://biblehub.com/commentaries/ellicott/psalms/25.htm
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges says:
Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.3. Render with R.V.
Yea, none that wait on thee shall be ashamed:
They shall be ashamed that deal treacherously without cause.
The words are not a prayer, but the expression of a conviction corresponding to and justifying the prayer of Psalm 25:2. Cp. Romans 5:3-5. It certainly gains in point if the last clause of Psalm 25:5 is joined to Psalm 25:1, and the Psalmist has already spoken of himself as one of “those who wait on Jehovah
Yea, none that wait on thee shall be ashamed:
They shall be ashamed that deal treacherously without cause.
The words are not a prayer, but the expression of a conviction corresponding to and justifying the prayer of Psalm 25:2. Cp. Romans 5:3-5. It certainly gains in point if the last clause of Psalm 25:5 is joined to Psalm 25:1, and the Psalmist has already spoken of himself as one of “those who wait on Jehovah.”http://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/psalms/25.htm
If it is a prayer, then the issue I have brought up disappears. But what of the conundrum created in the mind if we take this as a promise rather than prayer?
I think the Expositor’s Commentary captures the right attitude if this is so:
The cry in Psalm 25:2 rests upon the confidence nobly, expressed in Psalm 25:3, in which the verbs are not optatives, but futures, declaring a truth certain to be realised [sic] in the psalmist’s experience, because it is true for all who, like him, wait on Jehovah. True prayer is the individual’s sheltering himself under the broad folds of the mantle that covers all who pray. The double confidence as to the waiters on Jehovah and the "treacherous without cause" is the summary of human experience as read by faith. Sense has much to adduce in contradiction, but the dictum is nevertheless true, only its truth does not always appear in the small arc of the circle which lies between cradle and grave.http://biblehub.com/commentaries/expositors/psalms/25.htm
I will conclude with my personal opinion that this is a promise to believer’s who are described as “those who wait on the Lord”.
I have actually held this journal entry open for days due to the fact that I needed to prepare for a lesson I was teaching on this Thursday (yesterday) to a men’s group I am part of.
It is Good Friday, March 24 so you can see the gap of time that has occurred between the beginning of this entry and its conclusion. I think it is appropriate because the promises of God are sealed by the cross. Thus Paul can say confidently:
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV
I wrote a poem this morning in light of what day it is. I share it now to the Glory of God! (Please forgive the little breach in English grammar at the end of stanza 2)
As darkness spread across the sky
Our Savior breathed His final sigh
Fear and sadness ruled the day
Friday passed, but Sunday’s on the way!
Bursting forth on Sunday morn
Our Savior from the tomb was born
As light spread across the sky
A new day dawned for you and I
Join now all saints young and old
Shout out loud and shout out bold
Jesus died on Calvary’s tree
Rose again and set us free!
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