God confides His will to His people

November 27, 2016

Worship: When the Saints by Sarah Groves

Lord I have a heavy burden of all I've seen and know
It's more than I can handle
But your word is burning like a fire shut up in my bones
And I cannot let it go

And when I'm weary and overwrought
With so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

Lord it's all that I can't carry and cannot leave behind
It often overwhelms me
But when I think of all who've gone before and lived the faithful life
Their courage compels me
And when I'm weary and overwrought
With so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars

I see the shepherd Moses in the Pharaohs court
I hear his call for freedom for the people of the Lord

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

I see the long quiet walk along the Underground Railroad
I see the slave awakening to the value of her soul

I see the young missionary and the angry spear
I see his family returning with no trace of fear

I see the long hard shadows of Calcutta nights
I see the sisters standing by the dying man's side

I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor
I see the man with a passion come and kicking down the door

I see the man of sorrows and his long troubled road
I see the world on his shoulders and my easy load

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
I want to be one of them
I want to be one of them
I want to be one of them

Songwriters: SARA GROVES

When The Saints lyrics © MUSIC SERVICES, INC

Lyrics:  http://www.lyricsfreak.com/s/sara+groves/when+the+saints_20679239.html

Video:  https://youtu.be/xc6X_ZBpqQs

Witness:

Today has been a day of mixed thoughts. I have been praying for my daughter and her relationship with a boyfriend even though she is still married at least on paper here on earth but still one with her husband in the eyes of the Lord. Her husband no longer lives with her. He was a serial adulterer and verbally and sometimes physically abusive to her. He drank, and he smoked pot and could not seem to keep a job for very long. After putting up with this for about 11 years, she finally had enough, so she asked him to leave. She wants to get a divorce but doesn’t have the funds for it right now. I struggle with the idea of divorce. Many in the church see her as having biblical grounds for divorce. Others believe there are no grounds for divorce in the bible except during the “betrothal” period which was stronger than our engagement period and could only be broken by a divorce. I wrestle with this, but I will not impose my doubts on her.

I do not remember the exact chronological sequence, but I do remember the day my daughter declared her trust in God. That was the day I believe she became a Christian. She began coming to church and reading her Bible. Somewhere in all this, she asked her husband to leave. All went well for a while until she struck up a relationship a young man at work. Then she jumped the gun and didn’t seek the Lord’s will in the relationship. One thing led to another, and he moved in because he didn’t have a place to live (he lost his lease). She told him their relationship would not include sex till they were married and I believe she maintained that vow. However, he did sleep in the same bed, and they kissed and held hands. I was distressed about all this and let her know this, but I did not tell her that he could not live there (I own the duplex she lives in). I felt God was not pleased with me for my inaction. I continually prayed that God would open her eyes to see that what she was doing was wrong but nothing changed. She continued to go to church, and her friend did sometimes as well. I could tell the fire was not there anymore. She no longer had her quiet time, and I could tell her focus was more on him.

Well, things changed today and with it comes blessing and challenges. Perhaps these challenges could have been met earlier if she did not jump into this relationship. She asked her boyfriend to leave. I will not go into details because this portion is getting quite long. I do want to record what I believe to be a remarkable revelation to my daughter and me, of God’s faithful dealings with her in rescuing her from her destructive choice. Today she told me that she had told him to leave. I unloaded with all that I had been feeling about the whole situation. I ended by saying that I was happy when she was walking with the Lord but then she took a left turn. When I said that, she interrupted and laughed and then she told me an amazing experience she had the first week her friend had moved in. She had a series of dreams all week in which she was driving in a car or climbing a cliff. As she drove, she was told to turn right, but she turned left and drove off a cliff. When she was climbing the cliff, she was told to jump right, but she jumped left and fell off the cliff. She thought at the time it was God telling her not to go back with her abusive and cheating husband. When I said I thought she had made a left turn in her relationship with the Lord the memory of the dreams came flooding back to her and now she realizes that God may have been telling her that by letting her boyfriend live with her she had taken a left turn in her relationship with Him. God doesn’t always employ dreams to reveal something to us. I believe his WORD is the usual way, but I will not limit God to how He speaks to His children.

WORD:

Ps 25:11-15 11 For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. 12 Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. 13 He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. 14 The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. 15 My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare. NIV

Ps 25:11-15 11 For the honor of your name, O LORD, forgive my many, many sins. 12 Who are those who fear the LORD? He will show them the path they should choose. 13 They will live in prosperity, and their children will inherit the land. 14 The LORD is a friend to those who fear him. He teaches them his covenant. 15 My eyes are always on the LORD, for he rescues me from the traps of my enemies. Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

Ps 25:11-15 11 For thy name's sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great. 12 What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. 13 His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth. 14 The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant. 15 Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net. KJV

Ps 25:11-15 11 For your name's sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great. 12 Who is the man who fears the LORD? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose. 13 His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land. 14 The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. 15 My eyes are ever toward the LORD, for he will pluck my feet out of the net. ESV

Verses 12 through 14 contain a threefold promise to those who “fear” the LORD.

The Lord will:

1. Apprise – vs. 12

2. Provide – vs. 13

3. Confide – vs. 14

I have looked at the first two so today I will look at the third heading: “confide.” The word translated “The LORD confides in” in the NIV is a word that has several shades of meaning as seen just in the way it is translated by the various versions above. The KJV translates it as “The secret of the Lord.” This is a Hebrew idiom. This has been translated as “friend” by the NLT and as “friendship of the LORD” by the ESV.

Vines says of this word:

SECRET sod OT:5475, "secret or confidential plan (s); secret or confidential talk; secret; council; gathering; circle." This noun occurs 21 times in biblical Hebrew. Sod means, first, "confidential talk": "Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked..." Ps 64:2. In Prov 15:22 the word refers to plans which one makes on one's own and before they are shared by others: "Without counsel [self-made] purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counselors they [succeed]." Sometimes the word signifies simply a talk about something that should be kept confidential: "Debate thy cause with thy neighbor himself; and discover not a secret to another" Prov 25:9.

Second, the word represents a group of intimates with whom one shares confidential matters: "O my soul, come not thou into their [Simeon's and Levi's] secret; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united..." Gen 49:6 — the first occurrence of the word. Jer 6:11 speaks of the "assembly [informal but still sharing confidential matters] of young men together." To "have sweet counsel" is to be in a group where everyone both shares and rejoices in what is being discussed and or done Ps 55:14.(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)

As you can see the NIV and KJV lean towards the first definition and translate it with information in mind. The NLT and ESV lean toward the second and translate it with relationship in mind.

It is interesting to see how this word is translated in various portions of Scripture. We find the word used in Genesis 49:6 where the KJV translates it literally “secret” but the NIV, ESV, and the NLT all have “counsel.” In Job, we see it translated as counsel in Job 15:8. However, in Job 19:19 it is translated as “inward friends” in the KJV. The NIV and ESV have “intimate friends,” and the NLT has “close friends.” In Psalm 54:14 the KJV and ESV have “counsel, ” and the NIV and NLT have “fellowship.”

However, we side on the meaning in the passage one thing is clear. There is an intimate bond between God and those who fear Him. Looking back to previous portions of my journal where I discuss the meaning of fear of the Lord, one aspect is an openness on our part. We cannot hide our sins from Him. There is also an openness on our part to learn from our God, the source of all wisdom, humbly. Therefore, David declares that God will show, make known, or teach them His covenant.

The word “make known” is the word “yada” and is rich in meaning. Keil and Delitzsch say this word

… is used of the imparting of not merely intellectual, but experimental knowledge(from Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.)

It is used even of the intimate relations between a husband and wife. While the Hebrew construct here may refer to imparting of information, it also contains the idea of intimacy and experiential knowledge. God not only informs but in a sense, transforms those who fear Him through the covenant He has made with them. There is the revelational aspect as well as illumination involved here. God not only reveals the covenant to His people, but it goes further than that, for even a non-believer can read the revelation of God’s covenant in His word. God not only reveals His word to His people, but He illuminates the meaning of His word and the accepting of it as well.

The Apostle Paul speaks about this very thing in 1 Corinthians 2:12-14.

We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.  The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. NIV 

Yet, I believe there is a further aspect that God’s people experience and that is transformation. Paul also speaks of this transformational aspect in Romans 12:2

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will. NIV

We must not take lightly the Lord’s desire to confide His perfect will with His people. Too many are more interested in delving into and speculating on the “secret things” that God chooses not to reveal (Deut. 29:29) rather than learning the “secret things” that God has chosen to reveal (1 Cor. 2:7-10; 4:1). They will be people who will always be on the fringe and never in the center of God’s will. However, those who fear the LORD will receive, accept, and be transformed by His word.