He is my Light and my Might!

October 3, 2017

Worship:  A Mighty Fortress as sung by Matt Boswell – Original lyrics by Martin Luther with chorus added by Matt Boswell

A mighty fortress is our God

A bulwark never failing

Our Helper He amidst the flood

Of mortal ills prevailing

For still our ancient foe

Doth seek to work us woe

His craft and pow'r are great

And armed with cruel hate

On earth is not his equal

Did we in our own strength confide

Our striving would be losing

Were not the right Man on our side

The Man of God's own choosing

Dost ask who that may be

Christ Jesus, it is He

The Lord of hosts His name

From age to age the same

And He must win the battle

And though this world with devils filled

Should threaten to undo us

We will not fear for God hath willed

His truth to triumph through us

The prince of darkness grim

We tremble not for him

His rage we can endure

For lo his doom is sure

One little word shall fell Him

A mighty fortress, a rock unfailing

The King of Glory forever amen

For endless ages enthroned in praises

The King of Glory forever amen

That word above all earthly pow'rs

No thanks to them abideth

The Spirit and the gifts are ours

Through Him Who with us sideth

Let goods and kindred go

This mortal life also

The body they may kill God's

Truth abideth still

His Kingdom is forever

A mighty fortress, a rock unfailing

The King of Glory forever amen

For endless ages enthroned in praises

The King of Glory forever

Forever Amen

Matt Boswell, Frederick Hedge, Martin Luther

Doxology & Theology Music (Admin Parvel Music)

Lyrics: https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Matt-Boswell/A-Mighty-Fortress

Video: https://youtu.be/oNeP7bGagqg

Witness:

A lot has transpired since the last time I wrote. Satan is alive and well on the planet earth. Friends have faced the loss of access to a building they met to worship in. Friend’s family members have relapsed into addiction. A daughter faces stress at work. Another daughter’s car needs almost a $1000 in repairs. To all this, the Lord has reminded me of my words of counsel to others of having perspective and patience and trust. I exult in the Lord’s testing me on the things He has taught me. Truly, as I have prayed in accordance with His Word, he is conforming me to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29). I rejoice and tremble at the same time knowing that more testing will surely come.

I say all this as a preface to what I said I would talk about in my previous blog entry. In my last entry, I spoke about my motives in studying God’s Word. In this entry, I want to give some thoughts on the second subject I had alluded to. That is, what is the origin of Scripture? By capitalizing the word “Scripture,” you already have a clue as to what I believe it’s origin is. This is not an academic apologetic as to its source.  This is written from the view that the Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God. Since this is not a formal defense of this statement,  I am not going to unpack all the meaning and nuances that arise from making this assertion.

These those arise out of my reaction to and contemplation on the messages I have listened to recently on one of the five tenants that grew out of the Reformation which is celebrating its 500^th year. These tenants, known as the five Solas, were a summation of the teachings of the Reformers. These arose as a response to the error that had invaded the Church over time and propagated as “truth” by the Roman Catholic Church. These same errors exist today.  For informational sake, I will list these five Solas but only speak to the first one.

·        Sola Scriptura — Scripture Alone

·        Sola Gratia — Grace Alone

·        Sola Fide — Faith Alone

·        Solus Christus — Christ Alone

·        Soli Deo Gloria — For God’s Glory Alone

There are many resources online if you want to delve into these further but the meaning of these are reasonably plain at the reading of them. Let me quote from one such resource which is a brief expose on the five Solas in the life and preaching of Charles Spurgeon.

The Five Solas served as the collective rallying cry of the Protestant Reformers. These Latin phrases —Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Solus Christus, and Soli Deo Gloria—tell us that Scripture alone is our highest authority and that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for God’s glory alone.

http://reasonabletheology.org/ch-spurgeon-and-the-five-solas-of-the-reformation/

My thoughts were born out of messages on the first phrase “Sola Scriptura – Scripture Alone.” The Reformers believed, as do I that the Scriptures are the sole authority for our faith and practice. Not the Church nor tradition stands beside or over the Word of God. In these messages, the word qeo/pneusto$ ‎(theh-op'-nyoo-stos) was discussed. In most versions, this compound word is translated “inspiration.” However, the meaning of this word is more about breathing out or expiration. This word is better translated as “God-breathed” as the NIV translates it.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Tim 3:16-17 NIV (’84)

Scripture is “God-breathed” or “expired by the mouth of God” as it were. However, it would sound funny to the modern ear if we spoke of the “expiration of Scripture.” And that is where my mind took off as I listened to these messages. Up until and through the days of the Reformers the veracity of Scripture was not seriously challenged. The Church as a whole accepted the Bible as the Word of God. With the dawn of Higher Criticism, this is no longer the case. Those who accepted HC’s tenets lost faith in the Scriptures as God’s Word. The Word effectively became expired in the lives of these followers. Oh, some still clung to the “spirit” of the words especially the words of Christ relegating it’s authority to the red letters. It became a witness of how others that went before us conceived of God. The stories told were just myths that believers used to encapsulate concepts they believed about who God was. However, we must demythologize these stories and recast them in light of our present superior knowledge and understanding. We then become the authority over the Word and not the Word over us.

These facts are sad enough. However, in many ways, the Word of God has become “expired” in the lives of those who attend so-called “Bible Believing Churches.” Rather than studying the Word, they rely on the word of the Pastor. They approach the Bible with preconceived notions about who God is and what He does and this colors there understanding of Scripture and affects the way they respond to its demands and instructions. So when God says, “I hate divorce” (Malachi 2:16) this is interpreted to mean that God hates it but tolerates it and even understands it when we do get divorced.

I know it is hard to conceive how this is the same as treating the Word of God as an expired book with expired teachings. With those professing to believe and follow the Bible, this may be a little more subtle. When milk expires and begins to smell, we throw it out. When we come to Scripture, and it pushes against what we in our flesh desire to do we look at that portion as being expired. We use words flippantly like, “Well that was the OT, and this is the NT.” Or we say, “That was just cultural.” We pull out our “expired” stamp and mark off that which is unpleasant to us. Instead of studying to see if something has indeed changed or is cultural we just whip out the ol’ expiration stamp and essentially nullify it from applying to us.

Higher Criticism led to an expired Bible among its critics. Among believers, we can fall victim to “Expire Criticism.” Both leave holes in the Word of God and its followers. Both bring death and weakness to the churches that espouse this attitude towards Scripture. Both are dishonoring to God and destructive to the life of the church. Both will pass away, but the Word of God remains forever.

 2 Peter 1:19-21And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.ESV

 

2 Tim 2:15-17aDo your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.  Their teaching will spread like gangrene.NIV

 

https://manna.amazingfacts.org/amazingfacts/website/amazingfacts/images/scripture-pictures/isaiah-40-8-1628619909.jpg

The grass may catch afire

A flower consumed upon a pyre

But the Word of God will never

Expire!

WORD:

Ps 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid? NIV	Ps 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
Ps 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? KJV	Ps 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation;  whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? ESV

I noticed right off the bat that the KJV stands alone among the above versions in translating the Hebrew word

      batsar (baw-tsar') (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.)

 

as “strength.” Most modern translations translate it as “stronghold” or “fortress” or even “defense.” A simple reference check yields this result.

OT:4581 ma`owz (also ma`uwz ) or ma`oz (also ma`uz) — a place or means of safety, a protection, a refuge, a stronghold a)        a place of safety, fastness, a harbor, a strongholdb)        a refuge (used of God) (figurative)c)         human protection (figurative)(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.)

While strength may seem appropriate in some cases outside of the Psalms, most modern translations use “stronghold” or “refuge” or “defense” within the Psalms. These words are so much more colorful and expressive of what David is claiming.

David looks to the Lord as:

     ·        his light -  to see in the battle
·        his salvation - for hope all through the fight
·        his stronghold -  for refuge, protection, and rest in the midst of the conflict.

At the center of all this is salvation. It forms the central link between “light” and “stronghold“ in Scripture.

Isa 49:6I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."NIV (see also Acts 13:47 which quotes this verse) Ps 18:2The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
NIV (see also 37:39)

In the very next Psalm, I will study, David ties stronghold and salvation together.

Ps 28:8 The Lord is the strength of his people,a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.
NIV

Here the word translated “fortress” in the NIV is the same as the word translated “stronghold’” in Psalm 27:1. The word “salvation” comes from the same root word as the word translated “salvation” in Psalm 27:1.

If salvation is the central theme that ties these all together, we must contemplate on what or who is the source of this salvation. To the pagan world, it is blind chance, or the gods, or our own ability to save ourselves as seen in the poem Invictus or the song “I did it my way.” However, scripture is clear that salvation is from the Lord.

Ps 3:8 8  Salvation belongs to the Lord;your blessing be on your people!ESV Ps 37:399  The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.ESV Ps 68:200 Our God is a God of salvation, and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.ESV Rev 7:1010 and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"ESV

He is the source of all things. Through Him, all things exist, and all things come to pass.

He is the Father –

who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us
Col 1:12-13 ESV

He is the Son –

to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Col 1:13-14 ESV

He is the Holy Spirit –

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 Cor 3:18 NIV

Our God is Three in One!

He is the God of my salvation. He is my light and my might. Amen!