October 13, 2017
Worship: In Christ Alone by
“In Christ alone, my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ, I stand.
In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ, I live.
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave, He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow’r of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow’r of Christ, I’ll stand.”
— IN CHRIST ALONE" WORDS AND MUSIC BY KEITH GETTY & STUART TOWNEND COPYRIGHT © 2002 THANKYOU MUSIC(PRS) ADM WORLDWIDE AT CAPITOLCMGPUBLISHING.COM EXCLUDING EUROPE WHICH IS ADM BY INTEGRITYMUSIC.COM
Video: https://youtu.be/YBNFNfH89SA
Witness:
The enemy weaves his subtle lies and sets up brother against brother. He whispers in one ear “ truth is overrated,” and in the other, he shouts “be angry and rude in your response to error.” To one he says, “unity at the cost of truth.” To another, he says, “stick to your guns at all cost even if you hurt another in the process.” One carries a big Bible with a question mark emblazoned on its cover. The other lugs around a big Bible with a hammer inscribed on its cover.
Into this arena, I stepped today quite carelessly and indelicately. Instead of prayer before responding to a post on Facebook, I chose to rush right in and put my two cents in. In doing so, I named names that should have been left out. In fact, I should have never even entered the fray since the original post was adequate in defending a viewpoint I also held. Yet I was struck by the irony that this person went to a church where the pastor taught in one form the very thing that my facebook friend was against. It was the reason why I left the church. Instead of speaking with gentleness or inquiring as to why he posted this article, I used it to vent old frustrations and caused turmoil rather than highlighting the truth.
I was reminded by the Lord of Paul’s exhortation to Timothy which says,
And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
2 Tim 2:24-26 NIV (84)
I was also reminded of James words as well.
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
James 3:9-12 NIV (84)
I realize James is talking about speech and my failure was a breach in writing. However, the principle is the same. And while I did not “curse” at anyone or write with anger, I did speak rashly and without forethought and some hurt and resentment and a dash of smugness. Certainly, this germ of truth is embedded in this passage. A more explicit Scripture comes to mind as I write. It also comes from the pen of James.
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
James 1:19-21 NIV (84)
Citing this passage led me to a treasure trove of Scripture found in another book that leans heavily on wisdom.
Prov 10:19 When words are many, sin is not absent,but he who holds his tongue is wise.
NIV (84)
Prov 13:3 He who guards his lips guards his life,but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.
NIV(84)
Prov 15:2 The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.
NIV(84)
Prov 17:27 A man of knowledge uses words with restraint,and a man of understanding is even-tempered.
NIV(84)
Prov 18:13He who answers before listening —
that is his folly and his shame.
NIV(84)
Prov 21:23 He who guards his mouth and his tonguekeeps himself from calamity.
NIV(84)
Solomon also has this wise counsel in Ecclesiastes. These words are sage advice in our conversations both before God and people, for what you say to others is also said before our omnipresent God.
Eccl 5:2 Do not be quick with your mouth,do not be hasty in your heartto utter anything before God.God is in heavenand you are on earth,so let your words be few.
NIV(84)
And finally, I turn back to James who says,
James 1:26 If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.NIV(84)
And in my case, a tight reign on my keyboard.
Those who are quick to respond. Whose motto is “ready, shoot, aim.” Usually, are the first to judge without investigating. I am often that way with my daughter next door. This morning I could not find my butter spread. I immediately thought that my daughter or one of my grandkids took it while I was out last night. Tonight when I went to heat up some leftover quinoa I remembered that I couldn’t find it. So I immediately called my daughter who denied she had it and reminded me of how many times I had been wrong in the past. So while she was on the phone, I checked again. Low and behold I had put it in my meat drawer in the Refrigerator. Oops! I Did it again (no reference to a song by that title :P ). Later I decided to have a bowl of ice cream, but I could not find the ice cream scoop. However, this time I looked before I leaped and discovered it in another place. Lesson learned – for today. Hopefully, lesson learned also about praying and thinking before responding to something online.
I found the perfect verse for me:
Here are some other images I thought were good:
WORD:
Ps 27:1 - 3
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?
2 When evil men advance against me
to devour my flesh,
when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
3 Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then will I be confident.
NIV
|
Ps 27:1 - 3
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?
2 When evil people come to devour me,
when my enemies and foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall.
3 Though a mighty army surrounds me,
my heart will not be afraid.
Even if I am attacked,
I will remain confident.
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 27:1 - 3
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?
2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
KJV
|
Ps 27:1 - 3
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?
2 When evildoers assail me
to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.
3 Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.
ESV
|
I recently read an article on the importance of paragraph division when it comes to studying the Bible. They are not inspired but are made at the discretion of the translators as they see the flow of thought in the passage. Yet, they can be quite helpful when it comes to an understanding of what the author is trying to say. I believe that is true here in this passage.
The KJV is not helpful here because it is in strict verse form throughout the Psalm. The NIV and NLT group these verses together showing that they believe these verses are dealing with the same subject matter. However, the ESV seems to separate each of these verses by a space leading one to think, at first glance, that these verses are unrelated, because later in the Psalm they do group some verses together. I do not believe that is their intention here for the spacing.
The NIV and NLT rightly group these verses together as one unit of thought. Since this is poetry, they seek to keep the verse form of poetry all the while grouping them together to show the unity of thought. It is as if David is arguing in verse one, “Here is who God is and because He is these things, I will not fear.” In verses two and three it is as if he was saying, “That being said, let me give you some personal examples.” He shows from two illustrations what that lack of fear should look like.
The ESV is divided differently. The translators don’t appear to group these verses together, but I don’t think that is their intention. Now I am not privy to their reasonings, so I am going to try to give it my best shot. Even if this was not their intention, I believe this will be a helpful way of looking at it.
By placing a space between these verses, the ESV is giving us time to assimilate and meditate upon the profound truths found in verse one. From this meditation arises the question, “Well, how do I apply this knowledge practically to my life?” Here the ESV proves helpful. It shows David declaring and meditating on the truths that God is his light, salvation, and stronghold. From this, he deduces that he should not be ruled by fear. Having given some thought to this, he then extrapolates in verses two and three how this applies to himself. Each separation provides us with time to understand how David utilized these truths. It also gives us an opportunity to think of examples from our own life that could also apply.
The order here is so important. First, we must have right-thinking (orthodoxy), and this should lead to a correct application to ourselves(orthopraxy). If the first is absent, then our lives have no clear direction and can lead to a life of debauchery, or works righteousness. If the second is absent, then our theology is just cold, dead orthodoxy. These ought to be more organic to our faith and practice than functional. Not a step one/step two process, but a natural progression as we grow in “the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). And we will declare with the Apostle Peter the same words he ended his epistle on…
To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen
2 Peter 3:18b NASU
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