Journal for Christ

Saturday, April 6, 2019

The "Efficiency of Scripture"

April 6, 2019

Worship in WORD:

Ps 28:6-29:1

6 Praise be to the Lord,

for he has heard my cry for mercy.

7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;

my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.

My heart leaps for joy

and I will give thanks to him in song.

8 The Lord is the strength of his people,

a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.

9 Save your people and bless your heritance;

be their shepherd and carry them forever.

A psalm of David.

NIV

Ps 28:6-9

6 Praise the Lord!

For he has heard my cry for mercy.

7 The Lord is my strength and shield.

I trust him with all my heart.

He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy.

I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

8 The Lord gives his people strength.

He is a safe fortress for his anointed king.

9 Save your people!

Bless Israel, your special possession.

Lead them like a shepherd,

and carry them in your arms forever.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®,

Ps 28:6-9

6 Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.

7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

8 The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.

9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.

KJV

Ps 28:6-9

6 Blessed be the Lord!

For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;

in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;

my heart exults,

and with my song I give thanks to him.

8 The Lord is the strength of his people;

he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!

Be their shepherd and carry them forever.

ESV

I. Minor Key: vv. 1-5

A. Pleas (vv. 1- 3)

1. Hear Me! - v. 1

2. Have Mercy! – v. 2a

3. Help! – v. 2b

B. Imprecation (vv. 4-5)

II. Major Key: vv. 6-9

A. Praise (vv. 6-8)

B. Supplication (v. 9)

Verse 8 is naturally associated with verse 9, and this is reflected in most translations today. I have chosen to include it with verses 6 and 7 for thematic reasons. I think it continues the theme of confident praise found in these preceding verses and stands as a segue to verse 9 since it moves from God and David to God and His people.

Verse 8 speaks of both His people and the king himself. But I think David uses the term “anointed one” (NIV) to expand the thought beyond merely himself to the office of the king, whoever that may be at any time in the nation of Israel.

The term His anointed acknowledges God’s covenant with David, His promise that He would be David’s God and David would be His representative. This passage became a heritage of the monarchy, a treasure for each godly king in the Davidic line to go back to for strength and encouragement.

Radmacher, E. D.; Allen, R. B.; & House, H. W. (1997). The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version (Ps 28:8–9). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.

Verse 8 is not just praise and a pronouncement, but a promise (and a subtle premonitor* as well). It not only declares who God is to His people and the king, but it stands as a promise. A promise that is exclusively experienced by those who genuinely believe these things. For surely, he will not be the “strength” of a seditious people, nor would He be a “fortress of salvation” (NIV) to a faithless king.

Some try to say that verses 8-9 were tacked on later to this Psalm for liturgical purposes.

This may well be a later addition designed to adapt the individual's expression of faith for corporate worship.

(from The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1962 by Moody Press. All rights reserved.)

However, I do not believe that is a necessary assumption one needs to make. I believe there is a reasonable and smooth transition between 6-7 and 8-9. David has done this in other places (see Psalm 25:22; 27:14; 31:19-20, 23-24). While the term “loosely” may perhaps be too strong of a word in the following quote, it does show how these verses do connect with the preceding verses.

The closing strophe (vv. 8,9) is but loosely connected with the body of the psalm except on one supposition. What if the singer were king over Israel, and if the dangers threatening him were public perils? That would explain the else singular attachment of intercession for Israel to so intensely personal a supplication. It is most natural that God's "anointed," who has been asking deliverance for himself, should widen his petitions to take in that flock of which he was but the under-shepherd, and should devolve the shepherding and carrying of it on the Divine Shepherd-King, of whom he was the shadowy representative. The addition of one letter changes "their" in ver. 8 into "to His people," a reading which has the support of the LXX. and of some manuscripts and versions and is recommended by its congruity with the context. Cheyne's suggestion that "His anointed" is the high-priest is only conjecture. The reference of the expression to the king who is also the psalmist preserves the unity of the psalm. The Christian reader cannot but think of the true King and Intercessor, whose great prayer before His passion began, like our psalm, with petitions for Himself, but passed into supplication for His little flock and for all the unnumbered millions "who should believe on" Him "through their word."

(from The Expositor's Bible, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2013 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

With this reference to our Savior Jesus Christ in the previous quote, let me end this portion with a quote from Matthew Henry.

He pleases himself with the interest which all good people, through Christ, have in God (v. 8): "The Lord is their strength; not mine only, but the strength of every believer." Note, The saints rejoice in their friends' comforts as well as their own; for, as we have not the less benefit from the light of the sun, so neither from the light of Gods' countenance, for others' sharing therein; for we are sure there is enough for all and enough for each. This is our communion with all saints, that God is their strength and ours, Christ their Lord and ours, 1 Cor 1:2. He is their strength, the strength of all Israel, because he is the saving strength of his anointed, that is, 1. Of David in the type. God, in strengthening him that was their king and fought their battles, strengthened the whole kingdom. He calls himself God's anointed because it was the unction he had received that exposed him to the envy of his enemies, and therefore entitled him to the divine protection. 2. Of Christ, his anointed, his Messiah, in the anti-type. God was his saving strength, qualified him for his undertaking and carried him through it; see Ps 89:21; Isa 49:5; 50:7,9. And so he becomes their strength, the strength of all the saints; he strengthened him that is the church's head, and from him diffuses strength to all the members, has commanded his strength, and so strengthens what he has wrought for us; Ps 68:28; 80:17,18.

(from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, PC Study Bible Formatted Electronic Database Copyright © 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

* noun

a person who, or a thing which, forewarns

Premonitor Definition And Meaning | Collins English Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/premonitor

Witness:

Reading the above quote from Matthew Henry reminds me of the “efficiency of Scripture.” Many have heard of the “sufficiency of Scripture,” but have never heard of the latter term. Actually, I just made it up now. I put it in quotes because even though I don’t remember reading anywhere of anyone using this term, it does not mean someone hasn’t. With all the preaching and writing done through the ages, someone surely has used it before.

So what does this term mean as I use it? One may think I am referencing Scripture’s ability to effect change in a person’s life. Not the words themselves, but the One who has uttered them. We see this spelled out (pun intended) in the book of Isaiah. There God says:

Isa 55:10-11

¹⁰ “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

¹¹ so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

ESV

This is so true and definitely a part of the meaning to the term “efficiency of Scripture.” However, it is more than that. I believe it also refers to how God uses Scripture to reveal more than one layer of meaning in some passages. That certain passages have a prophetic message both to the present audience it addresses as well as future generations. And many passages apply to the person writing or to a person the author is writing about in their present context, yet it may also have a Messianic application as well. And beyond that, it also has a personal and/or corporate application for us as well. This is also what I mean by using the term “efficiency” concerning the Word of God. God, through the efficient use of His word, speaks to many people and circumstances through one passage to convey His message to each. Therefore with reverent caution, I will listen for the voice of God as He speaks through His Word. Not over applying Scripture as many today do, nor ignoring the truth He wants me to know and do.

Lord grant me

The ears to hear

And the wisdom

to distinguish

these things.

Amen

Worship in Song: Your Words by Third Day

Let me hear your words
Above all other voices
Above all the distractions in this world (2X)

For your words bring life
And your voice speaks promises
Lord, your love offers more
Than anything else in this world

Your words give us life that's never ending
Your words bring us love that never fails
Everything else will fade away
But what will remain
Are your words

Let us speak your words
More than ours, more than ever
Let us share your love with all the world

Your words give us life that's never ending
Your words bring us love that never fails
Everything else will fade away
But what will remain
Are your words

The grass will wither, and the flowers will fall
But the word of our God will last forever
The grass will wither, and the flowers will fall
But the word of our God will last forever

Your words give us life that's never ending
Your words bring us love that never fails
Everything else will fade away
But what will remain
Are your words (2X)

Songwriters: POWELL JOHNNY MAC / LEE MARK D / ANDERSON SAMUEL TAI / CARR DAVID

Your Words lyrics © All Essential Music, DATAMAMA MUSIC

Lyrics (corrected from this source): https://www.google.com/search?q=lyrics+to+Your+Words&oq=lyrics+to+Your+Words&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.9231j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Video: https://youtu.be/9zaaiFp4RSM

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Six Observations

March 23, 2019

Worship in WORD:

Ps 28:6-29:1

6 Praise be to the Lord,

for he has heard my cry for mercy.

7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;

my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.

My heart leaps for joy

and I will give thanks to him in song.

8 The Lord is the strength of his people,

a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.

9 Save your people and bless your heritance;

be their shepherd and carry them forever.

A psalm of David.

NIV

Ps 28:6-9

6 Praise the Lord!

For he has heard my cry for mercy.

7 The Lord is my strength and shield.

I trust him with all my heart.

He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy.

I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.

8 The Lord gives his people strength.

He is a safe fortress for his anointed king.

9 Save your people!

Bless Israel, your special possession.

Lead them like a shepherd,

and carry them in your arms forever.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®,

Ps 28:6-9

6 Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.

7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

8 The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.

9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.

KJV

Ps 28:6-9

6 Blessed be the Lord!

For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;

in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;

my heart exults,

and with my song I give thanks to him.

8 The Lord is the strength of his people;

he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!

Be their shepherd and carry them forever.

ESV

I. Minor Key: vv. 1-5

A. Pleas (vv. 1- 3)

1. Hear Me! - v. 1

2. Have Mercy! – v. 2a

3. Help! – v. 2b

B. Imprecation (vv. 4-5)

II. Major Key: vv. 6-9

A. Praise (vv. 6-8)

B. Supplication (v. 9)

I will complete my study for now on verse 6-7 with these six observations.

1. Hope and help are born out of the truth and experience of God’s strengthening and shielding.

· The Lord is my strength and my shield → my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.

Note David says: God “is my strength and my shield.” Though it may be allowable to drop the second possessive pronoun “my” when it comes to translating into English (see NLT), I believe this weakens the emotive power behind David’s words. He is declaring emphatically who God is to him. Because this is true in David’s life, hope and help are conceived and born out in his life.

2. Trust=hope here, not faith.

The Hebrew word used hear means trust, hope, confidence (Sept. always uses the word for hope here in the Greek not faith).

OT:2620

The most general word, however, to express trust is bathach jfb

OT:982), to confide in, or lean upon. Here it is to be remarked that, though we are in the habit of speaking of faith and trust as the same thing, the Hebrew has two distinct words for them, and so has the LXX. We have already seen that aman answers to pisteu/w, to believe, or realise; but bathach, to trust, is never rendered pisteu/w, nor is the substantive derived from it ever rendered pi/sti$. For the verb we generally find e)lpi/zw, to hope, or pei/qomai, to be persuaded; and for the noun we have e)lpi/$, hope. The man who believes God is he who having received a revelation from Him, realises it, and accepts it as true. The man who trusts God is he who casts all his hopes for the present and future on God. It is the former quality, not the latter, that God regards as a condition of justification. Faith must precede hope, because a hope for the future which is not grounded upon a present acceptance with God is no hope; and a sense of acceptance which is not accompanied with a living, working faith is an unreality.

OT:982

1) to trust, to trust in

2) to have confidence, to be confident

3) to be bold

4) to be secure

(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 not synonyms, faith and hope are closely related. In authentic faith, there is a living hope, and in genuine hope, there is a living faith. There is a symbiotic relationship between faith and hope. Here David is emphasizing his bold, confident hope in Yahweh.

3. The NIV, ESV, and KJV are correct over against the NLT in attaching “I am helped” to the preceding phrase “my heart trusts in Him,” rather than what follows.

· my heart trusts in him → and I am helped

· My heart leaps for joy → I will give thanks to him in song

These are couplets, each reveals a cause and effect: Strength and shield results in hope and help; gladness leads to gratitude.

...[and I am helped] this was the fruit of his trust, even a gracious experience of divine assistance: saints are helpless in themselves, and are also as to the help of man; God is the only helper of them; he helps them out of all their troubles; in whatsoever he calls them unto, and to what they want; and the help he affords is sometimes quick, and always seasonable; and sometimes by means, and sometimes without them;

My heart trusted in him, and I am helped. Heart work is sure work; heart trust is never disappointed. Faith must come before help, but help will never be long behindhand. Every day the believer may say, "I am helped," for the divine assistance is vouchsafed us every moment, or we should go back unto perdition; when more manifest help is needed, we have but to put faith into exercise, and it will be given us.

As far as feeling goes, David is already "helped." He feels himself delivered out of his peril. Therefore, he says, my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song - literally, out of my song, which is explained to mean "out of my store of song" - will I praise him. He is ready to offer thanksgiving for a mercy not yet received.

4. Note though that there are internal and external aspects which also reveal another cause and effect.

· My heart trusts and I am helped

↓ ↓

· My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

“My heart trusts” corresponds to “My heart leaps for joy.” [the internal aspect]

“I am helped” corresponds to “I will give thanks in song.” [the external aspect]

So the psalmist is exuberant and happily tautological in telling how his trusting heart has become a leaping heart...

Faith cries, I am helped! Let us rejoice even before the jailer comes to tell us that we are free

5. As noted in a previous study and assumed in this study: “I am helped” – written as if fully received – is David’s confidence in God’s help not yet fully realized.

My heart trusteth in him, and I am helped — God had in part heard and answered him already; and, it seems, had assured him by his Spirit that he would more fully answer and grant his requests.

https://biblehub.com/commentaries/benson/psalms/28.htm

6. “I am helped” is not only in reference to God’s help expected, but to the present peace and joy experienced when still in his predicament!!!

So, while I categorized “I am helped” as external there are internal benefits as well.

As in many psalms, the faith which prays passes at once into the faith which possesses. This man, when he "stood praying, believed that he had what he asked," and, so believing, had it. There was no change in circumstances, but he was changed. There is no fear of going down into the pit now, and the rabble of evil-doers have disappeared. This is the blessing which every true suppliant may bear away from the throne, the peace which passeth understanding, the sure pledge of the Divine act which answers prayer. It is the first gentle ripple of the incoming tide; high water is sure to come at the due hour.

And undoubtedly, when God spreads cheerfulness through our hearts, it is to open our mouths to sing his praises.

Witness in Witness:

Recently I have noticed as read from my past journal entries that there are some glaring typos. This has caused some feelings of embarrassment on my part, but not too much. For who really reads what I write but me and a few friends. I have made the corrections in my electronic journal, and today I even made corrections in my online blog.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could go back and make corrections to the typos (sins) in our lives? We could go back and delete or change the harsh words we spoke to a friend or a spouse. Redact untruth we have said or written. Correct the rude or ridiculous things we have said or done. But then we would be swamped, wouldn’t we? The challenge of changing the past mistakes, gaffs, and sin would take up most of our time, would it not?

So the answer is no. It would not be great or even feasible to return to the scenes of our crimes to change things if it were possible to do so. Therefore, I am glad that I have an advocate with the Father, who intercedes on my behalf – Jesus my Lord. I am happy I have a Father who loves me and will not disown or reject me, His child, even when others have disowned me as a friend and one has rejected me as a spouse.

All these things are covered and erased by the blood of Christ. My heavenly Father chastens me but does not cast me out of His family. One day these works of “wood, hay, and stubble” will be burnt up at the judgment seat of Christ but I will be saved and seated on His throne. Oh, what marvelous grace, what infinite mercy He has, is, and will show towards me His erring but devoted child. My tears will be wiped away. Tears born of life’s griefs for sure, but even more so for the grieving of the Spirit during my life.

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 1 John 2:1-2 ESV

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Rom 8:34 ESV

²³ Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; ²⁴ but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Heb 7:23-25 NIV

⁷ Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? ⁸ If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. ⁹ Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! ¹⁰ Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹ No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Heb 12:7-11 NIV

For the Lord loves justice;he will not forsake his saints.They are preserved forever,but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.Ps 37:28 ESV

¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. ¹⁴ If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
1 Cor 3:11-15 NIV

Your Boundless Supply

Lord,

I’ve built my life with useless things

The wood of worry, the hay of haste

The straw of sin, all bound with strings

Yet to this life may I apply

The gold of godliness, the silver of sacrifice

The jewels of joy from Your boundless supply

Amen

¹⁹Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. ²⁰ Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
²¹ To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²² He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
Rev 3:19-22 NIV

Worship in Song: O Worship the King by Robert Grant (1833)

I have searched for the original word actually penned by Grant. I am not sure these are the exact words. I have looked through many Hymnals and some have 6 verses, some 5, and some 4. The ones that have all six differ slightly but this is the version I believe is the original or closest to the original version. I have included several videos of the song. No one sings all the verses. Some sing most but change the order of the verses.

1 O worship the King, all-glorious above,
O gratefully sing his pow'r and his love;
our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days,
pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.

2 O tell of his might, O sing of his grace,
whose robe is the light, whose canopy space.
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
and dark is his path on the wings of the storm.

3 The earth with its store of wonders untold,
Almighty, your pow'r has founded of old;
has 'stablished it fast by a changeless decree,
And round it has cast, like a mantle, the sea.

4 Your bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
it streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
and sweetly distils in the dew and the rain.

5 Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
in you do we trust, nor find you to fail;
your mercies how tender, how firm to the end,
our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend!

6 O measureless Might! Ineffable Love!
While angels delight to hymn you above,
the humbler creation, though feeble their lays,
with true adoration shall lisp to your praise.

Lyrics: Trinity Psalter Hymnal #219

Videos: https://youtu.be/We9aR22C9BI by Chris Thomlin – a contemporary version

https://youtu.be/ciJrPDRYmOY this is an a cappella version

https://youtu.be/V2nxK_sO04Q by Second Chapter of Acts – a more traditional vers.

Saturday, April 6, 2019

The "Efficiency of Scripture"

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Six Observations

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