sinning while suffering

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,

but now my eye sees you;

therefore I despise myself,

and repent in dust and ashes.

Job 42:5-6

These are Job’s last words on his response to suffering, theological debate with his friends, and a harrowing encounter with God Almighty. He did not sin to “deserve” his suffering, but readily acknowledges that he did sin IN his suffering. God corrected Job. And Job quickly repented.

God understands we are not perfect. It is impossible for us to be sinless. We should not be surprised that although Job rightly proclaimed innocence of sin before his tragedy, he encountered a holy God and quickly is convicted of how he foolishly and self-centeredly sinned in his suffering )Job 42:3). Some of God’s questions to him clearly convicted his heart of this (Job 42:3-4).

The proper response when God’s Word makes us aware of sin is to confess it, hate the sin, love God more, and repent. Job quickly does this. God lovingly forgave him quickly and rewarded His faithful servant again. God is always merciful when we confess our sins and repent! Praise Him for His forgiving mercies in Jesus our Lord!

safe place

Let me dwell in your tent forever!

Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah

Psalm 61:4

My soul was created to feel this yearning. I look beyond my life to eternal life. I believe I was made to know life forever with my Lord! And in His tent I will know the safety of His presence, the joy of worship and fellowship with Him, and the thrill of my eternal home. Yes, Lord, take me forever to dwell under Your tent!

I need shelter, cover from the storms and safety from what threatens me. And even as death walks through the streets, I will not fear when You, Lord, are sheltering me. In the embrace of Your care I will rest secure. For Jesus, You have delivered me from all that could destroy me. I am safe in Your shelter!

Death is only an echo in Your empty tomb. My sins are forgiven under the shadow of Your cross. This is my safety. This is my shelter. Jesus holds me close!

Amen

this God

This God—his way is perfect;

the word of the LORD proves true;

he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

2 Samuel 22:31

And in this worship song of King David, I find that God is just the same for me. This God is perfect. I know this God through the perfect Son of God, Jesus Christ, Who lived a perfect, sinless life, and died and rose again for all who believe in Him. He perfectly cares for us. He perfectly loves us. I am imperfect, but He perfectly completes and forgives all the ways that I fall short!

This God’s Word is always true. I have seen it proven true for half a century of trusting what God says. And I put my trust in Jesus, the Living Word of God Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He has never failed me and never will!

This God is my protection. I have nothing to fear either in death or in life. The blood of Jesus has atoned for my sin. He has given me eternal life so that my soul knows peace now and holds firmly to a future peace with Him in my Father’s house. Trusting Jesus gives me perspective on today and sure hope for tomorrow!

how quickly we turn

And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them.”

Exodus 32:7-8a

It doesn’t take much

a simple desire

a thing that looks nice

something for which we yearn

and an idol sings out

and we want

...how quickly we turn

Our hearts are corrupt

we play in the dirt

sitting in sin’s slum

never seem to learn

that Jesus offers so much more

than we will ever imagine

...so quickly we turned

We need to root deep

into our desires

inventory our wants

appalling idols to spurn

and call out to Jesus

for all that we want

...and quickly return

strength by restoration

For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for.

2 Corinthians 13:9

These are tender words from the heart, written by Paul who was concerned about a church that had problems following Jesus. The Corinthians were in doctrinal and social disarray. There were people there who spoke destructively against Paul and his ministry among them.

Paul spent nearly two chapters of this book defending his calling as an apostle, using the strongest terms, uniquely communicating with self-deprecating sarcasm, and calling out the Corinthians for their sensuality and divisiveness that so filled this church with appalling immaturity. Yet the apostle did not delight in chastising them for their sins. He wanted to share the beauty of gospel reconciliation and fellowship again with them.

So we should guard our hearts. When churches have divisions among them, our hearts should break. We should grieve and long, as Jesus did, that His disciples would be one! We should repent of any pride and judgmentalism, turn to the gospel, and rally around the restoration found in the saving work of Jesus!

keeping the devil off his game

And Jesus answered him, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone.’”

Luke 4:4

The very first words that Jesus had to say to the devil were these: “It is written...” The temptations of Jesus are intriguing to me. They tell us a lot about the psychological profile of the devil. I mean, who does Satan think he is? Did he honestly think he could tempt God to sin? The devil has one hell of an ego!

Jesus relied on the power of God’s own Word to turn the devil off. He answered Satan’s offers three times with the firm, clear Word of God. And the devil makes no counter offers. He can’t negotiate with scripture! Even when Satan tries to twist God’s Word in the last offer (Luke 4:10-11) in a last ditch effort to get Jesus to sin, the Lord simply replies back with the truth, quoting Deuteronomy to the devil. Jesus never once gives in to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, or the pride of life.

Jesus,

You are my example. I ask for Your strength to cling strong to the Bible when temptations come at me. Keep me strong by the power of Your Spirit and Your Word to keep the devil off his game!

Amen

God judges and saves.

The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, “The LORD your God pronounced this disaster against this place. The LORD has brought it about, and has done as he said. Because you sinned against the LORD and did not obey his voice, this thing has come upon you.”

Jeremiah 40:2-3

God confirmed His word by sparing the life of His prophet, Jeremiah, even as Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar and the rebellious leaders of the city were slaughtered. God spared the prophet to show the power of His word. The prophetic voice would still be heard even in the aftermath of the fall of a society and the chaos that came with the exile. Lives are uprooted, but God’s Word is still solid!

God’s Word is sure and steady, even when all else seems to be brutally uncertain. Thank God that He is true! We can trust the God Who never lies! We can believe that He will simultaneously judge sin and save those who will trust in Him. That is the lesson shown over and over in the narrative of Jeremiah as the fall of Jerusalem to the Chaldeans is told. God kept telling the city, through Jeremiah, that those who would surrender to God’s will of the exile would have their lives spared to live in exile. Those who resisted would die. The Lord made sure that those who did indeed obey His warnings were saved to go to captivity with their lives as prizes of war.

The God Who judges sin also saves souls. And this is ultimately shown for us at the cross. There Jesus was delivered over to the most brutal spiritual and physical warfare possible to pay the price of sin. And there all those who will surrender to His suffering mercy will find themselves made alive forever by His sustaining grace. Thank God that He is both righteous to judge sin and generous to save souls!

argument over

“Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?

He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

Job 40:2

One of the conclusions from the book of Job comes in the challenge that God Himself brings to Job. It is impossible to find fault with God, even as you are filled with your complaints. This effort is completely futile. You can argue with God, but God is perfect and holy, and you are a human broken and sinful. The fault will always come out on the human side. Every time. Without exception. You will lose the argument.

In Job’s case his friends had a faulty view of God, assuming that bad things only happen to someone as a result of their own bad actions. Their karmic conclusions were wrong about God. Sometimes God brings us to suffering to show what we are made of in order that His faithfulness, power, and glory can be worshiped. But Job also was at fault... he had a faulty desire to argue his case of innocence before God. What started as arguments aimed at his accusers eventually became an argument against the Almighty.

When confronted by God, Job has enough contrite wisdom to catch himself in his pride and immediately repent (Job 40:4-5). He humbly tells God that he cannot answer this question, acknowledging both sin and weakness. Lesson learned: You cannot argue with God. And we see that we can humbly grow deep in an understanding of God’s power when we simply let God be God in every way that He wants to in our lives.

Jesus was a better Job. In his suffering he offered no complaint (Isaiah 53:7-8; 1 Peter 2:23). Instead, he bore our suffering so that we might find life in Him, freedom from sin, and eternal relationship with the God Who wisely brings all things to us for His glory and our good. 

sustaining grace

O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,

for you, O God, are my fortress,

the God who shows me steadfast love.

Psalm 59:17

The Lord is my strength. It is by the redeeming work of His grace that I am made new and strong enough to stand when I feel like falling. The Lord faithfully holds me, strengthening my soul. His grace is that strength. Without it I would always fail, miserable in my selfish sin, unable to cope with life, unsatisfied as I would be insufficient to find joy or His favor without His grace shown to me.

The Lord is my fortress. Because Jesus took the storm of all God’s wrath against sin, I can know His mercy and safely rest in my salvation. And in the worst weather that life throws at me, God shelters me! When my own sinful nature, this wicked world, and Satan’s deadly hate oppose me, in the fortress of God’s grace I am secure and safe!

The Lord showers me and surrounds me with His faithful, steadfast love. It is the grace of Jesus that fills my days. I am a new creation, knowing all things made new! It is the glory of praising Jesus that sustains my heart. He is true to me, caring for me, with me... always!

A Holy Place

And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.

Exodus 25:8

We meet with God

on His terms

not ours

His are the mercies

His is the worship

because God is holy

and we are not

We come to God

in a place

exclusively His

whether tabernacle

or temple

His sanctuary is holy

because He is

God now dwells in us

by His grace

with His Spirit

we are His temple

we are not our own

He bought us and built us

and God makes us holy

the beauty of generous living

By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you.

2 Corinthians 9:13-14

Genuine generosity of life results in three experiences that build up the body of believers and unify the church. God is glorified by: 1) Submission to the gospel. We have the ability to give freely only because Christ gave Himself for us. 2) Far-reaching impact. True generosity will ripple out with waves of joy to affect many more than just the initial gift, leaving waves of rejoicing in it’s wake. 3) Encouraging, mutual care. Those who are blessed by giving hold the givers up in prayer and encouragement, creating mutual ministry that is filled with the grace of God.

These three observations help me see that generosity is much more than just dropping a check in the box at church on Sunday! Giving is a grace-filled, gospel-centric, people-loving lifestyle. I embrace and welcome this truth as I seek to frame my gifts in this light.

Lord,

Liberate me to keep seeing my resources as Your gifts to be always shared. Fill me with Your generous love. Jesus, propel the gospel forward with kingdom generosity!

Amen

my King forever

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.

Luke 1:31-33

The angel told Mary Who her Son would be. Jesus is the King. But He would be not just any ruler among men. Look at what Jesus is according to Gabriel’s birth announcement:

Jesus is great. Not just in human terms. He is great because God is great. Jesus is the Son of God. He is the only Son of God the Father and deserves worship. Jesus is the heir to the throne of David. He is the Messiah, God’s true King meant to bring His people to God and lead them like no other king ever could. And Jesus reigns forever! There is no end to the rule that Jesus brings!

Jesus,

I worship You now, my God, my Savior, my forever King! Rule over this heart, now and forever!

Amen

The righteous Branch

In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

Jeremiah 33:15

Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecy given here. Jesus is the righteous Branch that came from the line of David. Jesus ultimately brings justice and righteousness by the work of His life, His death, and His resurrection. Sins are atoned. Peace is ours. Right living comes only by Christ.

God promised a Deliverer hundreds of years before He arrived. God brings the world its only true knowledge and experience of justice and righteousness in Jesus. There at the cross, God’s justice was settled, His wrath on sin appeased, and Christ’s righteousness now offered to all who believe!

Lord Jesus,

Thank You for this great love! Thank You, Father, for sending Your Son as the righteous Branch!

Amen

God before the beginning

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

Tell me, if you have understanding.

Job 38:4

When God finally comes to “answer” Job, He does so with a barrage of hard questions. Job had been asking hard questions of God, egged on by his uncaring, misguided, critical friends. And in Job’s confusion over all of his suffering, he developed quite a consistent litany of questions for God. God’s “answer” was to pepper Job with even tougher questions to get him to think, and repent, properly.

God did not do this belittle Job or make less of his suffering. Job’s friends had already done that. Instead, God evokes a sense of awe again in Job. God begins before the very beginning: “Where were you when the earth was made?” Of course Job knew nothing of it because he was not there. But God was right there. God existed before at all began.

Job could be led back to proper worship when he again believed the God Who is before the beginning. This is the God Who made it all. This is the God Who controls it all, even suffering, by His wisdom. This is the God Who will remake it all, even the worst of our pains, to bring Himself great glory!

God is for me.

Then my enemies will turn back

in the day when I call.

This I know, that God is for me.

Psalm 56:9

God is for me.

Who can be against me?

Trouble will come.

People will seek my hurt.

But God is for me.

This will not stand against me.

God is for me.

What can I then fear?

Though things are changing,

even what I don’t understand

cannot undue this truth!

God is for me.

I have nothing to fear.

God is for me.

In confidence I will praise.

He is worthy of worship.

He is in control of my days.

He will keep all my ways!

God is for me.

And I will sing His praise!

reaping

So Absalom lived two full years in Jerusalem, without coming into the king's presence.

2 Samuel 14:28

Although king David showed himself to be an exemplary king, he was really an awful family man. He was taken to polygamy and sexual lust, marrying multiple wives and he even resorted to killing a man to take his wife to cover up an extramarital adultery. David wasn’t any better when it came to being a dad to the kids his many wives bore to him.

One son raped his half-sister in the palace and David ignored it. Absalom murdered the rapist son in revenge, fled from his father, and received no punishment. He then returned to the palace years later to be totally ignored by David. David’s approach to his most difficult problems was one many men choose to take: he ignored them at home and poured himself into his job as the king.

God warns us we will reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7-8). And David’s family is a sad picture of that principle on display over years and years. Only by trusting Christ to forgive us and renew us can we be changed so that we can sow and reap eternal life.

our need to respect

You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.

Exodus 22:28

RESPECT. God desires that we respect His rule over us. God’s rule is expressed through His direct, sovereign control over the events of all our lives. We should not react in displeasure when our lives go in directions we do not like. God has placed all the world under His authority. It is true worship to trust God at all times... not just the easy times, and not just when life goes as we want it to go.

God also expects that this respect for authority extends to human government. We are to respect God’s sovereignty even when we get rulers we aren’t particularly happy with. But oh how inflammatory politics leads us to “curse a ruler” so easily! In fact, it is part of the daily experience for any person with a social media feed to witness this sort of disappointing activity incessantly. It used to be just an election year experience. But now it is a continuous, venom-filled, poisonous drip of disrespect that ultimately disobeys this command from God. Rulers of every stripe: conservative, liberal, or libertarian, are cursed by meme and rant every second of every day. Our society has little to no respect for authority and no trust that God controls earthly leaders.

God gave this warning on respect to Moses right after a lengthy section of laws governing human interactions and protecting Israel’s most vulnerable populations (Exodus 22:21-27). These laws include: 1) treatment of resident aliens, 2) care for widows and orphans, and 3) lending laws protecting the poor from extortion. There are severe penalties for misusing any of these people groups. The sovereign God cares for all people... especially the ones other people tend to neglect. He will be respected for His unconditional care for all. He expects the rulers of people to share this concern and He will hold those accountable who neglect them.

Because God is no respecter of persons, we will respect Him. We will also respect those who lead us since God has appointed them by His sovereign rule. And Jesus Who died for all people everywhere shows us how to care about all people in the way that He does so that we can truly respect the world that Jesus and God the Father dearly love.

two kinds of sorrow

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

2 Corinthians 7:10

There are two types of regretful sorrow translated but the word “grief” in the ESV in this verse. They come from different sources, they are characterized by different motivations, and most importantly, they produce very different results.

The first grief is described as godly grief. It is sourced in a holy desire to be right with the Lord. It is motivated by genuine repentance, knowing remorse at God’s disapproval of sin with a strong resolve to turn from sin, reverse behavior, and live to please God. This grief leads to forgiveness and life. It is blessed by God with forgiving grace to the repentant person.

The second grief described is worldly grief. It is sourced in human nature alone and is a type of remorse brought on by losing the world’s approval. It is motivated by pride and selfish desire to regain the approval of this world in some way. It does not repent of sin, but instead is usually motivated by sins such as envy, coveting, or even revenge to regain the approval of this world. It does not seek forgiveness, just acclaim. And this form of grief leads to death.

So anytime my heart struggles with grieving at a perceived loss, it does me good to examine my sorrow by these two criteria. Many times I have confused worldly grief with true repentance. But honest godly sorrow will be able to pinpoint and confess my sin, have strong measures of confession and repentance, and will be prompted by obedience to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit’s leading in my life. By faith godly sorrow trusts the gospel, not my own efforts to change. Anything less than this will be worldly grief and must be repented of as well. The good news is that even when I repent of this wrong kind of false grief, God, through Christ will lead me through godly sorrow, to know joy and eternal life!

Jesus really died for us.

Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph.

Mark 15:44-45

This historical detail is important because it established clearly, in legal fashion, that Jesus really did die on the cross. It sets the stage for us to understand that a REAL resurrection also took place. Here we have the Roman governor, Pilate, the top official in Judaea, signing off on the death of Jesus. It’s sort of an official death certificate. The Romans were highly efficient at execution. When Pilate learned that Jesus had died so early in the process, he summoned the centurion in charge of the death squad who confirmed that Jesus was indeed quite dead. Romans soldiers knew when they had done their job. So Jesus’ death certificate was confirmed both by the Roman military and by the civil government. It was signed twice.

After this, Pilate allowed Joseph of Arimethea to take the corpse of Jesus and bury it in his own tomb. And Mark, the author, specifically uses the Koine Greek word for a lifeless body to describe what Joseph was handed over by the Romans. It is clear that Jesus has indeed died. His body was laid in a tomb. The Romans knew He was dead. The Jews knew He was dead. And as we read Mark’s gospel, we know it too.

Although Jesus died for our sins, according to God the Father’s will, and by His own offering of Himself for us, He did not stay in the tomb that Joseph lent to Him! He is risen (Mark 16:6)! The Son of God Who died is the Son of God now alive! And Roman soldiers could not keep the stone shut on His tomb. Jewish officials could not silence the gospel message. Redemption is real. History has recorded it so that we might believe it.

seeking God well when all is not well

You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13

This isn’t a verse about earnestness in worship. This is a verse about acceptance of the will of God when we don’t really like it. In the past two chapters of Jeremiah, God has confronted the Jews for their willingness to believe false prophets offering false hope. God revealed to the Jews through his prophet Jeremiah that it was His will for Nebuchadnezzar to lead Babylon to subjugate not only Judah, but all the Middle East. He warns them that any person claiming to be a prophet who says otherwise was telling a lie. Yet the people persisted in resisting Babylon’s control. The false prophet Hananiah even told Jerusalem that an “early end date” was coming for Babylon’s occupation. Hananiah died for his lie at God’s own prediction.

Instead of fostering resentment at their situation, God comforts His people with a promise that if they would only go peacefully to Babylon, cooperate with their captors, He would prosper them there. They could raise families, know a level of security and peace, and patiently wait for God’s work in His time to bring them back out. In the meantime they could seek the blessing of God for Babylon as they worshiped the Lord there (Jeremiah 29:7).

This is the context for this call to wholeheartedly seek the Lord. It meant accepting that God’s plan was not their plan. It meant trusting that God could make of their captivity a peaceful, protected place. It meant asking God to prosper Babylon so that they themselves could do well. This is how God was to be sought with all their hearts. No bitterness over the burned ruins of Jerusalem could control their emotions. No comparison to the past should doubt God’s good care of His people. No debating the wisdom of God’s plans in response to unprecedented turmoil could dominate their days. Instead, a calm faith in God’s guidance in the unfamiliar, intimidating, humbling situation in which they found themselves would keep their hearts safe in trusting God.

Searcher of foolish hearts

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;

there is none who does good.

God looks down from heaven

on the children of man

to see if there are any who understand,

who seek after God.

Psalm 53:1-2

These two verses are in sharp contrast. The first verse describes a fool. The second verse shows us Who is all wise. The first verse is a self-deceived person. The second verse is the Seeker of all people. The first abandons the search for God. The second constantly searches for those who may seek Him. The first is a condemned, lost sinner. The second is a holy God Who alone offers salvation. Thus the contrast is between an atheist fool and the wise Searcher of all human hearts.

So much in human culture wants to embrace the mantra of the fool: “There is no God.” It is cried out in pain and disillusionment. It is changed as secular dogma from elite institutions. Some people considered it an “enlightened” (ironic term really) educated view. Some people reject God because of what other people have done in His name. I find this too be poorly reasoned and quite sad. It seems to me to be a bit like rejecting medical science because the Nazis did horrible human experiments of Jews in concentration camp labs. 

Other people don’t like the thought of moral accountability. These seem to be the fools talked about in this psalm. They embrace their most sin-warped, corrupt thinking so that they can by denial of God justify wrong living. In my estimation this is a big reason people push toward rejecting God today.

But God seeks even those who reject Him. He looks at all the children of man. His Spirit searches all hearts, pricks consciences, still draws even the most strident atheist to consider Him. I am called to speak the gospel to those who need to know that God seeks them. Jesus has died to draw all people to consider Him. My hope is not found in the conclusions of fools! I trust in the One Who searches and seeks after all hearts.

the God we worship

Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

2 Samuel 7:22

God is great. And that is why He is worshiped. Nothing else is truly great in comparison. The most engineered human city cannot compare in perfection. The finest human achievements pale in the vast greatness of the universe God created by simply speaking into existence. Human beings can only work with what God has already given them. God is great and we submit in awe of His greatness.

God is incomparable. He is unique. Only God can be Who He is and there is no other. No object of human manufacture can come even close to Him. What God does... creation, sustaining all things, loving humanity, being holy, bringing justice, forbearing in mercy, and offering grace to sinners... are all things unique to Him that we cannot do.

Only God is God. There is no God besides Him. Many human cultures have proposed more deities than history can account for. All of them are impotent. None of them can save. In our times we may try to exalt human achievement to deified status. Our inability to halt a virus, to manage even one storm, or to control the rage of human hatred shows exactly how unlike God we are. We need to worship God as the only God.

God is known. Our ears have heard His Word. We see His work in creation. He answers prayer! He has sent our Savior, Jesus, to save our souls, show us how to live trusting our Creator, taught us to be loved by the Father, led us by His Spirit, and commanded us to love one another to prove we are His changed people. Because God makes Himself known in the world, through His Word, among His worshipers, we can trust Him beyond all earthly crises and can let grace change our hearts. Then in mutual worship of God we may love one another as well. God is known because He changes people who are used by Him to change the world!