Thessalonian thankfulness

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 1:2-3

What a wonderful passage to be led to this last day of 2020. This crazy wild ride of a year has brought faith-testing experiences to all Christians globally. We’ve been forced to revisit the basics of our faith amidst upheaval and change.... to find stability in the reality of the gospel and to see if our experience matches that of Paul and the Thessalonian church.

I begin my thoughts on this passage with how Paul prayed: Paul gave thanks for the people that were his ministry. He was grateful to God for the gospel ministry and maturity he saw thriving in Thessalonika. And even as he was distanced from them, Paul prayed for them, filled with a thankful joy for what God was doing in and through them.

There were three things for which Paul thankfully praised God as he remembered them. First was their work of faith. What this group of Christians believed was lived out in action. Faith was not a private intellectual exercise. This church did something with faith in the gospel! As I look back at the challenges of this last year, I am so thankful that God has given me the chance to serve a church that didn’t sit and fret, but instead acted on meeting community needs in this crisis! Faith in action shines the gospel into our world.

The second thing that marked the Thessalonians was their labor of love. What they did, they did with a gracious motive. They loved and supported Paul’s ministry. They loved their city and faithfully proclaimed the gospel. They loved one another and made disciples. Love led them to action and nothing should ever stop that!

And finally, this church was known for being steadfast in hope. The glory of the gospel gave hope to believers. They proclaimed hope to their city. They faithfully believed despite hardship, tenacious in the grip of grace! And that steadfast hope is what Christians must display in these days as well! We may yet have changes and difficulties. I am encouraged to model a Christianity that does good work with faith, works hard out of love for Jesus and the people He died for, and steadfastly holds out hope in a hopeless world!

poured out for you

And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Luke 22:20

At the Lord’s Table Christians solemnly remember and celebrate the love of Jesus for the world. Jesus literally gave His life’s blood so that a new way of living at peace with God could be had for any who believe and trust Him. That is the new covenant God has made with us through the God-man Jesus Christ. And by His blood all who believe find their sins forgiven only in Him.

And so as the Lord’s Table continues to be celebrated in obedience to Jesus’ own command to “do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19), we celebrate this new covenant as Christians. We gather together and in our worship we remember His sacrifice for us. We pause and realize that only Jesus can save us and bring hope. We rejoice in the confidence, hope, and life that only His death and resurrection give us.

“There is a fountain filled with blood

Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;

And sinners, plunged beneath that flood

Lose all their guilty stains.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood

Shall never lose its power

Till all the ransomed church of God

Be saved to sin no more.

E’er since by faith I saw the stream

Thy flowing wounds supply.

Redeeming love has been my theme

And shall be till I die.

When this poor lisping, stammering tongue

Lies silent in the grave,

Then in a nobler, sweeter song

I’ll sing Thy power to save.”

confidence in my shepherd

And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.

Ezekiel 34:23

And in the person of Jesus, God set up a Davidic shepherd while simultaneously being the shepherd of His people (this settles the tension found in Ezekiel 24:15). This is the only way both the divine and the human could deliver and lead Israel. Jesus Himself came to be the Good Shepherd to give His life for His sheep (John 10:11-18). Without any doubt the prophecy here points to Jesus Who is both Lamb of God and the Good Shepherd.

Thinking through some of this, I am amazed and humbled. First, I am amazed that the theological complexity of the Incarnation... of God becoming human... of the uniqueness of Jesus as God-Man and Messiah... is so apparent in this prophecy. The only way for God to both be the Shepherd and also to appoint His Davidic shepherd is for the birth of Jesus to take place. God announced His invasion plan to deliver us many centuries before Jesus arrived! 

And I am humbled. I am humbled because this happened to deliver me, a helpless and deliberate sinner.

So I pause for some post-advent praise. This Christmas season in particular has been nearly a blur, with a sense of sadness and longing hanging over it. So much dizzying change is still churning in this messy, pandemic obsessed world and all the aftermath of 2020. Nothing feels certain... except... faith in Christ! That has been unchanging. The reality of the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus keep things in proper perspective. I’ve known people sickened by this virus. I’ve lost friends, family, and people I’ve known this year.... some to COVID, some to other events. I’ve sensed death circling my periphery like never before this past year. But a quick look to a prophet shows me this morning that the hope of Israel is here! Jesus is my hope and security now! The Good Shepherd confidently carries me and I am secure. Jesus will feed me. Jesus will keep me. Jesus will be my shepherd!

Wealth won’t make you flourish.

Whoever trusts in his riches will fall,

but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.

Proverbs 11:28

Sometimes it seems as if the truth of this proverb is being challenged. In the world, the rich seem to get away with breaking the rules to their advantage, getting more and more of what they want, and frankly, just getting richer. Even during the wild economic downturn of 2020, the worst of economies since the Great Depression, the richest people are just getting richer. They aren’t changing anything really. So what’s going on with this proverb if that is the case?

First, I notice that the proverb places the fate of the one who worships wealth in the future tense. The one who trusts in his riches will fall. There are present realities that look differently, but because God is fair, just, and will not be mocked, the one who trusts in his riches and not in God, will fall! I must by faith trust God will indeed do just as He has said. I have no reason to doubt this based on everything else good and gracious God has done for me.

Notice also the promise that is made to the righteous person who trusts in God: they will flourish like a healthy plant. This has nothing to do with economies or social status. God didn’t say: I will make the righteous rich instead. No. They will grow and get what they need just like the vegetation that covers the earth. This sustenance has nothing to do with economies or social standing. God sees the heart of those who worship Him. God cares for His righteous ones. God will help them to flourish as they trust Him. It has nothing to do with money and everything to do with faithful dependence and love for His people.

So I will trust that it is my faith in Jesus that leads me to any chance of thriving at life. I reject this world’s vision of trusting in wealth, in building my own money management scheme that I put my security into, and in faithful dependence I will trust God to help me thrive, waiting like His green leaf for His water, soil, and weather to build me as I am planted by faith. God will cause me to thrive as He sustains me so that I can steward what He provides so that His kingdom flourishes like a green leaf as I live under God’s great provision!

the beauty of God

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

Psalm 86:15

Thinking carefully and deliberately on what this verse describes as the character of God, I cannot help but worship now. What is true about God in this psalm is true for me right now. 

God is merciful. He forgives sinners. He provided not only the mercy to truly forgive us, but always has provided the means for us to receive that great mercy. That is known through Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and coming again to rule our hearts and lives. I am in awe of the much needed mercy of God.

God is gracious. Mercy spares us the punishment our sins deserve, but grace lavishes gifts on us purely from the extravagant love of God’s heart for us. There are daily graces that I know. And even in what has felt like the worst of times in 2020, God’s grace truly keeps me. I am thankful... quite deeply thankful.... for the grace of God.

God is slow to anger. This facet of His mercy gives me time to be convicted by His Spirit, instructed by His Word, moved to repentance by my conscience, all so that I might confess sin, trust the grace of the gospel, repent, believe and find God’s smile on me. God now views me through the redemption provided in the blood of Jesus. I’m quick to rejoice in God’s longsuffering forbearance.

God abounds in steadfast love. His grace is faithful. His heart is for me because He sees me in Christ by the merits of His Son. And that faithful, constant love never leaves me. I may stray. God NEVER loses sight of me or ceases to care for me.

God is always faithful. For half a century now God has been the consistent, unchanging, constant Lord of my life. He has remained faithful to me, even when I have not felt or acted faithfully. And I will trust Him, believe Him, follow my Savior, and worship my God as long as I have breath. And in the day He takes me to the eternal home that Jesus has prepared for me, it will be because He was faithful!

a legacy of bones

So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. And as a man was being buried, behold, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.

2 Kings 13:20-21

This account of the legacy of the prophet Elisha is a record of the power of God in the life, and the death, of His prophet. Elisha’s prophetic ministry was marked by the miraculous. God used Elisha to heal, help, and even to raise the dead, so that God’s Word would be received by God’s people. Even in death, God chose to leave a miraculous legacy in the bones of the man of God. There was still power at work in prophetic ministry. The prophet had power to point of God’s truth in life. And even from the grave God kept getting the glory for His servant’s work among His people.

This is quite humbling as I ponder it. Elisha did not move those bones! He was long gone to his reward. God chose to use the prophet both in life and in death. God chose to keep a miraculous legacy in this last miracle in the story of Elisha. God made the touch of bones brings life. God creates, calls, uses, supports, and gets the glory from the people He shapes to His service. Any legacy they may leave is ONLY and COMPLETELY the Lord’s doing.

And so, I repent of thinking I am in charge of my own legacy... my own ministry... my own life. It is foolishness to fall for this! God uses dead bones if He so desires! I am nothing special. God may choose to use me. I must be yielded to His Lordship for that to happen. I must let my Savior live in me. I mess it all up when I try to do it all. I know this, sadly, on a fairly regular basis when I screw it up. Instead, I choose to be whatever God wants to make of me. I will be dry bones if that is what God wills to use. I will be nothing so God can be everything. Gladly do I trust that a legacy of bones will give God my Savior all the worship and credit only He deserves.

Day of Atonement

For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins.

Leviticus 16:30

God made yearly provision for Israel for a unique annual emphasis on repentance, obedience, and atonement for sin. On that day, if all the proper sabbath respect was observed, if the priest offered the prescribed sacrifices, and if all Israel honored the Law, the sins of the nation would be forgiven for that year. This was a temporary atonement. Every fall, in the tenth month of the year, this all had to be observed carefully again. This kept Israel always aware of their need for God to forgive them. It made the sacrificial law a necessary part of their regular obedient worship. A cycle of sin and sacrifice, repentance and worship dominated life in Israel as they kept the covenant, constantly aware that blood had to be shed to forgive their sins.

In one day, sin for a year would be atoned. But then because it was temporary, the cycle would need to keep going. This was the case until one day God sent His Son into the world to be the Lamb of God Who would atone all sin... one time... for the world... forever!

Christmas is the celebration of the monumental gift that redefined human history. God sent His Son into the world to redeem us from sin once and for all! That’s miraculous. No more yearly Day of Atonement was needed. There were no more altars to be built, no more animals to die on them, no more yearly requirements to temporarily put a halt to sin’s disease. Once for all God sent His Son. Once for all the sins of the world would be atoned. Once for all those who love Jesus, trust Jesus, believe Jesus, call out to Him as Savior, and trust Him with their lives obeying Him as Lord have their sins forever forgiven! Jesus brought our Day of Atonement. Praise the Lamb of God!

Live in me

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Colossians 3:16

O word of Jesus live in me!

I want to know You richly.

I want Your words to lead me.

Word of Christ, live in me.

Word of Jesus teach me.

Show me how to live obediently.

I truth Your truth implicitly.

Word of Christ, please teach me.

Word of Jesus admonish me.

Set me straight with clear warning.

Confront my immature complacency.

Word of Christ, admonish me.

Word of Jesus enlighten me.

In Your wisdom set me free.

Save me from sin’s stupidity.

Word of Christ, be wisdom to me.

Word of Jesus sing in me!

May Your truth and joy be why I sing.

I want worship to flow in everything.

Word of Christ, lead me to sing!

Word of Jesus live in me.

With thankfulness set me free

from my own selfish tyranny.

Word of Christ, live in me!

little sinner, big Saviour

And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”

Luke 19:7

Jesus was perfectly at home with the sinners He came to save. He simply engaged them, as they were, and saved them to be changed by Him. Zacchaeus is just such an example. He was a short man with an intimidating reputation. We know he was a chief tax collector and that he was rich. The locals in Jericho saw him like we might see a modern mob boss. I picture Zacchaeus played by Joe Pesci. He is rough around the edges but relatable. And Jesus reaches out to Zacchaeus, knowing he was interested in what Jesus was doing in Jericho (Luke 19:3-4). Jesus boldly invites Himself over to the notorious Zac’s house (Luke 19:5). And the little dude gladly jumps at the chance to host Jesus.

Jesus knew what the crowd did not know. Jesus knew that underneath the gruff exterior was a heart that was seeking God. It was that seeking that compelled him to climb a tree to get a better look. And despite being labeled a sinner by the public, Zacchaeus received the Lord and publícly repented. By the time lil’ Zac hustled down the tree to be by Jesus’ side, he had already repented. He gave half his wealth in charity to the poor and he promised to repay fourfold all those who felt cheated by the tax system he had enforced his entire life. He meant business with Jesus.

Jesus went into sinners’ homes. And He left saints behind. He wants to similarly transform lives today. Jesus wants His people, Christians, to not be the grumbling crowd that enjoys name calling sinners. Instead, as He lives in us, Christians should walk the gospel to those who need Jesus. We should count them as friends, know their lives, care for their concerns, encourage them to turn to Jesus, and celebrate at their conversion! Christians should not point fingers in blame, but instead we are to offer outstretched hands of neighborly friendship like Jesus did! That’s what Jesus lived to do, so much so, that it became His reputation and the outcry of His critics: friend of sinners. We ought to be the same.

what God will restore for Israel

And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.

Ezekiel 28:26

This is a promise from God for Israel “when I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered” (Ezekiel 28:25). There are four facets of this promise that reveal the gracious restorative power of God to us.

ONE: Israel will dwell secure. These re-gathered Jews will safely enjoy the life that God had always wanted for Israel in the Promised Land. No enemy is a threat. It is twice emphasized that their lives are secure. Since this has not been the case yet, (There are Jews scattered worldwide presently; Israel has had to defend her borders constantly since the modern formation of the state in 1948) this seems to be a promise yet to be fully realized, and not just a description of life after the exile.

TWO: They will build and plant. The nation of Israel will be industrious and productive. God would bless Israel with a prosperity and sufficiency that allows them to thrive. God will give the opportunity by protecting the nation. Israel would work safely and with effort. The nation will enjoy the blessing that their hard work and faith in God will bring to them.

THREE: Israel’s enemies will be judged. And this is the reason the Jews will dwell secure and have a thriving economy. God will put an end to all who have hated them. He will keep covenant with His chosen people. He will bring justice. He will silence and eliminate the threats of the enemy.

FOUR: God will be known by all. He will be known by His people. The world will see Israel thrive and know that it is God’s doing. God’s people will rejoice in Him. Redemptive restoration will bring worship of God among the people of the earth. The God Who calls a people to Himself will keep them, bless them, and show Himself to the world so that the world can worship Him.

mortality reality check

The memory of the righteous is a blessing,

but the name of the wicked will rot.

Proverbs 10:7

Mortality has been a huge consideration in 2020. In less than one year, the US has seen three hundred thousand men and women die from COVID-19. That is more than we lost in the four years of World War II. Right now nearly three thousand are dying each die from this pandemic. We are experiencing a 9/11 event every single day in America. So of course I am finding myself wrestling with thoughts of mortality and legacy. Any person with this realization has to be processing this grimly. Death is real. Life is uncertain.

This proverb provides perspective as we are called to simultaneously grieve, yet trust in God. What legacies will we celebrate? The memory of a righteous person will bless those who see and rejoice in their faith. But a wicked life just rots away like the buried body. What God does in us is what determines the difference between blessing or burial.

So as I think about this, one desire pushes me forward. I want to bless people now, by any means necessary, and when I am gone one day, I want God’s blessing to come to those who have truly known me. I can only hope to do this by letting them know how much Jesus wants to be their strength and comfort as He is mine! I can only see God bless in this way by His great mercies. Only Jesus can be my great Blesser, so that He can form me so God’s love will flow to others. That is my hope in these grim days that are filled with reminders to grieve and to trust... to remember God’s work that is a blessing and to bless others.

dust devils

O my God, make them like whirling dust,

like chaff before the wind.

Psalm 83:13

In this psalm Asaph prays for God to reduce Israel’s oppressors to mere dust in a whirlwind. The poetic imagery is a faith-filled appeal to God to make His power and rule known. It asks for God to rule as final Judge definitively over wicked nations that mock and disobey Him and conspire against His purposes for His people.

Before Asaph makes this request of the Lord, he appeals to God’s faithful deliverance of Israel from evil enemies of their past (Psalm 83:6-13). None of them truly succeeded in eradicating the children of Israel or of taking permanent possession of their land. God faithfully kept His covenant with Israel to be their God, to give them their land, and to save them from their enemies as they faithfully endeavored to keep His laws. Israel was under divine protection. God would hear this prayer.

As I contemplate the fiercely loyal love of God and the fine, slow grind of His justice, I realize that all rebellion against Him shall suffer this same fate at the close of history. All human efforts to rise against God and His redemptive work shall fail. It shall be ground as fine dust under God’s judgment and carried away in the whirling dust devils of history’s oblivion. Only the kingdom of God shall be left.

The wicked are like chaff that God’s wind drives away (Psalm 1:4; 35:5). All the most powerful human nations that rise in defiance of God are just more chaff before His wind (Isaiah 17:13; 29:5). All the schemes of unregenerate humanity are just dust blowing in God’s wind (Isaiah 4:15).

Lord,

From dust I am created and to dust I shall return. All human civilization will blow away before you like so much dust in Your whirlwind at the Day of the Lord. And only You remain... faithful, constant, secure, and beautiful. I rest my soul in Your unchanging, stable, permanent grace, even as all this dust is destined to blow away.

Amen

Nothing Left

So Jehu struck down all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his great men and his close friends and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

2 Kings 10:11

Lord God

Almighty Judge

Your justice is thorough.

There is nowhere we can go...

There is nowhere we can run

to escape the judgment of God.

Righteous King

Heart Examiner

Your knowledge is complete.

Nothing ever is hidden.

Your gaze penetrates our schemes.

We know that You see.

Triumphant Conqueror

Holy Savior

When You judge sin

it is all known to You.

Nothing is left unsettled.

No sinner escapes Your power.

Loving God

Salvation bringer

You Son bore all sin I’ve ever done

or will ever do so that nothing escaped

His sacrifice, and I am remade

so there’s nothing left of my old life.

Jesus over all

And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Colossians 1:18

Jesus rules first over all things. Jesus is the head of His church. Human history has tried to place popes, bishops, pastors, or personalities as the major players in the church’s advance, but that is just human pride. We are pawns. Jesus moves His pieces. The real leader of the Christian church is Jesus. He is the head... we are the body. Jesus controls where His church is going and what we are doing and how we should worship Him. No council of theologians.... no human government... no individualistic consumer preference overrides His leadership of His church!

Jesus is the beginning. No one can come to God the Father except by His Son. He is the only way to begin a true relationship with God. He was there at our creation. His heart was broken by our sin. He chose to give His life through the cross according to the will of the Father as led by the Spirit to begin our beautiful redemption!

Jesus is our renewer and the only hope for our future. He is the firstborn from the dead by virtue of His resurrection. A vaccine MIGHT buy us time in a raging pandemic. But only Jesus gives eternal life that never ends! He is the ruler over death, the defeater of Hell, and our eternal securer of abundant, everlasting life!

Jesus stands first over all things. And He must stand first over my heart so that other things in my life are ruled by one affection only: I want Jesus over everything!

Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise

Thou mine inheritance, now and always;

Thou and thou only first in my heart.

High King of heaven, my treasure thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won.

May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Son!

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall.

Still be my vision, O Ruler of all!

“Where are the nine?”

Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

Luke 17:17-19

Ten lepers were healed all together by Jesus one day between Samaria and Galilee. They cried out for mercy to Him and He simply told them to go show themselves to the priests, which is what the Law commanded for lepers who had been cleansed of disease. Obeying Jesus’ command, all ten were healed of their leprosy. All ten believed the word and were healed of leprosy... visibly cleansed from horrific scars and festering wounds.

Yet of those ten, only one of them quickly returned to fall down at Jesus’ feet in adoring praise and grateful worship. One lone Samaritan actually worshiped the God of his salvation. All ten begged for mercy yet only one was grateful for receiving the blessing Jesus gave.

Jesus was pleased to acknowledge the true faith and worship of the lone Samaritan. But Jesus was also dismayed at the lack of gratefulness from the other nine. Ten lepers cleansed... one was grateful... nine were complacent. And there is a lesson worth pondering as Jesus asks: “where are the nine?”

So... “Where ARE the nine?” Is it possible that a majority of lives touched by the powerful healing Word of Christ barely give Him acknowledgement? Could that happen today? Polls have for decades shown many more people in America “claim” to be evangelical Christians than actually attend church. It is true that in this passage, Jesus did not command the worship of the lepers, but really, shouldn’t a life changed by Jesus naturally well up into adoration and WANT to be with Him? That is the point of the passage... Jesus deserves the worship of changed lives.

But when I look at my own heart, I realize there are times I have too often been content to be in the company of the nine. How quickly I can go my own way healed, but not in awe of my Healer, as if the touch of Jesus in my life is just routine. Oh how the tender Samaritan heart needs to be in me, to remember the leper I was... the outcast, forsaken, and cursed sinner... and to rejoice in and proclaim the wonderful Savior Who has made me whole!

Where ARE the nine? Physically whole, but spiritually broken and distant from Jesus. Instead, I want to be the one... worshiping at the feet of my Lord completely grateful by offering Him my worship both body and soul!

the worst judgment: God letting you have what you want

“As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord GOD: Go serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols.”

Ezekiel 20:39

Israel had a history of divided religious loyalty to both God and to idolatry. In this message by God through Ezekiel to the leaders of Israel just before the exile, this history of idolatry is recounted, and God acts with the penultimate penalty.

Even while still slaves in Egypt, Israel worshiped Egyptian gods. But God had mercy on His covenant people. He delivered them from the slave bonds of Egypt and under Moses led them to freedom. They received His law and were taught how to love and worship their gracious and merciful Lord. Yet they still held onto their idols.

In the wilderness, God provided their every need. Moses received the Law and the people agreed through the covenant to worship the Lord. They built a tabernacle, honored a priesthood, and sacrificed gratefully to God. Yet they did not last, and again embraced their idols and grumbled against their gracious and caring God.

The Lord judged that ungrateful generation as they wandered to fall dead in the Sinai sands. And their children committed to His covenant and God gave them the land of Canaan. They settled into cities and farms they did not build, received God’s blessings and then promptly started worshiping the idols of the gentiles around them.

God gave them a king and made of Israel a nation that the world came to visit. They built a temple for God’s worship, sacrificed to the Lord, and still secretly kept a fondness to love their idols at every turn.

Finally, God let them go the way of their idolatry. He told them, through Ezekiel, to just serve all the idolatry their wicked hearts desired. He was done with them. The covenant had been shredded by generations of their detestable idolatry, and now, in the worst judgment that God can deal humanity, God simply let them do what they wanted so much. When God leaves us to our idols, the worst judgment is upon us. And that principle is still true today. I’ve seen in individually. I have had to confront my own idolatry repeatedly. And culturally, I can’t help but believe that this principle hovers over the church right now, in these times, and just may be exactly what we are experiencing right now, lest we repent!

wisdom personified

I have counsel and sound wisdom;

I have insight; I have strength.

By me kings reign,

and rulers decree what is just;

by me princes rule,

and nobles, all who govern justly.

I love those who love me,

and those who seek me diligently find me.

Proverbs 8:14-17

Wisdom makes her appeal to all who would seek to join her side and learn, by her wisdom, to live well. I’ve been reading the book of Proverbs at least once per year for over four decades now. It spoke to the needs of my life as a teenager. It speaks to me now, a member of the generation now frequently targeted with AARP membership appeals! In fact, I would say that seeking wisdom now is more important than ever.

No year of my life has been more humbling of my trust in my own abilities than 2020. It seems to me that this time of complete disruption at every level has shredded any trust in my own faculties for decisions and direction. Worldwide deadly pandemic? I need wisdom to stay healthy. Shifting directives from authorities in my county, state, and nation? I need wisdom to understand the chaos. Cultural upheaval over racial injustice? I need wisdom to demonstrate Christ’s love for ALL people. Complete political chaos that smells like I live in a Banana Republic and not the United States of America? I need wisdom to trust that God will direct our governing authorities despite their divisiveness and what looks like utter constitutional disregard. A church divided over best health practices, responses to racial tensions, and political ugliness? Oh how I need Lady Wisdom to take me by the hand and speak her truth to me and to the believers to whom I am called... now more than ever!

Lord God,

I thank You that You grant wisdom to those who seek her diligently! And I humbly admit I have no resources either from my culture or from within myself to navigate this current mess. I always need Your wisdom. And Jesus, in You are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). I will trust in You, Jesus. I will seek Your wisdom in Your Word. I will wait for Your Spirit’s guidance. I will find peace in Your gracious gift of wisdom!

Amen

He Who tends us

Then we shall not turn back from you;

give us life, and we will call upon your name!

Psalm 80:18

This is part of a psalm written to call to worship a people broken and bitter in their suffering. It is prayer for restoration with the repeated passionate refrain: “Restore us, O God, let your face shine, that we may be saved!” (Psalm 80:3, 7, 19). It was written as a result of Gentile oppression, mentioning the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin specifically. It appears that all of Israel is identifying with the pain and hardship these tribes had endured.

Psalm 80 opens with the imagery of God being the Shepherd of Israel, Who leads Joseph (the father of Ephraim and Manasseh) like a flock. He is enthroned upon the cherubim (a reference to the ark of the covenant in the temple at Jerusalem) and is called upon to save the three broken and hurting tribes quickly (Psalm 80:2).

The second stanza makes it clear that whatever these three tribes had suffered, God had brought punishment to them out of His righteous anger. It is an acknowledgement of their wrong and a confession that God was right to bring His correction (Psalm 80:4-6).

The bulk of the song before the last refrain recounts God’s deliverance of Israel throughout their history. It begins with the Exodus (Psalm 80:8). And the nation is described by the metaphor of the vineyard planted in the promised land that thrived (Psalm 80:9-11). The vine was then uprooted and savaged by a wild pig (code for Gentiles) (Psalm 80:12-13). The psalmist then makes a passionate appeal for God to look down from heaven and see His tattered vine and then, by His healing hand to tend and restore His vineyard (Psalm 80:14-17). It is only then that His people will be able to re-experience the life that only God could give them as they passionately return to His worship.

A quick gospel perspective comes to me. Jesus is the True Vine and I am grafted in Him as a branch to bear fruit for the glory of God the Father (see John 15:1-11). It is the Father that brings the growth by pruning and tending this vine as I am nourished in my attachment to relationship with Jesus. And when hardships come, I too must trust and call on the Father, through the Son, Who tends His vine in love.