Psalm 119:65-72

65You have dealt well with your servant,
O LORD, according to your word.
66Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
for I believe in your commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I keep your word.
68 You are good and do good;
teach me your statutes.
69 The insolent smear me with lies,
but with my whole heart I keep your precepts;
70their heart is unfeeling like fat,
but I delight in your law.
71It is good for me that I was afflicted,
that I might learn your statutes.
72 The law of your mouth is better to me
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

Persecution. Do we know it? Have we felt it? Have I been persecuted? Well, that’s a tough question. But what I can certainly say with the Psalmist is that, “You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word” (v65). I’ve been showered with blessing – Jesus, eternal life, wife, family, friends, financial security, comfort, church, and I have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms right now (Eph 1). And all this, not of my own doing but according to the promises and word of God alone. I think I can say therefore with the Psalmist, “Teach me good judgement and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments” (v66). What an appropriate response to my Father who has lavished all this upon me! Yes, teach me, instruct me, make me wise!

But then comes the ‘a word’. Afflicted.

The ESV had to choose afflicted didn’t it. Such a painful word. There’s a flick of the tongue in there, saying the word almost sounds like a whip being cracked. It’s an ugly word. Suffering is bearable, but to be afflicted…it sounds so attacking and bloody and unprovoked – people don’t ’suffer’ from horrible diseases, they are ‘afflicted’ with them. Pharaoh was afflicted (Genesis 12:17), the people of Ashdod were afflicted with tumours, (1 Samuel 5:6), the numerous sick brought to Jesus were afflicted (Matthew 4:24), the apostle Paul went through countless afflictions (2 Corinthians 4:8), the heroes of faith in Hebrews were afflicted really badly (Hebrews 11:37) – and I can’t help but see my Lord being whipped and scourged with the cat of nine tails and having nails driven through his wrists through flesh and sinews and….(gewh)…afflicted is a horrible word.

And yet the Psalmist thanks God for it, and he does not question his character in response, but rather upholds God as supremely good. He was straying, but the affliction brought him back to God in holiness and obedience (v67), and so he calls the bringer of affliction, God, good, he does good. (v68) This is not a mistake! The insolent, whose hearts are “unfeeling like fat” (golden phrase), they smear the Psalmist’s character with lies, but they do not bring him down. No, he delights in God and his law (v70). And then there are the two verses which blew my mind, and broke my pride;

It is good for me that I was afflicted,
that I might learn your statutes.
The law of your mouth is better to me
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

The affliction was good, because the Word and instruction of God were his greatest treasure. Sit on that for just a second. Watch the implications of such verses run to the corners of your life. To your suffering, affliction, (or lack there of). To your straying and sin, and how the last thing you’d want is affliction to set you straight, because, ultimately, our greatest treasure in life is usually not the Word, but me. This was my prayer after sitting on these verses.

Heavenly Father,

You have indeed dealt well with your sinful servant. Colossians 2:9 says that all the fullness of your deity dewlls in Christ, and we have been filled into Him. What more do we need, or can we possibly gain other than Christ? We have been given so much, a debt we could not, and cannot repay. A debt that will only store up greater and greater glory and praise for Christ in the eternal ages to come. Thankyou Father. But I only take the good with joy. Affliction is an evil to me, I resent your rod of rebuke. Forgive me. May I treasure your Word, your promises, and my relationship with you so much that I can, with the Psalmist, look on affliction as joy, rejoice that it has been granted that I should suffer for the sake of Christ, as well as believe in him. May I be like the man who sold all he had in this world, in this life, and bought the field with the treasure of great value. As unappealing as it sounds to my sinful nature, may I greet affliction with great joy, that I might be taught and live a life worthy of the gospel to which I was called.

In Christ’s glorious name, Amen.

Humbled with you,

Matt.

Romans 1:24-32

24Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonouring of their bodies among themselves, 25because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

This passage rings out with the phrase, “God gave them up”. God gave mankind up to impurity (v24), to dishonourable passions (v26) and to a debased mind (v28). This is v18 being worked out, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” The wrath of God is not just a future judgement, but a present one too, because sin is destructive now as well as then. God’s judgement upon us is simply to let us go – it’s not so much what he does, but what he doesn’t do. He doesn’t stop us leaving his side. He “gives us up”, tragically, to ourselves. If the rebellious son wishes to leave, he is free to do so. Little does he see the wrath of God being poured out as he does so.

The downward spiral begins with idolatry, which leads to immorality, which leads to dishonourable sex – we should not be surprised in our day and age why Paul keeps making sex the subject – our society is gorging itself on sewer water, and wondering why it ends up tasting bad. Our society has indeed, “exchanged the truth about God for a lie”, the greatest lie imaginable – that the ultimate worship and enjoyment in life belongs solely to the realm of pleasure. The saddest thing is that we are designed by the creator to find endless pleasure in enjoying and worshipping him. It is a lie friends.

From this point, all hell (perhaps literally) breaks loose. Those who live and believe the lie are given over (voluntarily) to shameful lusts and passions. Do not feel embarrassed or shocked that Paul uses homosexuality as a clear embodiment of this (v26-27). It’s such a simple picture of a natural relation being exchanged for one contrary to God’s created order. It’s the same with everyone having sex before marriage, “There is no created order or plan for sex! There is no creator who made it! We are in charge!” When you see the sexual immorality of this city, and you will see it every day, think, “Wrath of God being revealed against them”. Yes, you will be crucified for standing up and saying this, but who will you listen to?

From v28, the floodgates are opened wide. Sin snowballs bigger and bigger, further from God. You cannot read this and possibly listen to someone telling you that people come back to God by themselves on their own accord. Rubbish. We only head one direction as sinners – hellwards. We simply fill up more and more with “all manner of unrighteousness and evil…” (v29). And the landslide of sin begins to flow. 21 sins, the biggest ‘list’ in the NT. We are left with the horror of v32, that all this is not done in ignorance, but knowledge.

Never look at your city, your workplace, your school or anything else the same way again. Think only this; The wrath of God is being poured out here on this faithless, heartless, ruthless generation. They are dying in their sins. They have no hope in themselves of salvation. And neither did I.

This is why the gospel is good news. Pray, and go preach the truth.

May I boast in nothing but the cross, apart from which, I would be running into the very same mess of death.

Matt.

Romans 1:18-23

18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

This little passage opens a whole can of worms. But the hardest thing for me to get my head around is not how God has made himself plain to the world and how that leads to sinners being without excuse (v19,20), nor is the most puzzling thing to me how all people “knew God, (yet) they did not honour him as God” (v21). For me, the hardest thing to grasp is the very first word – “For…”. Paul just spoke of how in the gospel, “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (v17). That sounds complete. Surely he doesn’t need to qualify that or explain that further. And yet he continues on, seemingly without the paragraph break we have in modern translations, with a seemingly left field idea – “The gospel is the power of God to save, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed by faith. FOR/BECAUSE the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.”

There is only one way this works logically, and it’s not a pretty message, especially in our day and age. At the heart of it, Paul is making clear that the only reason he is so keen about preaching the gospel, and the only reason the gospel is so good and mind blowing, is because we are so mind-blowingly bad. So much so that the very wrath of God is awaiting us.

If we are to be effective, passionate, gospel-loving evangelists, we must see the world and its inhabitants as it truly is. We must look at our city and think, “ungodly, unrighteous”. We must be able to look at people we love and care for, even our closest family and think, “Suppressors of truth – for God is plain to them. They are without excuse. They will rightfully face the full wrath and anger of God against their sin, they will be in hell forever.”  We must not shrink from the truth. They do not give honour to God in their life, and so they chose the path of foolishness, and futility (v21). They became fools (22), because they gave up God for mere images and idols of his true glory. We must see this. We must feel the weight of this. There are not sinners and ‘kind of OK’ people. We must see our workmates, friends and family who don’t know Christ like this.

Otherwise, the gospel will never be good news, and you will never preach it as you ought. Your view of non-Christians, whoever they may be, close or not to your heart, will directly decide your view of the good news that can save them. There is no way around this. You will not win friends with such a message. It gets you crucified. It might mean your church will never have 30,000 people like other churches you see. But it is the power of God to save. Grace is only amazing if the background it contrasts to is endlessly black.
Not really knowing what to think either.

Matt.

Psalm 119:57-64

 57 The LORD is my portion;
   I promise to keep your words.
58I entreat your favor with all my heart;
   be gracious to me according to your promise.
59When I think on my ways,
   I turn my feet to your testimonies;
60I hasten and do not delay
   to keep your commandments.
61Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,
   I do not forget your law.
62At midnight I rise to praise you,
   because of your righteous rules.
63 I am a companion of all who fear you,
   of those who keep your precepts.
64 The earth, O LORD, is full of your steadfast love;
    teach me your statutes!

It’s possible to read parts of Psalm 119 like this and think, “Gee, this guy is full of himself!” Even when the wicked ensnare him, “I do not forget your law” (61). At midnight, this guy gets up to praise God (62). He says he, “Hastens and do not delay to keep your commandments” (v60) – and much more of the same. He really does put us to shame, and as an Australian with built in tall poppy syndrome-itis, it’s easy to think, “Get off the high horse – you can’t be that perfect mate! You’re a fraud!”. Or something like that.

The real issue is not a theological argument over whether this Psalmist is actually as flawless as he says he is (he does say how rotten he is elsewhere in the Psalm), and the real issue is not whether he should have written with more humility or something like that. I think the real issue is whether we can face the fact that this guy is in love with God. This is a love song. Can we face up to a guy who’s obsessed with keeping God’s law, yet isn’t a legalist, but a lover?

When you’re in love with someone, you listen to them and delight to please them (v57). When you’re in love with someone, that person garners your attention with ease (v59). When you’re in love with someone, they become a priority (v60). When you’re in love with someone, time is secondary (v62). When you’re in love with someone, you love to be with those who also love your beloved (63). And you can’t wait to hear them speak again (v64). The whole Psalm is a love song.

The Psalmist isn’t a goody two-shoes trying to self-justify himself in God’s eyes by running after a works based salvation. He can’t help what he says, because he’s in love. Anyone who’s been in love know what I’m talking about. You’re actually not talking yourself up - you’re talking up the person you love. And so is the Psalmist. If he causes us to have guilt over our (lack) of love for God, that is not his fault - he can’t help but delight in God. And I believe God has given us this Psalm (among other reasons), to make us look back at ourselves and ask, “well…do I?”

Struggling with you,

Matt. 

  

 

Psalm 119:49-56

49Remember your word to your servant,
   in which you have made me hope.
50This is my comfort in my affliction,
   that your promise gives me life.
51 The insolent utterly deride me,
   but I do not turn away from your law.
52When I think of your rules from of old,
   I take comfort, O LORD.
53 Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,
   who forsake your law.
54Your statutes have been my songs
   in the house of my sojourning.
55I remember your name in the night, O LORD,
   and keep your law.
56This blessing has fallen to me,
   that I have kept your precepts.

Our generation has a serious issue with suffering. We’ve tacked along with our world and declared all suffering to be evil, unacceptable and certainly not of God’s design. Accordingly, our faith is comprimised at even the slightest breeze – ‘How could God let this happen’? The greatest evil today is when someone dies young, ’They had so much ahead of them’. We have such weak, self-centered theology on the issue, and so when trials come, it’s no surprise we often become weak, self centered Christians. The glorious exceptions I’ve seen have been when Christians my age have pressed on harder, through and after suffering. They see the design of God in suffering, and rejoice! That’s what happens when God’s glory is your goal in the good days and the bad days. It’s when Chrisitans press on joyous through suffering that Christ is exalted, and lifted up to be seen by all to be the most satisfying, the most fulfilling and the most real. He is exalted by our hope in Him through suffering. Discontentment in suffering is sin, because it points the finger back at God and says, ’You are not good, you are not loving to me’ – which is untrue.      

The Psalmist brings glory to God his saviour by pressing on in his faith in God even when times are tough. He says he’s afflicted, utterly derided by his enemies, and yet he has complete satisfaction and comfort in God’s promise to him, “Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life” (vv49-50). Far from giving in to the derisions of the wicked, he rightfully continues to stand against them, “Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked who forsake your law” (v53). His unfailing rock in the times of trouble are God’s statutes and his glorious name (vv54-55). He does not point the finger back at God in suffering, as many Christians do today. He prays only that God would continue to bless him - and ’blessing’ to him, is that he would keep on listening to God and keep doing what he says (v56). Now that’s a huge rebuke to our generation, and to me.

Heavenly Father,

I confess that I am too self interested. When trials come, I cannot say they are pure joy as James commanded us. I often point the finger back at you and revolt. Accordingly, Christ is not honoured as satisfying or reliable in my life, so please, forgive my sin. Father, open my eyes to see suffering as part of your design in my life. May I embrace it as a chance to show the glory of Christ to all around me, and may it cause me to hold tighter to your commands and promises, that you might give me great blessing by giving me the strength to do what you have said. Thank you for saving me by the suffering of Christ in my place. In his name I pray, Amen.

Fighting for joy in suffering with you,

Matt.

 

Psalm 119:41-48

41Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD,
   your salvation according to your promise;
42then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me,
   for I trust in your word.
43And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
   for my hope is in your rules.
44I will keep your law continually,
   forever and ever,
45and I shall walk in a wide place,
   for I have sought your precepts.
46I will also speak of your testimonies before kings
   and shall not be put to shame,
47for I find my delight in your commandments,
   which I love.
48I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love,
   and I will meditate on your statutes.

I couldn’t help but reflect on the links between my last post on Romans 1:16-17 and this section of the Psalm. If you missed the last post, I lamented over the times I am ashamed of the gospel – which is the very power of God to save. Today I had a silent chuckle at the irony (and awesomeness!) of now coming to this next part of Psalm 119. Praise God for his good provision!

Do you want an “answer for him who taunts” you? (v42) Do you want to keep the “word of truth” in your mouth? (v43) Do you want to “speak of your testimonies before kings and not be put to shame“? (v46) Surely this is what we must do with the gospel! This part of the Psalm is so appropriate in light of Romans and the call of the gospel. So, what must we understand and pray with the Psalmist so as to be bold witnesses?

The Psalmist believes all of this comes from God giving us his “steadfast love“, our “salvation according to your promise” (v41). It is the sure knowledge and experience of the love of God and the promises of God that make us strong and passionate to answer the taunters and speak before the Kings (and workmates, friends and schoolmates). Of course that’s true. If we are afraid to proclaim the good news – it’s usually because the love of God towards us, assuring and comforting us against all opposition, doesn’t feel real or dependable. The promises and hate of men are much more tangible and powerful in those situations, and that’s why they win.

So pray. Pray for real, unshakable faith in God’s ridiculously good promise of eternal life. Trust in his complete sovereignty. Jesus pretty much says in Matthew 10, “Don’t worry about the persecution – you can only be killed!” You can take risks for the gospel if you remember how eternal (and better) your safety net is.

And look to the love of God, unshakably declared for all to see on the cross. Look there at the heart of your faith, and the heart of the universe. Read of God’s steadfast love in the gospels and NT. Meditate on it, refill the tank, then go out boldly with the love of God in your hand to give to others.

Praying that with you,

Matt.

Romans 1:16-17

16For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

17For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ”The righteous shall live by faith”.

Ever been ashamed of the gospel? Yep. Had those times when the ‘good news’ felt more like ‘totally dumbness’? Yep. Jesus warned us this would happen, and it’s clear here in Romans that even the great Apostle Paul felt he could quite possibly be ashamed of it. We need to see that our shame over the gospel grows only out of how we view it, because there is a simple cure to our ‘gospel-shame’; the truth. “It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” We can just rush over that, maybe just take it as a throw away line. That would be foolish. If we are to stand up and declare the gospel without shame in this godless, desperate, God-hating city, we need to be simply broken and awestruck by the force of that phrase we read in v16. 

This gospel, this good news that Christ Jesus has appeared in human likeness and died in the place of sinful man, defeating sin and removing its consequences, this good news that Christ Jesus abolished the power of the law and guilt and opened wide the door to the very throne room of God through the new temple of his body, this good news that Christ Jesus is no longer dead but risen to be Lord and King of all creation, never to die again, the good news that this risen Lord Jesus now lives and intercedes for us, forever, perfectly, that we might have full assurance and hope of eternal life with our heavenly Father if we place our faith and trust in his saving power and Lordship over all - this gospel, it is no mere intellectual argument. It is the power of God. It is the centrepiece of all creation, where the grandest plans of God were worked, where the eternal kingdom of Christ was unshakably established for all to see - it is the be all and end all of God’s work in creation, it is his power fully unleashed, his character fully displayed. All the justice, love, righteousness, peace, wrath and judgement of God poured out on a single moment in time. Everything that came before it looked and pointed to it, everything after it will look back and glory in it. And this unimaginable power and plan of God…is for your salvation, and for the salvation of everyone who simply believes it to be true. ”For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith.” And we are made to be ashamed of this? Be broken friends. Rejoice in your Saviour!

Nick might have become a Christian today at UWS. He might not have, but he certainly seems to be heading that way. We prayed the old sinners prayer with him, and he loved what he heard. Friends, the gospel is the power of God. It’s not up to you. The only role you played in the gospel plan was to hurl insults and mock the Son of God crucified for you. Now that through this gospel you once hated, the righteousness of God, the perfect standard of Christ has been lavished upon you by grace and faith alone, take it with both hands and preach it to a desperate world that desperately needs some good news.

Fighting with myself, to fight for the gospel with you,

Matt.  

P.S – Thankyou for all those praying for my health in the last few days. I’m nearly better.

Romans 1:8-15

 8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

The word ‘fellowship’ is thrown around these days in church circles fairly liberally. And in one sense, it doesn’t matter, it’s just a word. If you want to call going out for coffee after church ‘fellowship’, (regardless of what you talk about over the coffee) - go for it. But we do need to ask ourselves what the foundations and motives for our ’fellowship’ are, because we want to be shaped by the bible in all we do – and we’re generally pretty susceptible to being shaped by things other than the bible. For me, Romans 1:8-15 provides a hard hitting rebuke to my preconceived ideas of fellowship, and made me think hard about my motives and goals in my relationships to my brothers and sisters in Christ (you!).

There’s no avoiding it – Paul is passionate about the gospel, and about the faith of God’s people. The first thing he does in his grand explanation of the gospel is thank God for the Roman church’s faith. And he prays, “without ceasing…asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you” (v10). He longs for fellowship with this church – if only, somehow, by God’s will, he might be able to see them. And in our age of facebook, emails, airmail, cars and phones, I don’t think we can empathise with Paul. Which is why I think we take fellowship for granted. Which is why I think we redefine fellowship into ‘meeting and catching up as Christians’. Redefine it from Paul’s concept, “I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine” (v11-12). We don’t know how good we’ve got it, until it gets taken away – which is why we often take fellowship for granted, and waste it. This is a great rebuke and challenge for me personally. I need to rethink my motives and goals in ‘fellowship’, and live accordingly.

If we want to get into Paul’s mindset, and treasure fellowship like him, we must be shaped by the things that he was shaped by. And that’s abundantly clear. “I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.”(v13-14). He loves and treasures Christian fellowship because he loves and treasures the gospel, and wants to spend his life for that gospel. The phrase ‘I am under obligation’, literally means, ’I am indebted’. Paul is indebted. How? Well, you can get into debt by owing someone money that you borrowed. But you can also get into debt by being entrusted with someone else’s money. Paul says he is indebted to the Romans (and all people, foolish and wise, v14) because he’s been entrusted with the Roman’s good news. That’s why he says in v15, “So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” And that’s why he wants fellowship with them, to share the gospel and encourage them in their faith.

Are you treasuring Christian fellowship because you treasure the gospel?

Being challenged with you,

Matt. 

Romans 1:1-7

Romans 1:1-7

1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
7To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

As I write this post, I’m supervising a group of year 12’s studying ‘furiously’ for the HSC. When you ask them what they want to do in life, you get a mixture of answers, but for most, they don’t really know. And that’s Ok, I wasn’t really sure either!

In stark contrast, if Paul the apostle were here, and I asked him what he wanted to do in life, I could be confident of a rock solid answer. “I’m called to be an apostle, I was set apart for the gospel of God.” – Paul, what is the gospel of God? And before you know it, he’s rattled off one of the most beautiful and encouraging summaries of the gospel (vv2-4). It’s a gospel promised long ago in the prophets (not a late ‘Plan B’), it’s written in the Scriptures, and it’s all about the Son. A son who was fully human, “descended from David according to the flesh”, and fully God, “declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection”…it can only be, (in full title), “Jesus Christ our Lord”. Christ: Promised Messianic King, Jesus: Our Saviour, Lord: King of everything and everyone, and notice in particular, Jesus Christ our Lord.

And through knowing this Jesus, as King, Saviour and friend, we have received grace (not a burden, law or debt). For Paul it meant the great joy of “bringing about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations” (v5). And thus he addresses the church of Rome (v7), and we begin to read what John Piper called, “The Greatest Letter Ever Written”. It’s the fullest, most complete, Christ-exalting and mind-blowing unpacking of the gospel we have, and will ever have. As I go through it with you all in this little blog, I pray this;

Heavenly Father,
I thank you for your eternal Word, for Christ himself, the Lord of all. I thank you for the gospel of grace, freedom and life in Christ. I thank you for the book of Romans, and ask that as I delve into it, you might open my eyes to see Christ and his gospel in all its splendour, glory and might. Help me understand it, open my heart and eyes to hear you speaking. May I then say with Paul, “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). Do this, I pray, that Christ might be magnified and glorified.
In his name pray,
Amen.

Hope you can join me for the ride,
Matt.

Psalm 119:33-40

33 Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes;
and I will keep it to the end.
34 Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
35 Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
36 Incline my heart to your testimonies,
and not to selfish gain!
37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
and give me life in your ways.
38 Confirm to your servant your promise,
that you may be feared.
39Turn away the reproach that I dread,
for your rules are good.
40Behold, I long for your precepts;
in your righteousness give me life!

In this section, the Psalmist petitions God to make him more focused on God, much as he has, and will again in this longest of all Psalms.  His heart longs to be more holy, he wants more of God, he wants to obey, he knows it’s his delight (v35). We need to hear verses like that. Where is your delight found? In the path of God’s commandments? Do you really believe that God’s “rules are good”? (v39). The world says such things are nonsense, but the Psalmist knows better. He knows where fullness of life is found and so he prays,  and why not pray with him today,

Lord, turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways. In your righteousness, give me life! Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain. Lord, my heart is full of selfish desire, my eyes always look at worthless things. Turn my eyes to you, give me understanding. Confirm to me your great promises in Christ, that you may be feared above all the gods of this city.
In Christ’s name, Amen.

I need to pray this prayer. You need to pray this prayer. This generation needs to get serious about holiness, and needs to understand where true life is found. So pray, for the glory of Christ.

Fighting for holiness with you,
Matt.

Psalm 119:17-24

Psalm 119:17-24

17 Deal bountifully with your servant,
that I may live and keep your word.
18Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
19I am a sojourner on the earth;
hide not your commandments from me!
20My soul is consumed with longing
for your rules at all times.
21You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
who wander from your commandments.
22Take away from me scorn and contempt,
for I have kept your testimonies.
23Even though princes sit plotting against me,
your servant will meditate on your statutes.
24Your testimonies are my delight;
they are my counselors.

This Psalm continues to be a strikingly personal prayer for the psalmist. We are getting glimpses into his own personal relationship with God. What makes it even more interesting is to remember that this is a relationship before Christ. However, that doesn’t mean the psalmist is living cursed under the law, because it is sections like this that reflect the true life of faith – the life of a Christian. Notice how the Psalmist leans on God as his strength to do good and follow the law, and the motive for doing so, “Deal bountifully with your servant (NT language), that I may live and keep your word” (v17). He asks God to “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (v18). He isn’t looking inwardly for his justification, but leaning on God, providentially, and unknowingly, leaning on the grace stored up in Christ, before the ages began. He sees himself as “A sojourner on the earth” (v19), a servant who will “meditate on your statutes” (v23). This is the life of faith – not looking inwardly for a self-righteousness by works, but looking God-ward for a righteousness he gives in love.

And so we must ask if we can sing along with the Psalmist today. Why do you want God to deal with you bountifully? So you can be more comfortable? Get a raise? Be free of sickness? If so, your motives are the wrong way round. The life of faith in God, through Christ, asks God to deal with them bountifully, to the end that “I may live and keep your word” (v17)- that God would get the glory. That means, saying with Paul, “…It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not at all be ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honoured in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:20-21). Is your soul consumed with longing to follow God’s commandments, to see him glorified in your life by holiness? Are his testimonies your delight? His promises in the Word your daily hope, your “counselors” (v24)? If not, don’t fret, but ask in faith to your father God that it would be so, that Christ would get the glory, and we would get the grace.

Keep on living by faith, and keep on reading your bible, and saying

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:68-69

Matt.

Psalm 119:9-16

9How can a young man keep his way pure?
   By guarding it according to your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you;
   let me not wander from your commandments!
11I have stored up your word in my heart,
   that I might not sin against you.
12Blessed are you, O LORD;
    teach me your statutes!
13With my lips I declare
   all the rules of your mouth.
14In the way of your testimonies I delight
   as much as in all riches.
15I will meditate on your precepts
   and fix my eyes on your ways.
16I will delight in your statutes;
   I will not forget your word.

What a relevant question! How can a young man, or anyonethese days possibly keep their way pure? Our path is like a narrow, rickety bridge being buffeted and washed over by gigantic breakers in the most horrible storm. Wave after wave of temptation smash into us as we desperately try to walk along our little bridge in life. The noise of the wind roars in our ears, the stench of the tempest overwhelms us, there is so little rest from it – there is no shelter, no let down. Everything this world says seems to exist to call us into sin, begs us to come and enjoy the fun and pleasures today. “Leave behind your ’purity’! Throw caution to the wind and live!” We are surrounded on every side, derided whenever we resist, hooked by our addictions, plagued by our failures and guilt, we feel weak, hopeless and compromised. (My words are hardly doing justice to our dire situation) – how can a young man, or anyone keep their way pure? How can I keep my way pure?

The great Puritan author, John Owen, warns us of a common, but futile solution;

“Men are galled with the guilt of sin that hath prevailed over them; they instantly promise to themselves and God that they will do so no more; they watch over themselves, and pray for a season, until this heat waxes cold, and the sense of sin is worn off: and so mortification goes also, and sin returns to its former dominion. Duties are excellent food for an unhealthy soul; they are no physic for a sick soul. He that turns his meat into his medicine must expect no great operation. Spiritually sick men cannot sweat out their distemper with working.”

The real solution sounds too simple, and I believe we have heard it so many times that we no longer truly believe it. “By guarding it according to your word…I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (v9,11). The only offensive weapon Paul instructs us to use in fighting our tempter and accuser Satan is, “The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). There is no reference to another, in Ephesians or Psalm 119, so to that one we must go. And why wouldn’t we want to?! How else can we fight the false promises of Satan, except by countering his lies with the great truths and promises of God? Where else can we go to fight the false delights of Satan except the treasure house of delights in God?

If like me, you need to return to your bible in your fight for purity, join me today in this prayer; Almighty God, we thank and praise you for your mighty word. For too long Lord I have neglected it. I do not seek your face or counsel, and I am hopeless at fighting sin and Satan alone. I have failed to guard my way from impurity. Forgive me by your grace in Christ, and return my eyes and heart to your life giving Word. May I say with the Psalmist, “In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statues, I will not forget your word.” Thank you for purifying me by the blood of Christ from all blemish. Strengthen me today to do your will, to resist temptation, and to run to your word. In Christ’s glorious name, Amen.

Struggling for purity with you,

Matt.

    

Psalm 119:1-8

Psalm 119

Aleph

 1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
   who walk in the law of the LORD!
2Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
   who seek him with their whole heart,
3who also do no wrong,
   but walk in his ways!
4You have commanded your precepts
   to be kept diligently.
5Oh that my ways may be steadfast
   in keeping your statutes!
6 Then I shall not be put to shame,
   having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
7I will praise you with an upright heart,
   when I learn your righteous rules.
8I will keep your statutes;
    do not utterly forsake me!

We live in an age where freedom is idolised, and where boundaries are a great evil. “Cause I’m free, to do what I want, any old time”. That’s what most people think freedom is all about, the allowance to be where they like, say what they like, and do what they like - in other words, give in to your ‘likes’, your pulsations and desires. Anything short of that is evil and restrictive, and…’outdated, religious, laughable’. That’s why the internet is one of the most revered gods of our age. You can watch anything and express your opinions about anything to everyone. And you can buy just about anything. The internet is a faceless, cheap and simple way to have endless freedom and pleasure - that’s what it looks like. But it’s not just the internet, it’s everywhere.

We need to stand back and be simply awestruck and broken by the comparison between our age, and what the bible clearly teaches. It must make us angry. It must make us distraught. It must blow our worlds apart.  

1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
   who walk in the law of the LORD!
2Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
   who seek him with their whole heart,
3who also do no wrong,
   but walk in his ways!    

 

This is almost EXACTLY opposite to what our world believes. “Blessed is the man who walks without care for middle age ideas like sin! Who walks in the way he likes! Blessed are those who listen to their own testimonies and beliefs – whatever you WANT to think! Blessed are those who seek after their own hearts, their own dreams, their own desires and delight in them! Blessed are those who are free and unrestricted!”

We have then, before us in life, two entirely opposed pathways to a blessed life. They cannot both be right. If one is right, the other is entirely wrong. If you’re a Christian, that means to stand up for the Word of God is going to hurt, alot.

I’ve been challenged this morning to set myself against the gospel of the world. The supposed gospel of freedom from rules. We must not be deluded. It does not lead to freedom, but horrible enslavement, enslavement to sin, and “the wages of sin is death”. Eternal death, and the stink of death in this life. Satan is loving the current age of lawlessness and freedom, because it is reaping for him a great harvest of slaves (who think they’re free). How shall we stand confidently against the oncoming and growing opposition to the true gospel? We must heed the words of Psalm 119, continuing on.

4You have commanded your precepts
   to be kept diligently.
5Oh that my ways may be steadfast
   in keeping your statutes!
6 Then I shall not be put to shame,
   having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
7I will praise you with an upright heart,
   when I learn your righteous rules.
8I will keep your statutes;
    do not utterly forsake me!

 

Remember, pray, fix, praise.

(v4) Remember that it is the living, creator God that has commanded we should live by his precepts if we want a blessed life. To live by his laws diligently is not a restriction to be scoffed at, but a call to repent at our lax attitude towards holiness! (v5) Pray that your ways may be steadfast. Long for perfection. It’s not going to happen in this life, but long for it in your prayers, groan and weep for it. Thank God for the perfect, blessed Christ who IS ours, and has stepped in to cancel the debt of our imperfections and sinful ’freedom’. (v6) Fix your eyes on the Word! I need to start listening more to God than to the world. Reflect upon how much time you listen to the world, listen to its false gospel. Who are you listening to more? (v7) Praise your great God. For all the world to see. Worship him on Sundays, worship him on Mondays and every day. Be a living sacrifice, declaring the praises of Jesus Christ to all the world, the true freedom found in the new life of the Spirit – where God transforms our nature, that we can indeed follow his precepts and his laws, to begin living the truly blessed life in Christ.

I’m keen to work all the way through Psalm 119, so please, subscribe and read on! I pray this psalm will transform our thoughts about life, blessing, freedom, the Word, and Christ.