Living a Blessed Life in a Cursed World
Galatians 3:10-14
Living a Blessed Life in a Cursed World
galatians 3:10-14
Main Idea: Jesus became our curse so that we are free to live a truly blessed life.
I. The Content of the Curse (3:10)
In a blessed life, the law graciously shows us the gap between God’s holiness and our sinfulness.
In a cursed life, we are deceived into thinking the gap between God’s holiness and our sinfulness isn’t that big.
To Paul’s mind (The Galatians) had not rightly grasped the significance of Christ’s death. That death was not to be understood as atoning for the inevitable shortcomings of those, who because of their basic commitment to observe the law, were otherwise righteous, rather, it showed that there can be no righteousness based on the law’s observance-for otherwise Christ would not have had to die.
~ Stephen Westerholm, Perspectives on Old and New on Paul: The "Lutheran" Paul and His Critics
II. The Course of the Curse (3:11-12)
In a blessed life, we follow the course of a system of grace, which leads us to joyful obedience.
In a cursed life, we follow the course of a system of self-righteousness, which leads to anxious despair.
Freed from sin by Christ, we are brought back into right relationship with God in that we are freed to become more like him as the image-bearers that he created us to be. In Christ, we are restored to the joyful task of knowing Him and making Him known. In Christ, we are restored to worshiping him and extending that worship to the ends of the earth and every people, tribe, tongue, and nation.
~ Mark D. Liederbach, Ethics as Worship
What we learn from the whole Old Testament, as well as from this passage, is that God has posted a gigantic “Dead End” sign over the path of the Law. The Law Cannot give life. Apart from the grace of God, the Law of God will only stir up the sin within you, ultimately choking you to death.
~ Todd Wilson, Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living
Life in Myself
Approval seeking. I tailor my actions to try to win the praise of others.
Selfish agenda. I keep trying to earn God's love, so my motive to "love" others is actually self-serving.
Self-power. I look to myself for the strength to love God and others, and I often sense the power is lacking.
Bitterness and self-hatred. I find it hard to forgive others or to enjoy God's forgiveness of me.
Anxiety. Fears and risk-avoidance tend to dominate my decisions in life.
Prayerlessness. Prayer often feels unnecessary, fake, condemning, or boring to me.
Cross-lessness. I have little daily appreciation for what Jesus has done for me (I "nullify the cross"), but a big awareness of what others think of me.
Christ Living in Me
Secure in God's approval of me, am able to live for his glory, not my own.
My love for God and others is able to be genuine, anchored in my Father's love for me.
I know that the power in me comes from none other than the Son of God, so l confidently step out in love.
The core truth of my life is that my Savior gave himself for me; forgiveness runs through my veins.
Knowing I belong to Jesus in life and in death frees me to take some risks to serve him and love others.
My life comes from God, and I am learning to pray to him in all my struggles and needs.
I find ways to be encouraged daily by the gospel, which God uses to help me live for him rather than for worldly goals.
~ McKay Caston, Galatians: Navigating Life in View of the Cross
III. The Christ Who Became the Curse (3:13-14)
In the blessed life, Jesus becomes the curse we earned so we can receive God’s promised blessings.
In the cursed life, we reject Jesus’ curse reversal and receive God’s promised judgment.
Jesus is nailed to a tree of death-the cursed tree, the tree of the law which gives us the knowledge of good and evil-but by doing so in our place, he turns it into the tree of life. The tree which was designed to dehumanize and bring death now makes us more alive than we ever dreamed and more fully human than we ever hoped. So the cross is not dead wood. It is a living and life-giving tree.
~ Andrew Wilson, The God of All Things
Tale as Old as Time
Galatians 3:1-9
Tale as Old as Time
galatians 3:1-9
Tale as Old As Time:
The Israelites after the Exodus (Exodus 14, 32)
The Israelites in the Wilderness (Exodus 16–17, Numbers 11:4–6; cf. Galatians 5:1)
The Cycle of the Judges (Judges 2:16, 19)
The Kings and Their Little Kingdoms (1 Samuel 9–10, 1 Samuel 13:8–14, 15:1–26)
The Israelites after the Babylonian Exile (Ezra 1, 9, Nehemiah 13)
The Prophets Confront the Fool and Bewitchers (Jeremiah 4:22, Isaiah 1:3, Ezekiel 13:3, Hosea 7:11)
Jesus Confronts the Fools and Bewitchers (Matthew 7:24–27, 23:17, 19, Luke 11:39–40, 24:25).
Main Idea: To resist witchery and foolishness, we remember the finished work of Jesus.
I. We Forget What We’ve Seen (3:1)
Galatians 3:1: O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.
Jesus almost paid it all, almost all to him I owe.
1 Corinthians 2:2: For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
I need no other argument,
I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me.
II. We Forget What We’ve Experienced (3:2-5)
Galatians 3:2: Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?
Q: How did you receive the Spirit?
2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Romans 8:9: You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
Salvation belongs to our God.
Galatians 3:3: Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
Q: How do you grow?
Galatians 3:4: Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
Q: Why were you persecuted?
Galatians 3:5: Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?
Q: Why does anything happen in our midst?
Galatians 3:6: Just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
III. We Forget What We’ve Learned (3:7-9)
Galatians 3:7: Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
John 5:39–40: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life
1 Cor 15:3–4: Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
Conclusion:
Remember what you’ve seen (Rev 3:3)
Remember what you’ve experienced (Rev 2:5)
Remember what you’ve learned (Heb 10:23, 2 Timothy 1:13-14)
The Heart of the Gospel
Galatians 2:15-21
The Heart of the Gospel
galatians 2:15-21
Main Idea: We walk in step with the gospel through a life of faith that embraces our union with Christ.
I. The Source of Grace: Justification (2:15-16)
Paul corrects and rebukes Peter’s sinful behavior (2:11-14) by reminding him of his justification. This is ‘legal’ language, where sinners are declared ‘right’ or ‘just’ rather than condemned. Justification is the “great exchange” as Christ receives our condemnation on the cross and we receive his perfect righteousness by faith, not by works (cf. Rom. 8:1, 2 Cor. 5:21).
2 Peter 1:8-9: “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.”
Here I must take counsel of the gospel, I must hearken to the gospel, which teaches me, not what I ought to do (for that is the proper office of the Law), but what Jesus Christ the Son of God has done for me: that he suffered and died to deliver me from sin and death. The Gospel wills me to receive this, and to believe it. This is the truth of the Gospel. It is also the principal article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness consists Most necessary it is therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their heads continually.
~ Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians
II. The Spirit of Growth: Sanctification (2:17-19, 21)
Though justification by faith is the source of grace, we have a tendency to resist this truth practically in our sanctification and growth in the gospel. Paul’s theological arguments in this section warn against two opposite errors:
1. Antinomianism (2:17) (lit. ‘against law’). While we are indeed free from the condemnation of the law in Christ and our sins have been forgiven, the grace we have been given now “trains us for godliness” (Titus 2:11-14). The gospel does not promote sinful behavior, and Christ is not a servant of sin.
Romans 6:1–4: What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
2. Legalism (2:18-19, 21): Paul has “died to the law” as a way of being saved or justified (cf. Gal. 3:10, Rom. 7:7-13), so that he could truly “live for God” (2:19). To practically live as if we can add to the finished work of Christ or earn our way into salvation is actually to live for yourself.
The commands of the Bible are ‘holy and righteous and good’ (Rom. 7:12). But the commands of the Bible are the steering wheel, not the engine, to your growth. They are vitally instructive, but they do not themselves give you the power you need to obey the instruction… To quietly confirm God's verdict of "not guilty" over us through our own contribution is to cause the entire doctrine of justification to fall to pieces and to become impotent in our daily lives. To do this is, in biblical terms, to "rebuild" what we "tore down" (Gal. 2:18). We "tore down" our own righteousness and all the futility of trying to establish it out of our own resources. Why "rebuild" it? This would be to "nullify the grace of God" (Gal. 2:21)... We lose entirely the comfort of justification if it is vulnerable to any self-strengthening. It must be all or nothing.
~Dane Ortlund, Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners
There are four ways that we can approach our growth and sanctification in the gospel (*from Dane Ortlund, Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners):
God then me
God not me
God plus me
God in me*
III. The Shape of the Gospel: Union with Christ (2:20)
Galatians 2:20 expounds the beautiful “umbrella doctrine” of our union with Christ, which is referred to over 200 times in the NT. Our union with Christ is both:
Positional (Macro): Christ is our ‘head’ and we are transferred into him as new creations and into the new realm of the ‘age to come’ (cf. Gal. 1:4)
Personal (Micro): We are intimately connected to Christ, like a vine and its branches (Jn. 15:5) a body and its parts (1 Cor. 12:12ff), and a bride and a groom (Eph. 5:32). Christ has not merely died for an undefined redeemed humanity as a whole, but he “loved me and gave himself for me.”
Our union with Christ means our past is redefined, our present is safe, and our future is secure, since our life is “hidden with Christ” (Col. 3:3). The ‘shape’ of the Christian life is one of crucifixion and resurrection, embracing the tension of “it is no longer I who live” and “the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith.”
A crucifixion of the natural self is the passport to everlasting life. Nothing that has not died will be resurrected… Die before you die. There is no chance after.
~ C.S. Lewis
Walking in Step with the Gospel
Galatians 2:11-16
Walking in Step with the Gospel
galatians 2:11-16
Main Idea: We must strive to uphold the truth of the gospel both in doctrine and in conduct.
I. Eating & Drinking
This apostolic confrontation was a monumental moment in the early church because of both the people and the place involved:
People: The Apostle Peter received a direct revelation from the Lord (Acts 10:9-16), indicating that God has made all foods clean, the ceremonial distinctions between Jews and Gentiles have been broken down (10:28; Mk. 7:18-19; Eph. 2:14-17), and that God “shows no partiality” (10:34). He preaches the gospel to the Gentiles who then receive the Holy Spirit and are baptized.
Place: The church in Antioch began when Gentiles heard the gospel, turned in faith to Christ, and then were taught by Barnabas and Paul (Acts 11). Antioch is the first place where followers of Jesus were called “Christians” (11:26) and later became the home-base for Paul’s missionary journeys to the “ends of the earth.”
In Antioch, Peter freely shared “table fellowship” with the Gentiles, despite criticism (Acts 11:2), knowing that the gospel of God’s grace overcame deep cultural division and animosity between Jews and Gentiles.
We used to hate and destroy one another and refused to associate with people of another race or country. Now, because of Christ, we live together with such people and pray for our enemies.
~ Justin Martyr
II. Hypocrisy & Fear
When “certain men from James” came to Antioch from Jerusalem (presumably Jewish Chrsitians), Peter “drew back and separated himself” from the Gentiles, acting in hypocrisy.
There was nothing intrinsically wrong with Peter's Jewish customs. But there was something very wrong with requiring adherence to them after Christ had fulfilled them, which Peter did by distancing himself from the unkosher Gentile believers. In effect, Peter was saying that Gentiles had to believe the gospel and adapt to Jewish culture for them to be good enough for Christ - and good enough for Peter! They were not his equals, because they weren't like him. In doing this, Peter obscured the all-sufficiency of Jesus and exalted something of himself in the Lord's place. What an insult to the finished work of Christ on the cross! How demeaning to those blood-bought Gentiles!... What a violation of justification by faith alone!
~ Ray Ortlund, The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ
‘Hypocrisy’ is not simply failing to live up to what you believe; it is to be a “play-actor” and wear a “mask,” hiding your true self. Peter’s hypocrisy led him to live out his gospel convictions in one situation, but then cover them up in another.
Peter’s hypocrisy in Antioch is driven by his “fear” of the circumcision party. His desire for the approval of this group allowed cultural differences to become more important than gospel unity, and risked creating a church in which there was “one Lord, but two Lord’s tables” (~ Stephen Neill).
Like all of us, Peter had a history of fear. When he denied Jesus on the night of his Lord’s arrest, he feared physical harm. In Antioch, he effectively denied Jesus because he feared social harm. Driven by the primitive fear, he falsified the gospel. In other words, the problem entered in not at the level of doctrine but at the level of culture. It started with personal fear, not with reading a book of bad theology.
~ Ray Ortlund, The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ
Peter’s fear of the “circumcision party” caused his conduct to be “not in step with the truth of the gospel.” This had serious consequences: he “stood condemned” before the Lord and he also led the other Jewish Christians - “even Barnabas” - astray.
III. The Equalizer of Grace
Paul, knowing what was at stake by Peter’s actions, courageously confronted Peter “to his face” and “before them all.” His confrontation highlights two theological realities that were inconsistent in their hypocritical behavior.
There is no distinction between Jews and Gentiles in their sin, since no one will be justified by “works of the law” (cf. Rom. 10:3; Ps. 143:2)
There is no distinction between Jews and Gentiles in their salvation, since we are only justified by faith in Christ alone
Romans 3:21–24: But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Romans 15:7: Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
A Little Steel for Your Spine
Galatians 2:1-10
A Little Steel for Your Spine
galatians 2:1-10
Main Idea: We must resist false gospels because of our submission to Christ and love of our neighbor.
I. Submit to the Revelation (2:1-2)
t was not, we may be sure, that he had any personal doubts or misgivings about his gospel and needed the reassurance of the other Jerusalem apostles, for he had been preaching it for fourteen years; but rather lest his ministry, past and present, should be rendered fruitless by the Judaizers. It was to overthrow their influence, not to strengthen his own conviction, that he laud his gospel before the Jerusalem apostles.”
~ John Stott The Message of Galatians
His fear is not that his gospel will be voided of its power if the decision in Jerusalem should go against him; what he fears, rather, is that a negative verdict will create a fissure in the church between its Jewish and Gentile wings.
~ Douglas Moo
II. Unyielding in the Confrontation (2:3-5)
Such people were no doubt genuinely shocked by the carefree attitude of Gentile Christians to the law of Moses, their own most treasured possession. It is highly likely that they thought themselves to be enriching the spiritual lives of Gentile converts immeasurably. But from his own experience Paul knew that this action was but a return to slavery. True, the Galatians had not been slaves to this particular Jewish system before: as pagans, they had had their own system of religion and morals. But a change of masters is not an escape from slavery: that is Paul’s whole point.
~ Alan Cole
Let this be then the conclusion of all together, that we will suffer our goods to be taken away, our name, our life, and all that we have; but the Gospel, our faith, Jesus Christ, we will never suffer to be wrested from us. And cursed be that humility which here abaseth and submitteth itself.
~ Martin Luther
Three Reasons Why We Are Vulnerable to False Teaching
Ignorance
Idolatry
Indifference
III. Impartial to the Confirmation (2:6-10)
Gospel Transformation
Galatians 1:10-24
Gospel Transformation
galatians 1:10-24
Main Idea: The gospel completely transforms us so that we now live for God’s glory and approval alone.
I. The Necessity of Grace (1:11-14)
His gospel, which was being called in question by the Judaizers and deserted by the Galatians, was neither an invention (as if his own brain had fabricated it), nor a tradition (as if the church had handed it down to him), but a revelation (for God had made it known to him)... The magnitude of his claim is remarkable. He is affirming that his message is not his message but God’s message, that his gospel is not his gospel but God’s gospel, that his words are not his words but God’s words.
~ John Stott, The Message of Galatians
In order to back up this claim, Paul reminds the Galatians of his unlikely conversion story. His former life looked like a fanatical commitment to:
Persecuting the church of God “violently” trying to “destroy” it (cf. Acts 8:1-3, 22:4-5, 26:9-11)
Advancing quickly in Judaism as a Pharisee, “zealous” for the tradition of his fathers (cf. Phil. 3:3-6; Acts 22:3, 26:5)
II. The Experience of the Gospel (1:15-16a)
As Paul recounts his incredible conversion experience (cf. Acts 9:1-6), he emphasizes the Lord’s work of:
Setting him apart before he was born (Jer. 1:5; Isa. 49:1; Lk. 1:13-17; Eph. 1:3ff)
Calling him by his grace (2 Tim. 1:9; 1 Thess. 5:23-24)
Revealing Christ to him externally (Acts 9:4-5) and internally (2 Cor. 4:6)
In the story of freedom, God is always the subject; humans, always the object. If we’re to live free, it will be because of God’s actions, not because of our own will or disposition or politics or intelligence…. Something is done to us or for us before we do anything. We are acted on before we act. Life isn’t naturally produced by us; it’s supernaturally provided for us.
~ Eugene Peterson, Traveling Light: Galatians and the Free Life in Christ
Christianity is not something you take up. Christianity is something that takes you up. Christianity is not so much something you decide on. Christianity is something that happens to you.
~ Tim Keller, “Why They Glorified God”
1 Timothy 1:15–16: The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
III. The Approval of God (1:16b-24, 10)
The next season of Paul’s life confirmed God’s divine calling and commissioning “in order that he might preach [Christ] among the Gentiles.” This is seen as Paul traveled to:
Arabia for 3 years (Acts 9:23-25; 2 Cor. 11:32-33)
Jerusalem for 15 days, meeting with Peter & James (Acts 9:26)
Syria and Cilicia, remaining “unknown” to the churches in Judea (Acts 9:30)
Paul is contending that his gospel ministry was independent from but not in contradiction to the Jerusalem Apostles. Jesus was building his church and communicating his gospel of grace through both Paul and the other Apostles.
Paul’s testimony and our testimony ought to produce the same response:
Within us: “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (1:10)
In others: “They glorified God because of me.” (1:24)
The primary reality of which we have to take account in seeking for a Christian impact on public life is the Christian congregation. How is it possible that the gospel should be credible that people should come to believe that the power which has the last word in human affairs is represented by a man hanging on a cross? . . . The only answer, the only hermeneutic of the gospel, is a congregation of men and women who believe it and live by it.
~ Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society
No Other Gospel
Galatians 1:1-9
No Other Gospel
galatians 1:1-9
Paul is not tolerant when people he loves are being told lies about God, because he knows that such lies will reduce their lives, impair the vitality of their spirits, imprison them in old guilts, and cripple them with anxieties and fears.
~ Eugene Peterson, Traveling Light: Galatians and the Free Life in Christ
Main Idea: We must hold fast to the gospel of Christ, who alone secures grace and peace for us.
I. The Messenger of the Gospel (1:1-2)
Paul begins his letter to the churches in Galatia by asserting his apostleship; the “apostles” were a special group (including the Twelve plus a few others) commissioned personally by the risen Lord Jesus to serve a foundational role in the church.
Eph. 2:20: [the church is] “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.”
Why did Paul thus assert and defend his apostleship?... It was because the gospel that he preached was at stake. If Paul were not an apostle of Jesus Christ, then men could, and no doubt would, reject his gospel. This he could not bear. For what Paul spoke was Christ’s message on Christ’s authority.
~ John Stott, The Message of Galatians: Only One Way
II. The Message of the Gospel (1:3-5)
Paul “bookends” his letter (1:3, 6:18) to the Galatians with a reminder of grace. God’s grace toward the undeserving is at the heart of the message of the gospel (John 1:14, 16), and is the only basis for ‘peace’ with God.
The bridge from grace (1:3) to glory (1:5) is the finished work of Jesus Christ through the cross and resurrection (1:1), who “gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age.” All of this was “according to the will of our God and Father,” foretold in the OT Scriptures.
III. The Matchlessness of the Gospel (1:6-9)
Paul is astonished that the Galatians were so quickly at risk of ‘deserting:’
What Paul had taught them (the gospel)
Who had saved them (God himself)
How he had saved them (in the grace of Christ)
The rest of Galatians indicates that these false teachers were “distorting [lit. ‘reversing’] the gospel of Christ” by contending that Gentile Christians must accept circumcision (5:11-12, 6:12-13; cf. Acts 15:1), become culturally Jewish (4:9-10), and observe the Mosaic Law (3:10-11) in order to truly be a part of the people of God.
If the Galatians accepted this teaching, they would actually be “reversing” the gospel, because ‘another gospel’ is not another gospel; to “add” to the gospel is actually to subtract, and an ‘almost gospel’ is no gospel at all.
There is a clear and present danger that the devil may take away from us the pure doctrine of faith and may substitute for it the doctrines of works and of human traditions. It is very necessary, therefore, that this doctrine of faith be continually read and heard in public… There is no middle ground between Christian righteousness and works-righteousness. There is no other alternative to Christian righteousness but works righteousness; if you do not build your confidence on the work of Christ you must build your confidence on your own work.
~ Martin Luther, Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians
Cling tightly [to the gospel] with both your hands; when they fail, catch hold with your teeth; and if they give way, hang on by your eyelashes!
~ Charles Spurgeon
Taste and See
Psalm 34
Taste and see
Psalm 34
Main Idea: We can taste and see the Lord’s goodness by looking to Christ in every circumstance.
I. Recounting the Lord’s Praise (34:1-3)
David’s first impulse after experiencing divine deliverance (cf. 1 Sam. 21:10ff) is to call God’s people to worship the Lord together. This corporate worship involves blessing, praising, boasting, hearing, magnifying, and exalting the Lord.
I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with.
~ C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms
The key to enjoying the Lord through corporate worship is humility (34:2); the humble are easily edified and make their boast and exaltation in the Lord, not themselves. “Who can make God great but those who feel themselves to be little?” (Charles Spurgeon)
Hebrews 10:23–25: Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
II. Remembering the Lord’s Provision (34:4-14)
Rather than trying to provide for himself or take credit for his own deliverance, David acknowledges the Lord’s provision. He tells us the Lord provides for his people through:
1. Saving (34:4-7)
Rather than carrying the weight of our suffering, anxieties, and fears ourselves, those who look to God are made “radiant” (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18) as He protects us on all sides (2 Kings 6:15-17).
2. Satisfying (34:8-10)
Those who “taste and see” the goodness of the Lord and humbly take “refuge” in him will “lack no good thing” (cf. Matt. 5:6). “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” ~ Augustine, Confessions
3. Sustaining (34:11-14; cf. 1 Pet. 3:8-17)
The Bible isn’t interested in whether we believe in God or not. It assumes that everyone more or less does. What it is interested in is the response we have to him: Will we let God be as he is, majestic and holy, vast and wondrous, or will we always be trying to whittle him down to the size of our small minds, insist on confining him within the boundaries we are comfortable with, and refuse to think of him other than in images that are convenient to our lifestyle?... To guard against such blasphemous chumminess with the Almighty, the Bible talks about the fear of the Lord – not to scare us but to bring us to awesome attention before the overwhelming grandeur of God, to shut up our whining and chattering and stop our running and fidgeting so that we can really see him as he is and listen to him as he speaks.
~ Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
III. Recognizing the Lord’s Presence (34:15-22)
Though affliction will come upon both the righteous and the wicked, the Lord has promised to be near His people, especially when they are “brokenhearted” over life’s circumstances or “crushed in spirit” over their own sin (cf. Matt. 5:3.).
When pain and suffering come upon us, we finally see not only that we are not in control of our lives but that we never were. Over the years, I have come to realize that adversity… pulled those who already believed into a deeper experience of God’s reality, love, and grace. One of the main ways we move from abstract knowledge about God to a personal encounter with him as a living reality is through the furnace of affliction… Believers understand many doctrinal truths in the mind, but those truths seldom make the journey down into the heart except through disappointment, failure, and loss... the great theme of the Bible itself is how God brings fullness of joy not just despite but through suffering, just as Jesus saved us not in spite of but because of what he endured on the cross. There is a peculiar, rich, and poignant joy that seems to come to us only through and in suffering.
~ Tim Keller, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering
When these promises feel too good to be true or out of reach, we must look to the finished work of Christ. Though it appeared God the Father was absent as Christ was crucified, his intact bones (John 19:36) are a reminder of God’s steadfast love and deliverance, so that “none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.”
How God Shepherds His Flock
Psalm 23
HOW god shepherds his flock
Psalm 23
I. God’s Flock Has All of God for Every Need
Psalm 23:1: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
II. God Restores His Anxious and Drained Flock
Psalm 23:2-3a: He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.
III. God Grows His Flock on Unnatural Paths
Psalm 23:3b: He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
IV. God Secures His Frightened Flock
Psalm 23:4: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
V. God Comforts His Flock with His Table
Psalm 23:5: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
VI. God Comforts His Flock with His Table
Psalm 23:6: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Our Gracious God
Psalm 41
OUr gracious God
Psalm 41
Main Idea: In Jesus, we can look to the Lord’s promises and make them our own.
I. The Position of Promise (v. 1-3)
Psalm 41:1-3: Blessed is the one who considers the poor!
In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness you restore him to full health.
The Psalms are not trite, superficial answers to life's deepest problems. The Psalms take us deep down into the pain of this life, and then they take us up again into divine renewal and true hope. We see this when verse 10 begins by saying "But ..." David's pains are not the sum total of his life. The deepest reality of his life is the promises of God.
~Dane Ortlund, In The Lord I Take Refuge
Psalm 41 is the last psalm in book one of the Psalter (Psalms 1-41). While it is similar in content to Psalm 6 and Psalm 38 with cries of deliverance from illness or sickness, its opening line is clearly a call back to the first Psalm. They both open with the phrase “Blessed is…”
Psalm 1:1-2: Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
While Psalm 1 pronounces blessing in those who obey God’s law, keeping them from trouble, Psalm 41 pronounces blessing on the weak who are in trouble by assuring them of rescue.
~ John Goldingay, Baker Commentary
We see David's position of declaring the LORD’s promises in his time of need in 5 distinct ways. These are all “theological truths” that David believes about the LORD. He says that the LORD:
Delivers (v. 1)
Protects (v. 2)
Keeps (v. 2)
Sustains (v. 3)
Restores (v. 3)
Hebrew 5:12-14: For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
1 Thessalonians 4:3: For this is the will of God, your sanctification.
II. A Personal Prayer (v. 4-10)
The power of verse 4 in this psalm cannot be understated. David turns impersonal principles about God, into personal prayer and applies the theological principles to his own life. His prayer echoes Psalm 32 where he turns to the Lord in prayer and acknowledges his sin to the Lord and confesses it. It is this confession of guilt that paradoxically and mysteriously turns him, and us, from betrayer to benefactor.
Your accuser goes on scoring points off you, as long as you insist on making your own excuses. So do you want to ensure that your accuser—the devil, that is—suffers and groans? Do what you have heard, do what you have learned, and say to your God, “I myself have said it, Lord. Have mercy on me, heal my soul, since I have sinned against you.” “I myself,” he says, “I myself have said it; not the devil, not luck, not fate. I myself have said it. I’m not making excuses, on the contrary, I accuse myself. I have said it. Have mercy on me, heal my soul.
~ Augustine
While David is the author of this Psalm, we can read it in light of the hope and truth of the Gospel as Jesus has revealed. Therefore, we have two pictures in mind. The type and their fulfillment (antitype). David was a type of Christ. David’s enemies, in particular Ahithophel (2 Samuel 15:12), were a type of the betrayer who would come (Judas). We can be confident of this because Jesus quotes this verse (41:9) in reference to Judas’ betrayal of him (John 13:18-26; Matthew 26:21-30).
It may seem too rudimentary, too simple, but what better plea can one bring in all our own guilt or in the face of the malice, hatred, and betrayal of others to a God who already has a grace-bent to His nature?
~ Dale Ralph Davis, My Exceeding Joy
III. The Power of Grace (v. 11-13)
Psalm 41:11-13: By this I know that you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.
The 'integrity' bothers some readers. After all, didn't David confess sin in verse 4? But 'integrity' is not sinlessness nor perfection; he only claims that this is the overall bent of his life-that he has not turned away from his devotion to Yahweh. And what has he found? That Yahweh has 'held on to' His servant. How much more secure can one be?
~ Dale Ralph Davis, My Exceeding Joy
John 10: 27-28: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.