The Patience of God

The Glory of God in Exodus 34:6–7

We recently had the privilege of listening to Pastor Wil preach a sermon from portions of Exodus 33 and 34. In those two chapters of Exodus, we see something remarkable. Moses requests to see God’s glory. What an bold request! God goes on to tell Moses that if he were to see the fullness of his glory, it would kill him (Exodus 33:20). And if this request wasn’t remarkable enough for you, God’s response is even more staggering. God actually shows Moses his glory. He does so by putting Moses in the cleft of a rock to guard him, covering Moses with his hand, and passing by him so that Moses can see his back (Exodus 33:21–23; 34:5–7). And when God passes by Moses, he doesn’t pass by him in silence. God proclaims his name, “The LORD” or “YHWH”, and makes known who he is. Exodus 34:6–7 describes the scene

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

In his sermon, Pastor Wil noted that you could write a book on each of these attributes that God proclaims about himself. Indeed, there have been books written on the attributes of God. Here, I aim to write a little about one particular attribute—God’s patience.

 

The Patience of God

In Exodus 34:6, God proclaims, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger…”. God is slow to anger. The literal translation of the Hebrew here is long of nose. This is quite the word picture isn’t it? It conveys the idea that God’s divine wrath takes a long time to ever manifest in his divine judgment.[1] In other words, God’s patience, his forbearance, his long-suffering is inexhaustible. The very just judgment that God promises to bring about a few words later in Exodus 34:7 is stayed for a time because of his slowness to anger, because of his patience.

We benefit from God’s divine patience in at least two ways. First, we benefited from God’s patience before we were in Christ—while we were actively rebelling against him. Second, we benefit from God’s patience while we are in Christ—while we continue to struggle with our sinful flesh. In short, God’s patience means our initial salvation and our ongoing sanctification. How can a just God afford to be so patient with rebellious, treasonous sinners? Jesus won this inexhaustible patience of God for each of us, who are in him, through the cross.

 

Before We Were in Christ

God has been unbelievably patient to humanity as a whole. God could have wiped out humanity because of our sinful rebellion against him, and he would have been just in doing so. But God has patiently endured humanity’s sinful rebellion in order to save his people. Second Peter 3:7–9 speaks of this reality:

But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

God has set aside a day of judgment for the ungodly (2 Peter 3:7). And God is not just dragging his feet with regard to that judgment—“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness” (2 Peter 3:9). Rather, God is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9). God’s patience toward humanity comes to a laser focus. God isn’t just patient to humanity in general. God has been patient with you personally. If you are in Christ, you are in Christ because God was patient with your rebellion and your unbelief. And then by his effectual grace, he awakened faith in your heart. Recording artist and author Shai Linne captures this reality wonderfully in his song “Lord of Patience”:

Lord, we worship You, we know that everything we owe You
And when we reflect on the time before we came to know You
How we were unbelievers committing tons of treason
We had a hundred reasons why we wouldn’t come to Jesus…

We were active in our rebellion against the God of the universe. But he remained patient in order to save. Linne goes on:

…So after waiting with patience as we would run from You
You activated our faith so that we would come to You
Your law exposed our sin so that we would know the danger
And take refuge in the Holy Savior who’s slow to anger
And as our teary eyes beheld the cross of our King
We understood the true meaning of long-suffering
Who can record Your graces? Adored through scores of ages
Your reward is the nations, for You are the Lord of patience

God’s patience means your salvation.

 

While We Are in Christ

But God has not only been patient with us before we were in Christ. God continues to be patient with us while we are in Christ. We as Christians still battle the flesh:

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do (Galatians 5:17).

And occasionally sinful flesh and unbelief get the upper-hand (Romans 7:19–20).[2] Yet, even in the midst of our stumbling as Christians, even in the midst of our sinfulness that breaks through more often than we would like, God continues to display his marvelous patience toward us. And his divine patience toward those not in Christ and those in Christ is meant to lead us to the same thing: repentance. Indeed, his patience and kindness is what should move us to repentance:

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4).

So even in Christ, God continues to show his marvelous patience toward us. Again, Shai Linne:

And now that we’re in Christ, the thing that is amazing to us
Is that You still continue to display Your patience to us
Through all our stumbles and falls and our idolatry
Through all our grumbling and all of our hypocrisy…

Though we are imperfect now, through Jesus by the power for the Holy Spirit, God patiently sanctifies and perfects us. And so we actively lean into that promise. Shai Linne continues:

…Oh Father, help us please! We truly need Your Holy Spirit!
He is the only Person who can shape this fruit within us
We praise the risen Savior who is able to present us
Without an ounce of blame, with zero doubt or shame
Lord Jesus, down You came from heaven to announce Your reign
In the hearts of Your people, and now we have the truth
And gladly choose to praise You for all of Your attributes
Who can record Your graces? Adored through scores of ages
Your reward is the nations, for You are the Lord of patience

God’s patience means your sanctification.

 

The Lord of Patience

How can God afford to be so patient toward us and still be the God of justice? God is inexhaustibly patient toward us because Jesus secured God’s patience for us by absorbing all of God’s righteous wrath on our behalf. The cross of Jesus makes God’s patience with us possible, and it should move us to avail ourselves of his patience and strive toward greater Christlikeness. We do not look at God’s patient kindness and think, “This means I have a license to sin.” This is the sure mark of impending judgment (Hebrews 10:26–29).  Rather, when behold God’s patience, we see nothing less than the cross of Christ. When we behold God’s patience in the cross of Christ, we are moved to come to him in repentance. And there in that place, in the face of our crucified, risen savior, we behold the glory of the LORD even more clearly than Moses. In the person of Jesus we see the Lord of patience.

[1] See Jason DeRouchie, Lecture 4 Exodus (Jason S. DeRouchie: 2022), https://jasonderouchie.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Lect-04-Exodus.pdf

[2] There is disagreement whether Romans 7:14–25 describes the pre-Christians life or the Christians life. I am persuaded that it describes the experience of Christian wrestling with sinful flesh at times. This doesn’t mean it describes the “totality of the Christian experience.” For a helpful discussion see Piper on this point at https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/does-romans-7-describe-a-christian

How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church

[In Let the Nations Be Glad, John Piper writes that worship is the fuel of missions, because “you cannot commend what you do not cherish.” A new book by Daniel Hames and Michael Reeves – God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church (Crossway, 2022) – elaborates on that idea. Here are some excerpts, with page references – Coty]

Our aim is to set before your eyes God as he truly is: God who is so full of life and goodness that he loves to be known; not as a campaign to impose himself on us or on the world but to give himself and share his own life with the world. (21)

The glory of God is personal: the Father’s radiance is the Son. It is God the Son who comes to be with his people and, in doing so, shines upon us the truth of the Father. (31)

“The love of God does not find but creates that which is pleasing to it.”[Luther] In his love, God gives to us what we need to know him and have fellowship with him. It is all by his grace and does not rely on us in any way…. God truly loves us sinners and has done everything necessary to redeem us and bring us to himself. He is not interested in our intelligence, morality, or abilities so much as our loving trust and reliance on him in his goodness. (45)

The glorious fullness of the living God revealed in Jesus sets him apart from all other gods. His innermost being is a sun of light, life, and warmth, always shining out: radiant and outgoing. Other gods, however, are always pits of grasping neediness. (66)

The human soul is like an open throat. For you to be a “living being” is to be like a newly hatched chick in the nest. Not yet able to fly or hunt for yourself, you open your beak wide and cry out for the provision of your parents. You are created to desire and crave—and to have poured into you from outside—life and sustenance, whether physical or spiritual. For this reason, the very soul of a person can “thirst for God” like a deer panting for water (Ps. 42:2) or a man in a “dry and weary land where there is no water” (Ps. 63:1). To be human is to be a thirsting and hungry throat: to rely on, receive from, and eat and drink from the living God. The Lord has made us this way to show that he alone is the source of life and that we must go to him for it. (69-70)

When we set our hearts and hopes on anything that is not the living God, we are thrown back on ourselves. Gods that cannot speak will need us to find words. Gods that cannot carry us will need us to pick ourselves up. Gods that cannot freely love will need us to make ourselves loveable. Whether our god is reputation, possessions, or relationships, we will be let down. Exhausting our own supplies, and with no supernatural help from such non-Gods as these, we will become as demanding and oppressive as they appear to us. (71)

Having turned away from the God of glorious fullness [in the Fall], [humanity] condemned themselves to chase the fullness they now lacked in created things that could never meet their needs and desires…. Eve thought that eating the fruit would make her “like God”—something more than she already was. Yet, in the eating, she and her husband became far less than they were. They had, of course, been created to be like God in the first place, but now, heeding the whisper of the serpent, they were quite unlike God…. How the mighty had fallen! This was a fall not only from moral innocence and purity but from fullness and glory (75-76)

Given all we have seen, it is no wonder that our culture is overrun with issues surrounding identity. Since the garden, we do not participate in the fullness of God’s life, his image in us has been vandalized, and we are consumed with self-love. Sinners do not know who, why, or what they are. Many people want to improve themselves but simply do not know what “mended” or whole people would look like. Sensing our brokenness, we make wild stabs at solutions: political activism, radical moral codes, mindfulness, self-improvement, dieting fads, and so on. Increasingly, self-assertion is seen as the key to real happiness, and so, in the brave quest for “authenticity,” almost anything is to be applauded and honored. We recognize that some do not consider themselves beautiful, some are compelled to lie in their job applications, and others feel ill at ease with their biological sex. The answer to all this, we are led to believe, is to look in the mirror and to reach deep within to retrieve our “true self,” increasingly accept it, and let it shine. However quirky, socially unacceptable, or controversial our actions, we are encouraged to be “true to ourselves,” and those who do so most tenaciously are lionized. “You do you,” says the world. This self-assertion is a kind of mission, but one driven by the empty self and not by the glorious God of heaven. It reaches out into the world not to give but to take. Ours is a society utterly persuaded by this lie and largely unable to see the truth: all the talk of looking within and finding “it” within yourself will never solve the problem, because that is the problem. We are simply not designed for incurvature. (85-86)

Evangelism is, by definition, the good news of Christ, not only a warning about the last day. When it comes to motivating Christians to mission, the gospel that moves the missionary must be the same one he or she expects to win the hearts of the lost. If we burden Christians with the guilt of abandoning people to hell, it will be the message of guilt and hell they will pass on, rather than the message of the Savior of sinners and conqueror of hell. Jesus Christ will not be the jewel of the gospel they tell, but only the means to escape a terrible end. Not only this, but the resulting converts will have been motivated by their preexisting instinct for self-preservation. Disciples who are won not by the glory of the Lord to repentance and faith but by an appeal to their own well-being will continue in exactly the same direction. Their newfound faith will be more about themselves than about Christ. (110)

We may find ourselves emphasizing themes of the gospel like “grace” or “heaven” but not explicitly holding out Christ as the gift and as the treasure of heaven. We may offer the world the hope of transformed lives, healed hurts, and renewed communities, but make Jesus the means to these things rather than the center of them all. These things are blessings of the gospel, but if they are elevated to become its center and our focus, they will become nothing more than substitute gods. (113)

[Quoting Luther] “It is right to call the word of the minister and preacher which he preaches God’s word, for the office is not the minister’s and the preacher’s, but God’s; and the word that he preaches is likewise not the minister’s and preacher’s, but God’s.”… This could not be more astounding. In the word of God, even when it is spoken by fallible and sinful humans, God truly gives himself. This means that in our proclamation of Christ in sermons, evangelistic messages, and even conversations about the gospel, Christ the Word is present in power. God is speaking his own Word; God is enlightening with his own light; God is offering himself to those who hear. (116-117)

If God seems to us to be empty and needy, we will serve him with empty hearts, finally taking what we need from the world rather than freely blessing it. What we truly worship and cherish will, for good or ill, be revealed in our mission. It is possible to look completely theologically orthodox while doing this kind of mission. We may doggedly cling to the inerrancy of Scripture, the uniqueness of Christ, the doctrine of hell, and substitutionary atonement while—all the while—exposing the world to an undelightful God. The God we know—or think we know—is the God we will show to the world. If we ourselves do not constantly revel in his free justification of sinners, his self-giving love, and his Son poured out to death for us while we were still his enemies, then we will be ghostly, unhappy Christians holding out a black hole of a god to people already dying. (123)

[For those who go out with the gospel today,] considering the contours of the biblical narrative of God’s mission is of great value. Knowing the history of the church’s missionary efforts is inspiring. Understanding the latest theory and literature in missiology is enriching. But beneath all these is the irreplaceable foundation of knowing and enjoying God. (131)

God’s plan for “the coming ages” is not to surprise us with a glory other than his Son’s but to take us ever deeper into “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7). In other words, in the gospel’s promised future, we will eternally enjoy the very glory that fuels our lives and mission today. (144)

Since we are sure of our future in the eternal embrace of Jesus Christ, we are people of hope. In our mission today, we invite the sinful, broken, and empty not to the hope of “heaven” as an ethereal afterlife but to the beauty, fullness, and glory of the Lamb who was slain for us. His delight is to fill his people with joy in him both now and forever. (145)

The cross is not simply the mechanism by which we receive a selection box of blessings of the new creation: the cross shows us exactly what sort of blessing this is. For the glory of God that will fill the earth at the end is the same glory we see in the death of Jesus. Specifically, the self-giving glory of the cross is the key to understanding the glory that is to come. (148-149)

The future we have to offer to our friends and neighbors is a world of unshakeable, unquenchable love. Can you imagine a life where you know, without any creeping anxiety, that you are perfectly and totally loved by God? Where you love him in return without any whisper of shame or inadequacy? A life where you are entirely secure in the love of those around you and are able to love them all without feeling exposed or vulnerable? Where you love people with such a generous freedom that you yourself only become more open and lovely? This is life in the glory of God and the light of the Lamb who was slain. (157)

The church’s mission is shaped and driven by the very nature of our God. All that we know of him, however limited by our present ignorance and sin, fills us with joy. Yet our hope of knowing him fully in the age to come can only increase our delight and anticipation, propelling us out into the world in overwhelmed gladness. How can we leave our friends, families, and colleagues in ignorance of the Lord whose purpose for all things is so good? Knowing his love that has reached out to us—and will one day reach out and fill all the world—what else can we do but reach out with that same love today? Gazing on the glory of the Lamb who was slain for us, and knowing that this is the glory that will shine in all the world, we may well sing with Wesley, ’Tis all my business here below to cry, “Behold the Lamb!” (160)

Be Confident Because of God’s Passion for His Glory

Is God’s passion for His glory an encouragement to you?

Scripture tells us again and again that God is determined to magnify His fame; all peoples must recognize His holy character. Isaiah 48:9-11 is particularly explicit:

“For my name’s sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.”

The New Testament is just as clear. We are to do good works for the glory of the Father (Matthew 5:16). Lazarus was sick and a man was born blind for the glory of God (John 11:4, 9:3). We could list a hundred other examples.

Upon seeing this truth, many become uneasy. For we do not like people who magnify their own glory. Such people are uncaring and inconsiderate, self-absorbed and self-promoting. Do we really want to follow a God like that?

The prophet Samuel helps us to see that we need not have such uneasiness. Indeed, God’s passion for His glory is the basis for our hope!

Recall the setting of 1 Samuel 12. No Israelite has served as king in the years after God brought His people out of Egypt. Instead, God Himself has been their king. Yet the people have asked God to make them like other nations, providing a king for them. God acquiesces; following God’s instruction, Samuel anoints Saul king. The prophet lets the people know, however, that their request is a rejection of God, and thus is sinful.

The people therefore ask:

“Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” (1 Samuel 12:19)

Samuel responds:

“Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself.” (1 Samuel 12:20-22)

This expanded paraphrase attempts to highlight Samuel’s logic:

You indeed have sinned. You deserve God’s judgment; indeed you deserve His rejection. But remember how you became His people! He did not choose you because you were obedient or powerful; He made you His people because it pleased Him to do so. That has not changed! He promised that you are His – and He is faithful to His every promise, for He is passionate for His glory. He always acts consistently with His character, so that His glory might be displayed in all the earth. Therefore, acknowledge your sin – and then serve the LORD with all your heart! You belong to Him – so repent! Worship Him! Don’t turn away from Him, turning aside to other gods, or to anything else that you think might benefit you! None will! You belong to Him! In Him alone will you find joy and fulfillment and peace! So serve Him alone.

Friends, God’s reputation is all wrapped up with His forgiving and perfecting His people – that is, all who come to Him through Jesus. It is God’s good pleasure to act this way, and thus to display His mercy, grace, love, and justice to the entire created order. God’s passion for His glory is thus for our good, for our joy (unlike the passion of any human for his own glory).

So delight in the God-centeredness of God – particularly when you sin! He will never forsake His people, for His great name’s sake.

Know You are Loved

See what great love the Father has given us
that we should be called God’s children– and we are!
(1 John 3:1 CSB)

This is the Good News – that the Father loves us. That we are precious to Him. That we are in His intimate family. That His love is essential to His character, and thus will never change.

If you are in Christ Jesus, if you believe in Him as your Savior, your Lord, your Treasure, if you love Christ Jesus – that is the result of the Father’s love for you. “We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19). “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8).

We must remember His love every day – His love that never changes, His love that never ends, His love that is not dependent on anything we say, on anything we do, on anything we accomplish.

What happens when we forget His love?

  • When criticized, we either are defensive (feeling that if the criticism is correct, we won’t be loved), or are controlled by the critic (trying to win back his love by changing our behavior).
  • When feeling depressed and hopeless, we either plaster a smile on our faces, stifling the feelings, or turn away from God, thinking He has let us down.
  • When someone wrongs us, we either aim to convince the perpetrator of his sin, or pretend we’re ok and live a normal life outwardly while bleeding internally.
  • When gossiped about, we either wonder if we deserve it, or frantically search social media to track the terrible things being said about us and then do whatever we can to get even.
  • When tired, we either gut it out and get more and more tired, or try to create our own rest, getting angry and annoyed with those who interfere.

All these negative responses come from letting our feelings drive us – feelings of hurt, of inferiority, of inadequacy, of exhaustion, of depression. Jesus never says, “Your feelings will set you free.” Instead, He says, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32). The truth that sets us free includes the truth of the Father’s love for us. When we know we are loved – when we know that the Father has declared us righteous, has justified us completely by His grace through faith in Jesus, and thus He accepts us and sees us as His own precious possession – then we are free from the chains that compel us to those negative responses. Confident in His love, we can respond differently:

  • We don’t have to let the face of the criticizer or oppressor dominate our thoughts. We can seek the Father’s loving face – and respond out of that security.
  • We don’t have to pretend everything is fine when hurting. We can cry out, like a little child with her daddy. We can weep and mourn – while holding on to the One Who loves us.
  • We can listen to critics and pray to see what is behind the criticism – yes, what ways we may have failed and need to change by God’s grace, but also what hurts and pains may be motivating the criticism, and thus be able to acknowledge that pain and stand beside the hurting criticizer.
  • We can endure the trials and tribulations of this world, not because tomorrow will be better – it may be worse! – but because nothing can separate us from the Father’s love; He will bring us safely through even the valley of the shadow of death to His heavenly Kingdom, and Jesus will return to reign forever.
  • We can see the troubled Christians around us not as problems to solve, but as others loved by God whom we can help endure in hope until they see Jesus face to face.
  • We can follow our Savior in displaying meekness – which is strength leveraged for the good of another.
  • We can know that when we are wrong or when we sin, we are still loved.

So do you feel hurt? Do you feel despairing? Don’t suppress the feelings – rather, thank God for them. But don’t let those feelings control you. Rather, use the feelings to prompt you to remember the truth of God’s love.

That’s how Jeremiah responded to feelings of despair (read Lamentations 3:17-18 to hear the depth of his feelings). In the midst of horrors far beyond what we have experienced, the prophet says:

This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:21-24).

Call to mind the Father’s love. Have that hope. Know that love every morning – every beautiful, peaceful sunrise and every horrible, pain-wracked break of day.

Do you wonder if the Father loves you like this? He does, if you are in Christ. Do you then wonder if you are in Christ? If so, come to Him! The only requirement is that you are weary and heavily burdened! (Matthew 11:28). So repent and believe in the Gospel (Mark 1:15).

Friends, in Jesus you are loved. Today. Tomorrow. For all eternity. God is faithful to His character – and thus He is faithful to love us now and forever. Remember that love. Call it to mind. And then bask in that love.

[Beth and I were privileged to take part in the annual Treasuring Christ Together retreat October 19 to 21. I try here to synthesize ideas presented and discussed at the retreat. Several different talks prompted this devotion – including those by Sean Cordell, Lance Parrot, Nathan Knight, Kenny Stokes, and Tim Cain. Anything you think particularly well said probably did not originate with me! Unless noted, Scriptures are ESV.]

 

 

What God Tells Us About Himself 6,800 Times

[From Providence by John Piper (Crossway, 2020), p.90-92. Piper is speaking of the goal of God’s providence in the history of the exodus. Join us for our study of providence Thursday evenings, 7:30-8:30 via Zoom. The preparation guide is available here (a pdf file) – Coty]

God’s name is a message. And the message is about how he intends to be known. Every time his name appears—all 6,800 times—he means to remind us of his utterly unique being. As I have pondered the meaning of the name Yahweh, built on the phrase “I am who I am” and pointing to God’s absolute being, I see at least ten dimensions to its meaning: (more…)

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

“A mighty fortress is our God – a bulwark never failing.” Martin Luther wrote those words (in German) as well as the tune we use around 1528. This was a time of great danger. It seemed as if the leaders of the Reformation could be killed at any moment – and what would happen to the cause then?

Luther’s partner, Philip Melanchthon, was particularly worried. Luther responded in a letter dated June 27, 1530:

With all my heart I hate those cares by which you state that you are consumed. They rule your heart . . . by reason of the greatness of your unbelief…. If our cause is false, let us recant. But if it is true, why should we make Him a liar who has given us such great promises and who commands us to be confident and undismayed?…

What good do you expect to accomplish by these vain worries of yours? What can the devil do more than slay us? Yes, what? …

I pray for you very earnestly, and I am deeply pained that you keep sucking up cares like a leech and thus rendering my prayers vain. Christ knows whether it comes from stupidity or the Spirit but I for my part am not very much troubled about our cause…. God who is able to raise the dead is also able to uphold his cause when it is falling or to raise it up again when it has fallen…. If we are not worthy instruments to accomplish his purpose, he will find others. If we are not strengthened by his promises, where in all the world are the people to whom these promises apply? But more of this at another time. After all, my writing this is like pouring water in to the sea.

We in the US do not face death for the Gospel. But life often does seem out of control – particularly today, with so much uncertainty about the spread of COVID-19, and the economic effects of the steps taken to limit its spread. It can seem as if random chance is harming those around us and taking aim at us – or even worse, as if Satan himself is advancing his cause and will overwhelm God’s people.

Psalm 46 is written for times like 1530 – and for times like 2020.

We don’t know when this psalm was first written and recited. Some have speculated that it was written after the Assyrian king Sennacharib besieged Jerusalem – and God slaughtered 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in their sleep. Whatever Whether the historical occasion, the Kingdom seemed to be in grave danger from a powerful military force – so powerful that there seemed to be no hope – and God delivered His people.

We’ll consider verses 1-7 together under two headings, and then verses 8-11 under a third.

Is Everything Falling Apart?

In 1530, Melanchthon worried that everything was falling apart. Today, the coronavirus leads to similar feelings.

The psalmist pictures those feelings. In verse 2 he speaks of “the earth giving way,” and “the mountains being moved into the sea.” Indeed, the waters of the sea roar and foam, and the mountains themselves are fearful, for they “tremble at its swelling.”

To understand these expressions, it’s helpful to remind ourselves of the creation account in Genesis 1. Before God works, darkness is over the face of the deep waters. There is nothing but water. On the third day, God gathers the waters into one place, the sea, and commands dry land to appear.

So note: in Psalm 46 God’s work is being reversed! The mountains – the dry land that looks most powerful, most secure – are moved back into the sea. God ordered creation; now disorder seems to reign.

That’s what’s happening with the natural order. What about the political order?

Verse 6 tells us, “The nations rage, the kingdoms totter.” In Hebrew, the word translated “totter” is the same word translated “moved” in verse 2. The physical order is being moved and shaken, and thus is falling apart; just so with the political order.

When things seem to fall apart, when all that we’ve thought firms, secure, rock-solid begins to shake and totter, when it seems as if no one is in control, that danger is all around, we are tempted to fear. Thus the psalmist exhorts us in verse 2, “We will not fear.”

He then grounds that exhortation in the character and promises of God.

God Secures His People

In the creation account, God imposed order on the chaotic world. In Psalm 46, God shows His people that while all may appear to be returning to chaos, He still rules. He still governs. And He secures His people

Verses 1-7 tell us of three ways that God secured His people at that time – ways that He continues to secure His people today:

First: God is with us!

This is the primary message of the entire psalm.

  • He is our refuge – that is, He shields us from danger.
  • He is our strength, empowering us in weakness.
  • He is not only a help, but a present help, right beside us, in our presence; He never leaves us nor forsakes us.

To underline this point, verse 11 repeats verse 7:

The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our fortress.

With Him we are secure. No enemy can scale His walls. No danger can assault this fortress.

Verses 4 and following expand on this image:

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. (Psalm 46:4-5)

Picture a flourishing, vibrant city, surrounded by unassailable walls, with a river flowing through its midst so that there is a continual supply of water. God’s people are the city. God is both the walls surrounding the city and the Protector dwelling in its midst. He helps the city immediately – at the earliest time, at the crack of dawn.

So the first way that God secures His people: He is with us. He is always with us.

The second way that God secures His people: He stabilizes us.

Remember, verse 2 speaks of the mountains being moved into the sea, and verse 6 (literally) of the kingdoms being moved. But verse 5 tells us that since God is in the midst of the city, “she shall not be moved.”

Even if both the created order and the political order are falling apart – even if a new virus threatens our entire world – God stabilizes and secures His people. They do not slip, do not fall, do not stumble.

The third way that God secures His people: He controls the dangerous forces

Verse 6 is my favorite:

The nations rage, the kingdoms totter, he utters his voice, the earth melts (Psalm 46:6)

In the midst of chaos and political upheaval, in the midst of war and intrigue and betrayal and scheming, in the midst of disease and disorder and disarray, God speaks! And all falls before Him.

  • He doesn’t organize His people into an army to fight the enemy, though He could;
  • He doesn’t send lightning and wind and hail to destroy them, though He could.

Rather – just like during creation week – He speaks – and His will is done. His words all by themselves are mighty and powerful.

So you see: Though all around you may seem out of control, may seem to be falling apart, God is in control. He is never out of control. He only has to speak – and that chaos, that opposition, is over and done with. Thus, when we see chaos continuing, when God’s enemies thrive – this is happening only by His permission, in order to accomplish His good and wise purposes.

He is almighty, He is in control of all. As Luther wrote:

The prince of darkness grim,
We tremble not for him.
His rage we can endure,
For, lo, his doom is sure:
One little word shall fell him. (emphasis added)

With those three ways that God secures His people fresh in our minds, let’s return to the picture of God’s people as a city. The New Testament authors pick up on this idea. In Hebrews 11, the author tells us Abraham followed God’s call, not knowing where he was would lead, for “he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11:10) Like Abraham, all followers of Jesus while in this world are strangers, exiles, refugees, seeking a homeland – and God has indeed prepared for us a city.

Revelation 21 then pictures this city that God has prepared:

I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:2-4)

So Psalm 46 tells us that today God’s people are His city, surrounded by His fortress. He is in their midst. Though powerful forces are arrayed against this city, attacking it, trying to undermine it, God is an impenetrable fortress, and we are secure.

Hebrews and Revelation then picture the future, the new heavens and new earth. God’s people are still a city – but now, God has spoken His word, He has felled the prince of darkness grim, and His enemies are no more. He is with us in the present, and He will be with us for eternity. But in eternity, in the new city, we no longer need His protection. The old order has passed away. He has wiped every tear from our eyes.

So when it seems as if everything is falling apart – from viruses, from wars, from natural disasters – know: God secures His people today, and in eternity He will rid creation of all that is opposed to Him and to His people.

“So Relax! I Am Exalting My Name!”

Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. (Psalm 46:8-11)

We’ll highlight three commands in this final stanza:

First: Look!

The people must come and behold God’s works. He utters His voice – and even the earth melts. So any enemy has no chance whatsoever. Look at His might. Look at His power. Look at how He has acted in the past.

That was encouraging in the psalmist’s day.

But today, when we look, we see God at work doing something much greater than a defeating a huge enemy army.

In Luke 10, Jesus sends the 72 out to proclaim the Gospel. Going in the power of Jesus, the see Him at work – even demons obey them! They return, excited about the authority they exercised.

Jesus responds:

Behold (Look!) I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:19-20).

Furthermore, Jesus says:

Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it (Luke 10:23-24).

We in our day are privileged to see what the people of God have longed to see for millennia: God using people like you and me to reach all the nations with the Gospel. We see peoples who have walked in darkness for thousands of years seeing the great light; we see a plentiful harvest – and so pray for more workers.

So look! Behold! Look at the great victories that God is forging by His Word! Pay attention! His Kingdom must come – and it is coming. The evidence is all around us. And all the seeming chaos in this world is working to bring that end about.

So that’s the first command: Look!

The second command: Recognize!

“Know that I am God” in verse 10 is translated in the NET, “Recognize that I am God.”

That is: “Draw the conclusion from what you see! Recognize who I am and what I am doing. Recognize my sovereign power. I am indeed almighty. I am indeed working for your good. Look – and then recognize Me in all that happens.”

The final command: Relax!

We read in verse 10, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Question: Is God speaking to the warring parties, saying: “Stop your fighting!” That’s what some translators think. But others – particularly the British translator and commentator Alec Motyer – think God is speaking these words to His people: “Be still – don’t be worried – relax – know that I am God.”

I think that’s more consistent with the rest of the psalm. God says, “I am with you. I love you. I am your fortress. I control all these forces arrayed against you. All may appear to be falling apart, but one word of mine will order the chaos and defeat the enemy. For I am doing a great work. My name must be hallowed. I must be exalted among the nations. I must be exalted in all the earth. I must bring those from every tribe, tongue, and nation to myself. And everything that happens is working to that end according to My plan. That is where all is heading, even though you can’t see it. So relax! Trust Me! I am for you! And I am glorifying My Name.”

Conclusion

What concerns you today? The virus? The economy? Your own health? The death of a loved one? The seeming chaos around us, and thus all aspects of the future?

However dark all may appear in your life, it cannot appear darker than the night our Lord was betrayed by a close friend, brought before a show trial, abused, whipped, mocked, and then nailed to a cross where He died.

For the disciples, that was the moment when all their hopes were dashed, when they were the most confused.

Yet: God utters His voice: And Christ conquers death.

  • He rises from the dead!
  • He sits at the right hand of the Father!
  • He reigns in power!
  • He will return with great glory!

Look! God was in control even at the crucifixion. And so: Recognize: He is in control in your darkest hour.

So be among His protected, secure people!

Trust that at that crucifixion Jesus paid the penalty for your sins!

Turn to Him and be saved!

Then: relax. Trust Him. God secures His people. He will be exalted in the earth. It is certain. That day will come – despite viruses, despite Satan, despite our own weakness.

Relax – and know that He is God.

Does Scripture Contradict Itself?

Does Scripture contradict itself?

The Apostle Peter tells us that

no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21)

Or, as the Apostle Paul puts it, “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). If the Bible were simply the writings of dozens of men written over the course of hundreds of years, we would expect some writings to contradict others. But if, as Peter and Paul claim, God is behind everything in the Bible, there should be no genuine contradictions.

Sometimes different authors seem to contradict one another. Most famously, Paul in Romans and James in his letter speak in sharp contrast about justification, faith, and works:

For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (Romans 3:28)

You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. (James 2:24)

But there are issues not only between different authors. Jesus Himself sometimes speaks in seeming contradictions. I well remember as a teen being disturbed when encountering these two statements by our Lord:

For the one who is not against us is for us. (Mark 9:40)

Whoever is not with me is against me (Matthew 12:30a)

Which is it, Jesus? Are those who are neutral for You? Or are the neutral ones against You?

Seeing such examples, we might think the Bible needed a good editor who would clean up such statements, modifying what was written in one place so that it is in accord with what was written in another place. Good publishers check book manuscripts for such issues all the time.

However, the seeming contradictions in Scripture are not limited to those written by different authors. Some are clearly intended by the author of a particular book – for they are placed right next to each other. For example, see Proverbs 26:4-5:

Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

Clearly the compiler of Proverbs is getting at something deeper than giving us a general rule about how we should respond to those who are foolish.

When we begin to look for apparent contradictions, we see them throughout Scripture. Many deal with issues of central importance to the Christian faith, such as our freedom in Christ:

Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. (1 Peter 2:16 NIV)

Or our attitude towards “life:”

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. (Mark 8:35)

Or especially the nature of God, the relationship between God the Father and Jesus:

I and the Father are one. (John 10:30)

Or the interplay between wrath and mercy, judgment and grace:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. … Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3:16, 36)

These and other examples of apparent contradictions right next to each other indicate that these paradoxes are not mistakes in need of a good editor, but intended by the authors of individual books to help communicate their message. And if that is the case, it is reasonable to ask if the Holy Spirit, as the claimed author of the entirety of Scripture, uses the same technique across books of the Bible to communicate His revelation – truths that are best communicated through this literary style.

Such apparent contradictions are hard to understand – but in a book that purports to be the words of the sovereign God of the universe, that is not surprising. Peter himself tells us that:

There are some things in [Paul’s letters] that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. (2 Peter 3:16)

Let us not be among the ignorant and unstable, twisting Scripture and thus headed to destruction. Let us instead follow the exhortation Paul gives Timothy after making some of those hard to understand statements:

Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. (2 Timothy 2:7)

Over the next several months, beginning Sunday January 20, we will do just that: Think over seeming contradictions, all the while praying that the Lord would indeed give us understanding, so that we might know Him better, love Him more, and follow Him more closely. In this sermon series, entitled, “Contradictions? How Delving Into Challenging Topics Unlocks the Riches of God’s Revelation”, we’ll consider issues in salvation and judgment, in living the Christian life, and in understanding who God is. After introducing the series this Sunday, on January 27 we’ll consider the topic of prayer: If God does whatever He pleases, how can our prayers have any impact on what happens?

Join us as we think over what God says. May the promise of 2 Timothy 2:7 prove true, as His Spirit unlocks for us the riches of God’s revelation of Who He is, who we are, and how we can follow Him and grow in Him in this world.

[Biblical citations are from the ESV unless otherwise indicated.]

 

How To Make Your Heart Content

[From The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs (1600-1646). Justin Perry of Covenant Life Church in Tampa quoted the third consideration in his talk this week at the Treasuring Christ Together Network’s pastors and wives retreat.]

CONSIDERATIONS TO CONTENT THE HEART IN ANY AFFLICTED CONDITION.

1) We should consider, in all our wants and inclinations to discontent, the greatness of the mercies that we have, and the meanness of the things we lack. The things we lack, if we are godly, are things of very small moment in comparison to the things we have, and the things we have are things of very great moment. … I will give you the example of a couple of godly men, meeting together, Anthony and Didymus: Didymus was blind, and yet a man of very excellent gifts and graces: Anthony asked him if he was not troubled at his want of sight. He confessed he was, ‘But’, he said, ‘should you be troubled at the want of what flies and dogs have, and not rather rejoice and be thankful that you have what angels have?’ God has given you those good things that make angels glorious; is not that enough for you, though you lack what a fly has? And so a Christian should reason the case with himself: what am I discontented for? I am discontented for want of what a dog may have, what a devil may have, what a reprobate may have; shall I be discontented for not having that, when God has given me what makes angels glorious? ‘Blessed be God,’ says the Apostle in Ephesians 1:3, ‘who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.’ It may be you have not such great blessings in earthly places as some others have, but if the Lord has blessed you in heavenly places, that should content you. There are blessings in heaven, and he has set you here for the present, as it were in heaven, in a heavenly place. The consideration of the greatness of the mercies that we have, and the littleness of the things that God has denied us, is a very powerful consideration to work this grace of contentment. …

3) The consideration of the abundance of mercies that God bestows and we enjoy. It is a saying of Luther: ‘The sea of God’s mercies should swallow up all our particular afflictions.’ Name any affliction that is upon you: there is a sea of mercy to swallow it up. If you pour a pailful of water on the floor of your house, it makes a great show, but if you throw it into the sea, there is no sign of it. So, afflictions considered in themselves, we think are very great, but let them be considered with the sea of God’s mercies we enjoy, and then they are not so much, they are nothing in comparison. …

8) Before your conversion, before God wrought upon your souls, you were contented with the world without grace, though you had no interest in God nor Christ; why cannot you now be contented with grace and spiritual things without the world? If you yourselves were content with the world without grace, there is reason you should be content with grace without the world. Certainly there is infinitely more reason. You see that many men of the world have a kind of contentment; they do not murmur or repine with the world, though they have no interest in God and Christ. Then cannot you have as much contentment with God and Christ, without the world, as they can, with the world, without God and Christ? It is an infinite shame that this should be so.

9) Yea, consider, when God has given you such contentments you have not given him the glory. When God has let you have your heart’s desire, what have you done with your heart’s desire? You have not been any the better for it; it may be you have been worse many times. Therefore let that satisfy you-I meet with crosses, but when I had contentment and all things coming in, God got but little or no glory from me, and therefore let that be a means now to quiet me in my discontented thoughts.

10) Finally, consider all the experience that you have had of God’s doing good to you in the want of many comforts. When God crosses you, have you never had experience of abundance of good in afflictions? It is true, when ministers only tell men that God will work good out of their afflictions, they hear them speak, and think they speak like good men, but they feel little or no good; they feel nothing but pain. But when we cannot only say to you that God has said he will work good out of your afflictions, but we can say to you, that you yourselves have found it so by experience, that God has made former afflictions to be great benefits to you, and that you would not have been without them, or without the good that came by them for a world, such experiences will exceedingly quiet the heart and bring it to contentment. Therefore think thus with yourself: Lord, why may not this affliction work as great a good upon me as afflictions have done before?

The Fight of Faith

The Apostle Paul tells Timothy, “Fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12). An important aspect of this fight is our struggle to believe God – to believe in His character, to believe His promises, to believe that He is in control, to believe that He will bring about the final culmination of all things.

Hebrews 11 gives us a litany of many characters from the Old Testament who did exactly that – who fought the fight to believe and succeeded in that fight. The author cites several we expect: Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses. But consider Hebrews 11:29:

By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned.

When reading the account of the Israelites by the Red Sea, I don’t come away thinking, “Wow! What great faith they had!”

Consider their reaction when they see Pharaoh’s army pursuing them:

“Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” (Exodus 14:11-12)

Now, after God brings them through the sea on dry land yet drowns the pursuing army, they believe:

Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses. (Exodus 14:31)

But only a few days later they grumble against Moses (and, implicitly, against God) when there is no water (Exodus 15:23-24); shortly thereafter they complain more, this time about the lack of food, once again wishing they were back in Egypt:

“Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus 16:3)

The author of Hebrews assures us: They have faith. Exodus, on the other hand, shows us that their faith is fickle and small; perhaps it is only the size of a mustard seed. But the object of their faith is great; indeed, He is almighty. He protects them from the army. He divides the sea. He brings them through on dry land, with the water piled up on each side. Their small and fickle faith in Him is sufficient for them to walk between those mounds of water.

What about you? Does your faith, like theirs, seem fickle and small? Do you trust God one day and then act as if He has no regard for you the next? Are you frightened when you contemplate the dangers and uncertainties ahead?

Take heart from Hebrews 11:29. God’s fulfillment of His promises depends on Him, not on you. Remind yourself of Who He is, of what He has done, of what He has promised. Listen to your brothers and sisters who are there to stand alongside you in this fight of faith. Reflect on His Word day and night.

In this way, fight the good fight of faith, the fight to believe – but don’t focus on your faith. Focus on the God who is the object of your faith. And thus endure to the end – by His power – and be saved – by His mercy.

 

Wrath and Love

Is the God of the Bible a God of wrath? Or is He a God of love?

The answer is yes – the Bible presents Him as both.

We see both pictures of God clearly in the book of Revelation. In chapter 6, the Lamb opens six seals of the scroll of history. After He opens the sixth seal, we read:

Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17)

These rebels against God see Jesus. They see the Lamb who was slain, who by His blood “ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9) – yet they see Him not as loving but as wrathful. They look upon the One who is their only hope – and they only see judgment, they only see wrath. They don’t fall on their knees and worship Him, saying “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:10). Instead, they want to hide from Him.

Later we read that those who remain in rebellion against God despite plagues “cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory” (Revelation 16:9). Without repentance, without the redemption that comes from the Lamb’s blood by grace through faith, they are left with only a “fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:27).

So, yes, God is a God of wrath to those who remain in rebellion against Him. Indeed the Lamb Who was Slain is a God of wrath, a Lion, to those who refuse to bow before Him, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Yet in the immediate context of these pictures of wrath we see pictures of His great love and tender mercies:

“He who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:15b-17).

The first group calls upon rocks and mountains to shelter them from God’s wrath. God Himself shelters the second group. The Lamb Himself shepherds them; He leads them beside still waters; He restores their soul.

The first group looks upon God and the Lamb and sees only wrath. They might even say, “God is wrath.” The second group looks at the same God, the same Lamb, and sees love. They gladly proclaim, “God is love.”

At the Last Day, we all will be in one group or the other. God will be to us either a God of wrath or a God of love. There will be nothing in between. And so the Apostle Paul says, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved!” (Acts 16:31).

The Lord God offers you forgiveness freely. Without cost. You don’t have to clean yourself up to come to Him. Rather, you must admit that you cannot clean yourself up; you must admit that apart from His grace and mercy, rebels like you cannot stand before His holiness.

So end this year of 2017 by repenting of your rebellion. Fall before the Lamb. Be reconciled to the Lord God Almighty through Him.

And He will reveal Himself to you as a God of love.