Delighted and Dwelling, Not Fretful and Forsaken

March 30, 2023 at 2:18 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments
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Psalm 37 is described as a Psalm “of” David, which some some commentators find ambiguous, saying that it could mean that the Psalm was written BY David or written FOR David.

Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

Psalm 37:1

There is not a clear recorded episode in the Bible of a specific incident in David’s life which inspired this Psalm, but, being in the category of “wisdom” Psalms, it would be a more general or at least topical Psalm about a common idea or several varied life principles.

I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

Psalm 37:25

This leads us to believe that it was written when David was old. It is an acrostic poem in the original Hebrew, with every other verse beginning with a word that starts with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This was probably meant to be a mnemonic device. It is also didactic in nature. It is a “teaching” Psalm, and the verses are addressed to people, not to God, the way some other Psalms are. Wisdom literature in the Bible can seem a little random to us, but the overarching main theme of Psalm 37 is how to think about, and live in, a world where the wicked seem to prosper.

The first lesson is not to fret, or be anxious, about the seeming success and dominance of the wicked, and not to be jealous of them. There are many reasons for this, but perhaps the most obvious is: Their prosperity is not going to last long.

For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

Psalm 37:2 (I like to call this the “Lawnmower Verse.”)

In addition to remembering that the prosperity of the wicked is fleeting, we need to learn the not-so-secret of real success and prosperity:

Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

Psalm 37:3

This is a general principle, but also a specific reference to Old Covenant promises.

Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Psalm 37:4

The context here is not tricking God into giving us less-than-spiritual desires. It’s to find our real delight in Him, and then HE will be the desire of our hearts. However, in keeping with a common idea in wisdom-genre principles, there can be an application for the Lord blessing us with service and gifts in the things to which he created us to be predisposed.

Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Psalm 37:5

The word translated as “commit” is a more vivid picture in Hebrew than in English. It’s the idea of “rolling” a burden off our shoulders and onto the shoulders of the Lord. In I Peter, Psalm 37:5 is referenced as the idea of “casting” our cares upon Him. When someone asks you, as a Christian, “How do you roll?” you can tell him, “I roll the way of the Lord – the way of trust and hope (“He shall bring it to pass”).

He Is Worthy

March 21, 2023 at 3:48 pm | Posted in Isaiah | 2 Comments
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Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?

Isaiah 53:1 (emphasis added)

God used His fingers in creation (Psalm 8:3): careful, loving, meticulous. He used His hand to deliver His people from Egypt (Exodus 13:3,9,14,16): security in grasping, strength in holding and protecting. But He reveals His mighty arm – something of His true strength – in salvation.

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

Isaiah 53:2

Jesus was the “root of David” (Revelation 5:5). He did not look strong or mighty when He appeared on the scene in His earthly ministry. He looked like a lowly servant. He did not look trustworthy, but He PROVED Himself utterly trustworthy. There was nothing special about His physical appearance, but He clarified the true meaning of beauty. Do not be deceived by paintings, photographs, movies, or any man-made images of Jesus. He is far more magnificent than any artist could ever capture.

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Isaiah 53:3

No one recognized His true worth. They hid their faces, both with a prideful detesting of what was perceived as weak and lowly, and with a desire to enjoy their own darkness and not have it exposed by His holy light.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:4

In His suffering He was man’s greatest servant, and He made Himself servant to masters who hated Him. Ironically, men were the ones that deserved to be smitten by God, but HE was the one that they believed had been smitten because of the shameful manner of His suffering and death. He carried a lifetime of griefs and sorrows, but He had a mission. He had come for a reason.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5

He came to suffer for sins He never committed. He was wounded for transgressions: our rebellious breaking of God’s law – not just minor technical offenses, but more like assaulting God Himself across a line He had marked out. These were transgressions, not mere indiscretions. He was bruised for our iniquities – not only our acts, but our CONDITION, our inherited sin nature from Adam, our perverse, bent nature, completely beyond our ability to change. All of this was borne and carried by the perfect, righteous, loving Lamb of God, all through His life.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53:6

Under the Old Testament sacrificial system animals were sacrificed for sins. Sheep died for their shepherds, and goats were sent to the wilderness to die, a the priest having confessed the sins of the people, and having placed them symbolically on the goat’s head. But now the Good Shepherd would change everything – not by destroying the old system, but by fulfilling it. The Good Shepherd would die for His sheep.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

Isaiah 53:7

Jesus Christ fulfilled this prophecy before the chief priests and elders, before Pilate, and before Herod Antipas when He remained silent under their questioning, taunts, mockery, false accusations, and false judgment. He did not appeal the most unfair trial in the history of the world, because God was fulfilling these prophecies exactly according to His plan.

He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

Isaiah 53:8

How are men cut off from the land of the living? They die. The ones taken from prison and judgment are killed. Jesus Christ, who was God in human flesh, willingly lay down His life. This was not suicide. Suicide is stealing life from God. Jesus was God and could not steal from Himself.

And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

Isaiah 53:9

Jesus was buried in a tomb borrowed from Joseph of Arimathea, who was rich. The death, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus are all integral parts of the Gospel.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

53:10 

Jesus was crushed under the weight of God’s wrath poured out against our sins. How could a dead man with no children have descendants? By rising again, and by making spiritual children, not physically-conceived children.

He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

Isaiah 53:11

God was not satisfied in the sense of taking delight in suffering, but His righteousness, law, holiness, and justice were satisfied by payment in full for the ENTIRE SIN DEBT.

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:12

His portion with the great means great in number, in quantity, not in earthly prestige.

Jesus is still saving souls today. He Who knew no sin BECAME sign so that we who knew no righteousness could become the righteousness of God in Him. Let us esteem Jesus Christ better today than men did when He came to die for us. Let us look at what those who crucified Jesus esteemed instead of Him, and ask ourselves if we esteem those things more than Him today. He was poor. Do we esteem wealth? He was an outcast and a reject from society. Do we esteem popularity and acceptance? People lied about Him and said vile things. Do we fight for our good reputation with plans and schemes to get even and with our own get-back-at-you gossip? What do we care about more: that we look good to men, or that God looks great to men? He came to serve and to die. Do we dare to try to get ourselves in the position of being served by someone else? He suffered hardship and discomfort and a life of hard work. Will we dare to pamper ourselves? Jesus is rejected today for so many of the same reasons He was rejected back then. He represents everything that carnal men hate. But He is worthy. That’s any easy thing to sing on Sunday mornings, surrounded by affluence in a friendly, non-threatening environment, but do our activities and attitudes and awe prove that He’s our Treasure?

Michael John Beasley: Equipped to S.W.I.M.

March 16, 2023 at 1:58 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment
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A drowning victim requires a serious rescuer and a sure rope, not an unequipped jokester. The good news which we proclaim is that the Gospel’s length and strength has sufficient power to pull them out of their otherwise certain destruction.

Michael John Beasley, Altar to an Unknown Love

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Romans 1:16  

Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

Romans 16:25

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

II Timothy 4:1

Sanctification as a Group Project

March 14, 2023 at 10:58 am | Posted in Ephesians | 8 Comments
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Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Ephesians 4:13

If you are a Christian, it is not only your individual goal to become more like Jesus, but it is a group goal that the entire Body of Christ – all Christians as a unified entity – would become complete and reach a state of maturity where the whole thing would be an accurate representative of Jesus (Ephesians 1:23; 3:19). Teachers of false doctrine want to hinder this from happening, and their strategy to stop individual and corporate Christian growth and maturity is to deceive those who are immature and weak.

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Ephesians 4:14

Immature Christians are unstable (blown around by fads and fables and fascinating fantasies). They are spiritually “ADD,” and like to think they have discovered some novel doctrine. They get “carried away,” and they look up to men (or women) more than the Word. They are tricked by the “sleight of men” – misdirection – getting their eyes off Jesus. Christians who are weak and isolated are easy targets for Satan and his cunning craftiness. The false teachers are “lying” (in both senses of the word) to deceive, and they are often very charming and innocent-seeming. Christians must beware of having too many friends for support and not enough who will exercise tough love.

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Ephesians 4:15

Truth and love can’t really be separated.

From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Ephesians 4:16

In an architectural sense Christ is the cornerstone of the Church. In a biological sense love is to the Church what blood is to the body.

17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

Ephesians 4:17-18

After Jesus gives you new sight, don’t walk around like a blind person.

19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20 But ye have not so learned Christ; 21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

Ephesians 4:19-22

If you got dressed in the dark and somebody flipped on the light to reveal you were wearing a clown costume, you would change clothes – unless you were really a clown.

And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

Ephesians 4:23

Don’t discount the importance of the intellectual life of your mind. We really can’t overemphasize the importance of surrendering your heart to Christ, but what often gets lost is the importance of thinking rightly and intelligently about Jesus and the Bible. Don’t be hard-hearted, but don’t be hard-headed, either.

A Deceitful Marriage

March 7, 2023 at 5:11 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments
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There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.

Proverbs 30:12

Imagine that you are looking at your spouse right now (or actually look at him or her if you are in the same room) and think of something about him or her that makes you unhappy, or that at least has the potential to make you unhappy. You are probably thinking, not about something imaginary, but about something you actually know – something with which you are personally acquainted or something you have personally experienced. It might be something said or done, or something that your spouse has forgotten to do, or something your spouse has done poorly. Whatever it is you are thinking about, let me suggest to you that what you are thinking about is not as bad as you might suppose. Why not? Because what you are thinking about is at least something you know. It is something about which you are aware, and, if you are aware of it, it is something that can be addressed. Or it is something that can be overlooked. Or it is something that can be forgiven, or corrected. There is an opportunity for repentance. It might even be something from which you can learn and grow. If you are a Christian, it is certainly something that can be given over to God. Giving your burdens or your problems or your bitterness or your confusion over to God is a type of worship, and worshiping God is a wonderful thing to do. In fact, He is wanting you to do just that. Cast your cares and your burdens on Jesus for He cares for you.

However, there are other things about your spouse that might be worse than the things about which you know. There might be things about which you don’t know – things about which you are ignorant. Ignorance, it is sometimes said, can be bliss, but not in marriage. Plus, there is another category which is worse still: things about which you are deceived.

Of course, you can’t deal with something which is unknown to you. Christian love in marriage is not suspicious. It does not operate on the assumption that you are automatically being deceived by your spouse, or that you should constantly be trying to catch him or her in some secretive wrongdoing. So, if we are going to deal with the problem of deceit in marriage, where should we go to find deceit, and to deal with it, and to root it out, and to replace it with truth? Within.

The Bible tells us about the very real possibility that we are pure in our own eyes, but filthy in the eyes of God. Self-deceit might be the worst kind of deceit because it is the hardest to detect. We have to get to the root of it to know if it’s even there.

There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.

Proverbs 30:13

Pride is the source of self-deceit, and pride is the enemy of truth in marriage.

1. Deceit in marriage comes from a failure to apply Scripture.

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

James 1:22

Reading or hearing Scripture is good. Memorizing it is better. But what we are really after is living it. It is easy to self-diagnose yourself and come to the conclusion that you are a very Biblical spouse – UNTIL you start actually applying the Bible.

For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

James 1:23

That’s why it’s important to read the Bible like a mirror and not like a textbook. Look at it the way you would look at an X-ray with your doctor, not the way you read the little slip of paper that comes out of a fortune cookie.

For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

James 1:24

You have the world’s best marriage counselor and marriage expert right on your nightstand, but just having it and just casually looking at it doesn’t fix the problem. You look into a mirror to see if you have food on your face, but you don’t wipe your face with the mirror.

2. Deceit in marriage comes from a failure to acknowledge sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

I John 1:8

In marriage, to avoid dangerous deceit, it’s not enough to admit faults, personality problems, tendencies learned in childhood or based on background. No, we have to call sin sin. Make it a point to honestly (not combatively) ask your spouse if you are offending him or her. Not all offensive behavior is necessarily sinful, but most of it is – especially if it is hurtfully offensive. Furthermore, even if your spouse has learned to live with it, sin is still a big problem and a big source of deceit, because sin is primarily against God.

Confession and repentance is the remedy for sin. If we don’t have the truth in us we are in bondage, because the truth shall make you free.

3. Deceit in marriage comes from a failure to act smart.

18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.   

I Corinthians 3:18-20

Now it might seem a little funny to say that we should “act” smart, as if we are really dumb and have to fake it, but the point is that once we think we are smart (wise), we are in the greatest danger. We think we have figured out this marriage thing, or we’ve got a shelf full or books or a file of internet articles giving all the worldly marriage advice and wisdom contrived by the world apart from God and the Bible. The better approach is to admit that we don’t have it figured out, and to humbly remind ourselves that we are often extremely foolish. Humbly foolish acknowledgers of God’s wisdom are the ones He helps. We get this wisdom and live in truth and not deceit when we obey the basic simple truths that the Bible commands, and when we do not try to get cute or fancy or substitute them with gimmicks or worldly philosophy or pop psychology.

4. Deceit in marriage comes from a failure to analyze soberly.

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Romans 12:3

We are not good at everything, and we are not doing everything right. Do a sober assessment of your faults (and your good points) with your spouse, assuring him or her that he or she can speak honestly. Men: no getting mad. Ladies: no crying. And let’s figure out where God has gifted us and where He hasn’t, and how we can use those gifts, and how we can improve, or at least how we can avoid avoid areas which trigger unhelpful conflict or dead ends.

What Is Your Identity?

March 1, 2023 at 1:59 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments
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Question: Our pastor had mentioned “finding your identity in Christ.” I’ve heard that phrase many times in the past, but I guess I’d never given it much real thought. What exactly does it mean?

Answer: Our “identity in Christ” is a broad topic, and it can mean many different things, depending upon the context. Classically, as a doctrine, it has more to do with recognizing and acknowledging – by faith – how God sees us in Christ. Here are eight traditional subcategories under this doctrine:

1. Our identity as creatures. We were made by God and we bear His image in this world. We are responsible for bearing His image accurately and truthfully (Genesis 1:27; Isaiah 45:9).

2. We were previously sons and daughters of Adam’s fallen race, but, upon salvation, we became the children of God (I Corinthians 15:22; Romans 8:16-17).

3. Our identity in Christ is that we are declared “just” – God sees us as righteous through the lens of His Son’s blood (Romans 3:24-25). 

4. We are also God’s children by adoption, and, therefore, have been given the standing of “adult children” in the family of God (Romans 8:15-17).

5. Our original identity – that of an image-bearing creature – still exists, but, in addition, we are also “new creatures,” having trusted in Christ, and received new “regenerated hearts” (II Corinthians 5:17; John 3:3).

6. Our identity in Christ also includes being “set apart” specifically and especially for God’s glory and use in Christ (I Corinthians 6:11).

7. Our identify in Christ is that of a servant. We are called out from this world to do pre-ordained good works and tasks for God’s Kingdom (John 12:26; I Corinthians 7:22; Ephesians 2:10).

8. Our identity is that of “saints” who still sin, so that we must still rely on God’s grace, and not grow arrogant or proud (I John 1:8).

When we think about the richness of what it means to be “in Christ” and to have been given an identity in Him, Ephesians Chapters 1–2 is a great passage to read, too.


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