From ccrlist at tulip.org Tue Aug 2 21:39:53 2005
From: ccrlist at tulip.org (ccrlist@tulip.org)
Date: Tue Aug 2 21:40:07 2005
Subject: [Ccrlist] CCR Weekly
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20050802213335.022ec5b0@mail.loganrec.com>
Good Tuesday Evening,
Here is the first installment for Psalm 30 - we should finish this one by
the end of the month.
God bless,
Max A Forsythe
Psalm 30
A Psalm of David
Canticle for the Dedication of his House
01 I will extol You, O Lord,
You: have drawn me out,
have not let my foes gloat over me.
02 Lord my God,
I cried to You for help,
and You healed me.
03 O Lord, You brought my soul up from Sheol;
You revived my life,
from among those going down to the pit.
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Up From the Grave!
For the Lord?s Day: the 7th of August 2005
Introduction: Contrary to the understanding of many contemporary scholars,
both Calvin & Delitzsch understand this psalm to be related to a dedication
of his own house rather than any altar on Mount Zion where the Temple would
be built in Solomon?s day. This might also be considered a re-consecration
of his house and throne after it was defiled by Absalom?s revolt. Calvin
notes that ?it is not unreasonable to suppose that in this psalm [David]
celebrates God?s favor to him in restoring him to his former state.?
Certainly, it is difficult, if not impossible to establish the point in
David?s life, when this psalm of thanksgiving was composed. As we work
through this psalm, we will read not only: of sickness, restoration and
salvation; but also of thanksgiving for the working out of God?s
providential blessing of David and his earthly abode.
It is certainly a long time since, celebrations were common for God?s kind
provision of a roof over our heads. In simpler times, such as when David
lived, it was more evident that only in a land of peace and security could
a house be built, let alone it become a place where the owner could grow
old and comfortable.
In colonial times, the raising of a barn was always cause for celebration,
a feast for the fellow builders was followed by a community dance on the
new floors of the grand edifice which would so soon be the home of
animals. I can also remember stories as late as the forties of the last
century, of neighbors coming to the home of a newly married couple for an
impromptu party. The party being especially calculated for a time when the
newly weds wanted privacy to get settled into their new life together. My
own parents, not having any extra food in the house, slipped out a back
window and hid until their unwanted guests got tired of waiting.
But, enough speculation ? at the very least we should understand that David
was always ready and willing to compose an immortal poem whenever it was
opportune to give praise to the God of heaven. If this psalm be set in the
aftermath of the heart rending revolution of his own son, we could thus be
better framed to understand the dysfunctional episode which possibly
prompted this prayer of David.
Development: Spurgeon outlines the psalm for us in five sections, but we
will spread our meditation over four weeks. The first three verses contain
David?s praise for personal deliverance. Verses four to seven contain an
invitation to celebrate the lesson the Lord led him through. Then in
verses eight to ten he repeats his supplication and closes in the last two
verses with thanksgiving.
Spurgeon notes on the while psalm, that ?throughout this Psalm, there are
indications that David had been greatly afflicted both personally and
relatively, after having, in his presumption, fancied himself secure.?
How much this notion applies to the present time, is beyond ordinary
belief. Now, that the baby boomers are beginning to retire, there are all
sorts of hints and indications that the social security system bought into
by their grand parents and parents could indeed collapse. An acquaintance
of mine, who faces a forced retirement, may not have any corporate
retirement plan to ease his later years. Another large corporation, has
reported that at least $1,500 of the price of every new car must go towards
unfunded pension and retirement accounts promised its workers for the last
fifty years. The Federal government even has a little known agency whose
sole purpose is to bail out failed corporate retirement systems, and it is
steadily getting overloaded to the point of collapse.
I can certainly attest to retirement adjustments. Having a specially
strong pension system, that I planned on supplementing for many years ? I
discovered that the other system, which I had not paid into has confiscated
all too much of my reduced earnings. The very Federal system for social
security has undermined my own ability to feel prosperous in
semi-retirement. It is unfortunately a system that because of my private
system, will never return any adequate investment related to the ongoing costs.
Well, at least my children have not tried to run me out of my house and
farm like David?s progeny. So my place in life, in comparison to David?s
situation is far, far less aggravating and challenging. But, still ? like
David, we all have to be very careful that we do not take the attitude of
the man in Jesus parable who thought he had it made and planned to live a
life of leisure. As we remember from the New Testament, there was a life
cut untimely short!
Having said all of that, let us consider the three verses with which David
begins this ?retirement? prayer!
?I will extol You, O Lord,
You: have drawn me out,
have not let my foes gloat over me.?
In this verse, David praises the Lord God for two blessings, one positive
action and the other a limitation of hostile reaction to David?s personal
dilemma. ?You have drawn me out,? David begins. This phrase is pregnant
with meaning in relation to verses that follow after. My Translator?s
Handbook explains that the verb here is ?used of drawing water out of a
well.? The poetic language means simply that God did not allow David to
die. And yet symbolically, it is pregnant with meaning in relation to
David?s ultimate salvation. We should take away from these words, David?s
assurance that he realizes the hand of God which has lifted him up out of
the mud and mire and stood him on solid ground.
Every once in a while we read or hear stories about children or pets
falling into an old well, and being retrieved, drawn up ? if you will have
it from a dangerous pit where death was imminent. For this rescue, David
is gracious in his thanksgiving and hope for better fortunes.
The second line is related to any and all who might have celebrated in his
own house, if he had died in exile: ?let not my foes gloat over me.? In
many places where ethnic cleansing has been all too common, many homes were
simply taken over by conquerors. When the Iron Curtain fell and the two
Germanies were reunited, the courts began to hear countless cases of former
owners attempting to reclaim property lost at the end of World War
Two. The ownership of very many famous European paintings is still in
dispute, because of large scale looting at governmental and individual
levels during and after World War Two. On one occasion the Papal
authorities had to clean out the Sistine Chapel after some of Napoleon?s
horses were stabled there. A door to get the animals in and out, had even
been cut in a wall where one priceless mural had been painted.
So, David may return to his home ? clean up the mess from parties held not
in his honor and be grateful that hearth and home have been restored.
In verse two we see that David well understands the source of his
deliverance and restoration. ?O Lord my God, I cried to You for help, and
You healed me.? Ordinarily, we would take the word ?healed? here for
restoration after a sickness.
While, this is certainly probable, healing can mean so much more. In a
possible revolution, David would have consistently and constantly been near
death?s door. And so he would have prayed his heart out to the Lord. The
healing here can very well be spiritual encouragement or even a restoration
of his fortune. Have you ever known anyone who lost a fortune ? sickness
is very much in the picture. Or have you known someone who lost a home to
fire or had valuables stolen. Healing is always very much a description of
the restoration of a former comfort within the bounds of a newly
re-established home.
David, unlike many today who would rather resort to government programs,
that the Lord God of heaven and earth is the only one who can heal a broken
heart, fortune or reputation. Recently I heard of a situation where a
convicted sexual predator was ordered by the court to stay away from
churches. Of course, I can well understand the wisdom of such an
order. However, the courts in this matter have created a class of living
dead, so to speak. Never again can they be restored to their former
status, and yet ? the government refused to follow the biblical mandate and
execute them for their insufferable crimes. So, there they are a class of
dangerous criminals who must always live on the edge of society with no
means of public redemption!
Had a biblical mandate been carried out consistently and fairly, very many
of these criminals could have been held back from doing the dastardly deeds
for which their lives must continue a living hell on earth.
Application: From that last illustration, let us take our application of
these three verses. There but for the sake of God, go I ? runs an old
saw. In verse three David realizes the utter hopelessness of his previous
situation before he was restored.
?O Lord, You brought my soul up from Sheol;
You revived my life,
from among those going down to the pit.?
We begin with the first and third lines in that verse. Sheol, Hades or the
pit as it was referred to in ancient days, is nothing more than where the
unredeemed must go and there remain apart from God forever and ever. Like
all the saints who understand the method of salvation, David knew where his
natural inclinations could have taken him. Indeed ? in spite of a higher
calling, he went where many saints never strayed. And yet, for adultery,
murder and various other crimes ? the Lord granted him forgiveness. In an
ordinary court, David?s case as well as our own would be much like the sex
offenders in our country ? totally unredeemable and hopeless! And yet even
as David hinted in verse one, it would be from the very pit of Hades that
the Lord God of heaven and earth would lift him up.
From all of ?those going down to the pit?, which is an apt description of
the whole human race ? David admits that it was the kindness, mercy and
grace of the Lord who revived him and lifted him up and out of such a
hopeless state in hell. ?You revived my life!? David admits. Here is a
profound understatement of grace received many centuries before Paul and
the others began to write about it, having known better that David, his own
greater Son: Jesus Christ. May we who know more than David give our
heartfelt thanks to the Lord, who lifted us as well up from the pit into
the solid world of God?s love, grace, mercy and goodness. And while we are
at it, let us remember the sins that would have taken us away ? except for
the promptings of the Holy Spirit who taught us to repent, believe and to
give God praise for the great work He has done. Amen.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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PREACHING RESOURCES
Calvin, John: Commentary on Book of Psalms.
Delitzsch, F: Commentary on the Old Testament ? Psalms.
Spurgeon, C.H: Treasury of David.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
Permission granted to redistribute unedited versions with this notice.
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From ccrlist at tulip.org Wed Aug 10 19:01:39 2005
From: ccrlist at tulip.org (ccrlist@tulip.org)
Date: Wed Aug 10 19:01:54 2005
Subject: [Ccrlist] CCR Weekly
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20050810185631.02df1140@mail.loganrec.com>
Good Evening,
Rainy and hot here in Ohio - please be in prayer for some of our many
recent visitors to stick with us.
God bless,
Max A Forsythe
Psalm 30
04 Sing praises to the Lord, You His saints,
give thanks and [know that He is Holy].
05 His anger is but a moment,
but His favor is for eternity.
Weeping may tarry for a night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.
06 In my prosperity, [I once thought]:
?I shall never be shaken.?
07 By Your favor, O Lord,
You made me more stable than the mountains;
But when You hid Your face;
I was terrified.
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By His Favor
For the Lord?s Day: the 14th of August 2005
Introduction: What shall we make of this Psalm? There are elements that
are familiar, but there are details that ordinarily not experienced by the
majority. Delitzsch summarizes the theme of this poetry, succinctly in
these words: ?[David] contrasts his former self-confidence, in which he
thought himself to be immoveable, with the God-ward trust he has now gained
in the school of affliction. Instead of confiding in the Giver, he trusted
in the gift, as though it had been his own work.?
Afterwards, the Psalmist will teach the lesson he had learned to the people
of God. This reminds me of my responsibilities to my driving students,
where my job is to pass along little tips of safety and any experience of
hazards to my charges in the class room and on the road. Even after
forty-two years of driving, I am learning new things every month. One
lesson was only learned in early May. We were driving towards a railroad
underpass when a Semi-Truck came through the center of an ordinarily two
lane viaduct. Being surprised, my student and I both realized that it was
a necessary violation of the yellow line because both sides of the
underpass were lower than the center height of the truck.
Yes, that should be all to obvious, but until we saw that huge vehicle
coming straight at us, we had never thought the problem through to the
logical conclusion. In a similar way, for the many years of his life,
David had learned lesson after lesson from the revelations of the Almighty
Creator God. More than once, he was blindsided by his experiences ? in not
having anticipated an all too obvious lesson.
Thus, we can all read the wisdom of Delitzsch and agree that the Giver is
ever so much more important in our relationship to the Almighty than any
gifts He chooses to give into our care. But, how many of us really and
truly thought of that point before? How many of us really and truly have
learned as much as we ought to have about a life of prayer from reading
David?s prayers over many years?
Development: Like many parents and teachers, David hopes that the saints
can learn from his lessons and thereby avoid some of the pit falls of life
that challenge us one and all.
And so, David appears in the tabernacle precincts to instruct the assembled
congregation. He begins with a call to praise: ?Sing praises to the Lord,
You His saints, give thanks and [know that He is Holy].? Now, there is an
important point buried deep in the dialect of David?s Hebrew. In my
translation, I have written simply, [know that He is Holy!]? This is not a
literal translation, but a sincere attempt to get at the meaning of a verse
that runs this way: ?and give praise to the remembrance of his holiness.?
Now, you will not see my translation for a couple of weeks, until we read
it responsively at the end of this four week meditation. When you do see
it in print, I have been careful, as always: to set things like this apart
from the text within brackets and letters that are not italicized. Most
English translations make gallant efforts to convey the understanding and
meaning here. In Hebrew, it probably makes as much sense as the phrase
?hot dogs, mother and apple pie? does in English. Foreigner?s cringe at
our linguistic novelty, much as we might when trying to understand a German
word ?gemutlichkeit,? a word much in the same vein that I never processed
fully.
Thus, the simplicity of my words here [know that He is Holy!]. I have
chosen to emphasize the end result of the verbiage, and not the implication
left hanging in our language. And so in this fourth verse, David is
inviting the saints in the Tabernacle courts to Sing praise to the Lord
God, and in doing so: to acknowledge that God alone is holy indeed.
Verse five describes his life journey in understanding the God of
heaven. There are two thoughts here that are certainly related. The first
is theological and the second is experiential.
?His anger is but a moment, but His favor is for eternity.
Weeping may tarry for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.?
David illustrates many times over a phenomena that all too many less
sensitive saints never realize. Where are you day by day in your
relationship with the Creator God. Does He have reason to be grieved and
even angry? So much of our lives are lived without considering the
spiritual ramifications and any effects of our doings on others. Few
consider that everything they are, everything they say and do ? these all
have some consequences, some small and some written larger.
David faced up to his responsibilities of living before the face of
God. He knew when he was in the dog house, and in learning repentance and
confession he was able to rejoice at the open tomb in the morning. And
even as His greater son realized in the garden prayer, the full wrath of an
angry God is something to consider carefully, but if we are His and He is
ours: certain is the promise that His love abides forever and ever.
Verse six and the first couplet in the seventh give us the heart of this
psalm portion:
?In my prosperity, [I once thought]: ?I shall never be shaken.?
By Your favor, O Lord, You made me more stable than the mountains.?
The language here is fairly straight forward, I have only introduced the
word [thought] to better indicate the former nature of David?s
thinking. He had become comfortable, the wars of independence and security
were in the past, the city and citadel were strengthened and his own palace
was comfortable and pleasurable. He felt more stable than the mountains
because God had indeed been good to him. God had even promised that his
House would endure for ever. David took great pleasure in the gifts and
began to count them according to his own labors, suffering and commands.
Many people in every age take such creature comforts all to much for
granted, not realizing or remembering the hand of God in every gift and
allowance. Like in the New Covenant parables of the rich fool and the
prodigal son, our state in life is never certain, be we wise or
foolish. In our own culture a sudden flurry of stronger than ordinary Sun
spots could reduce our culture to that more common a hundred and fifty
years ago, simply by making the production of electricity temporarily
impossible!
David was forced to learn, even as we all must agree ? that the Giver of
life, health and prosperity cannot long be ignored. He is more powerful
than we know or assume! May we take the warnings of David the king to
heart. If for some reason, our culture lost the energy source that means
everything to us, we would be reduced to living as David lived, before he
was forced out of his palace precincts into temporary abodes in the fields,
forests and deserts. Could we, in our own Lord confide, or would we prefer
to test our own strengths?
Application: Our last words in this Psalm are fearsome indeed to the extreme.
?But when You hid Your face; I was terrified.?
What was it that Christ feared the most on the garden night before the
crucifixion? We are not absolutely certain of course, but being apart from
knowing the presence of the father ranks high on our list of
speculation. In our world today, there are some places where you can
travel where there is not only no knowledge of God, but also no obedience
to the hallmarks of civilization. Many of our troops, who work behind the
Devil?s curtain in the Middle East know the cultural implications of this
fear all too well.
I only hope that more of the world does not have to experience the
misguided rule of militant Mullah?s in the future. So far, in the course
of modern history, only one country has restored the rule of law and gospel
in place of Mohammedism. That Spanish accomplishment has never been much
to brag about, because in order to achieve spiritual freedom ? the
conquistadors had to become just as blood thirsty and violent as their
oppressors. And it has taken many hundreds of years to heal their national
psyche from that experience.
May we all, like David learn to praise the Lord for all of His goodness,
and let us count the most gracious act of compassion well: we have seen
His face, and because of that knowledge of His holiness ? all is well, not
only in this life, but also for all eternity in and through the work of His
only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. ?Sing praises to the Lord, You His
saints.? Amen.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
PREACHING RESOURCES
Calvin, John: Commentary on Book of Psalms.
Delitzsch, F: Commentary on the Old Testament ? Psalms.
Spurgeon, C.H: Treasury of David.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
Permission granted to redistribute unedited versions with this notice.
http://www.tulip.org/selah/sel030b.htm
To Subscribe or Unsubscribe go
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From ccrlist at tulip.org Mon Aug 15 10:16:47 2005
From: ccrlist at tulip.org (ccrlist@tulip.org)
Date: Mon Aug 15 10:17:03 2005
Subject: [Ccrlist] CCR Weekly 14 Aug 05
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20050815101211.02df5a00@mail.loganrec.com>
Good Morning,
Thank you for any prayers, two of our eight recent visitors returned for a
second visit. Please keep us in prayer for any increase.
Also, we have a report of a conversion within the body - praise the Lord.
God bless,
Max A Forsythe
Psalm 30
08 To You, O Lord, I cry,
and to the Lord I made supplication:
09 ?What profit is there in my blood,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise You?
Will it proclaim Your faithfulness?
10 Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me!
O Lord, be my savior!?
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Dust or Glory?
For the Lord?s Day: the 21st of August 2005
Introduction: While these verses are not considered proof texts for the
first question of The Shorter Catechism, still ? the same theological
sentiment is here. ?Man?s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him
for ever,? reads the catechism?s answer to the purpose of mankind. Do you
see it there in the last words of verse nine? ?Will the dust praise
You? Will it proclaim Your faithfulness??
My Translator?s Handbook notes that ?Sheol, the world of the dead, was
pictured as a place of darkness and dust. ? This is the pit from which
David prays avoidance. Even as impertinent as these verses appear, we
have to realize that David is speaking from his heart to his best friend:
the God of Creation and glory. It is always with our ?bestest? friends, as
an old Army buddy insisted on saying it ? that we open our hearts, knowing
full well, no matter the language, words or attitude: we may be
understood. Even if in the back of our imperfect minds we say things we
ordinarily would not ? still our best friends will not take offense.
But, of course David only suffers a momentary relapse in the relationship
between Creator and creature. Even before the words of verse nine are
finished, he returns to the proper attitude and pleads his case before the
awesome throne where grace and mercy may always be anticipated by those who
know to whom they speak.
Am I dust or an expression of Your glory, David appears to be asking. To
what end have You created me ? David wonders out loud in the midst of being
disciplined by providential events.
Development: But ever and anew, David knows to whom he should pray: ?To
You, O Lord, I cry, and to the Lord I made supplication:? As Spurgeon well
notes: ?Prayer is the unfailing resource of God?s people. If they are
driven to their wits? end, they may still go to the mercy-seat. When an
earthquake makes our mountain tremble, the throne of grace still stands
firm, and we may come to it.?
David cries, the text reads, much as we might imagine a little child not
yet able to frame the necessary words. My grandson is learning the
language slowly now, but he is beginning to make his wants known. When he
says ?hot dog,? you know that any food pushed into his little mouth will be
appreciated. Last week at a picnic ? I was able to try eight different
items in a row and he was content with the various ?hot dogs.? Oh do we
ever realize the limits of our own vocabulary when we come to the Lord God
of all creation? And yet, no matter how primitive our cries ? He hears and
answers us with blessings undeserved.
But, yet ? David as we well know is no spiritual infant. Even though he is
moved to the most primitive sound of anguish, he goes on to make his
supplications to the Lord of all the earth known.
And so, he simply sits it out, regardless of the impertinence, regardless
of the One to whom he is praying. ?What profit is there in my blood, if I
go down to the pit?? I?m dying here, David is saying ? spiritually dying
even in the face of knowing the Lord of all the earth. Do you see the rude
humanity of David?s assumption? Here was one after the Lord?s own heart,
here was one lifted against all obstacles to the kingship of all
Israel. Here was the one to whom it would be promised ? his greater Son
would rule not only the earth, but also the highest heavens.
Certainly, we all know from bitter experience that God never leaves us
without a reason. And the most prominent reason is the fact that as the
New Testament aptly records, we are constantly going astray. How dare any
mere man, even one who was a king ? come into the presence of the awesome
holy God with such a question: ?What profit is there in my blood?? Perhaps
we should put this outburst in the most plausible context: a rededication
of David?s house upon his return from subduing Absalom?s revolt.
David of course is limited in his vision and understanding of how the Lord
God will attain the everlasting kingdom through his mortal seed. But, any
untimely demise that places one not of David?s choosing and training could
perhaps spell disaster in the final accomplishment of God?s greater
intended and still unknown goal.
In the consternations related to the fulfillment of God?s promises, God at
least can excuse the impious outburst. After all, what need does God have
for one voice, even a kingly voice to sing His eternal praises? But David
continues his diatribe: ?Will the dust praise You? Will it proclaim Your
faithfulness??
Once his body has been reduced to the dust of the earth, from which it was
made, will there still be a voice from David to praise the God of
heaven. If there is nothing in David?s future except a return to the dust,
what will that say of God?s faithfulness towards him? You have created me
for a purpose Lord: to praise, glorify and enjoy You forever!
Application: Having opened up the depths of his heart, he does not demand
satisfaction, but instead he returns to pleading God?s grace and
salvation. ?Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my savior!?
Three things he humbly asks. First, that the Lord God of heaven and earth
will hear his prayer. Second, that the Lord will demonstrate the blessings
of His grace on his life, office and cause. And last of all, he begs
salvation from the Lord. Calvin notes that in this tenth verse, ?the
Psalmist softens and corrects his former complaint; for it would have been
absurd to expostulate with God like one who despaired of safety, and to
leave off in this fretful temper.?
How often had we to discipline our little ones in the midst of a temper
tantrum? Perhaps, it even got to a situation where an angry outburst
claimed that one we dearly loved even hated us? Yes, that is hard to take
? in families and even within Christ?s Church. Here we can begin to
understand the mind and heart of God to a limited extent. Certainly, we
would not take seriously any statements of our little ones in the extremes
of temper ? but we would certainly take steps to bring them out of it by
the proper application of loving discipline upon their posterior and in
discipleship afterwards.
Do we realize the twofold forgiveness for David in regards to the situation
in which he finds himself? First of course, is the sudden realization that
he had taken God?s given prosperity for granted. Thus, he had rightfully
punished. But then, in the outburst of the discourse in these verses he
raises questions about his future in a way that is not only impolite, but
pointedly aimed at the very love and purpose of God who had raised him up
for the glory of His service.
When we read the last petition in verse ten, we realize how barely saved
David was. And yet, in the public humiliation of Absalom?s coup d?etat
David learns an essential lesson. Every thing we are and have comes from
the grace and mercy of our Lord God. He it is who determines if we return
to dust or come home in glory. May we like David learn our lessons well
and pray for the glory that only the Son can give in and through His shed
blood. And let us be thankful for the salvation known by David, as our
own. Amen.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
PREACHING RESOURCES
Calvin, John: Commentary on Book of Psalms.
Delitzsch, F: Commentary on the Old Testament ? Psalms.
Spurgeon, C.H: Treasury of David.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
Permission granted to redistribute unedited versions with this notice.
http://www.tulip.org/selah/sel030c.htm
To Subscribe or Unsubscribe go
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From ccrlist at tulip.org Thu Aug 25 12:55:26 2005
From: ccrlist at tulip.org (ccrlist@tulip.org)
Date: Thu Aug 25 12:55:39 2005
Subject: [Ccrlist] CCR Weekly 21 Aug 05
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20050825124723.03310440@mail.loganrec.com>
Good Afternoon,
Sorry for being a little late this week, an awful lot going on this
week. I will be traveling to Traverse City, Michigan to visit our new
Redeemer Church in the northern reaches of our Great Lakes Presbytery. As
part of our reorganization at CCR, as Stated Clerk, I will be traveling at
least once a month to visit and encourage the various missions and
congregations of the Presbytery. Our new Assistant Pastor, beginning in
October officially, will be holding the pulpit on a regular basis. We too
will be giving him one Lord's Day off a month as well. Beginning with
Psalm 31, you will be the first and main audience for the Selah
series. And when I finish the 32nd Psalm, I hope to begin putting the
whole collection thus far into a proper format for my Doctorate studies.
God bless,
Max A Forsythe
Psalm 30
11 You have turned for me
my mourning into dancing;
You have loosed my sackcloth
and wrapped me in gladness.
12 So that my soul may singYour praise
and not be silent.
O my Lord my God,
forever will I give You thanks!
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Forever Thankful
For the Lord?s Day: the 28th of August 2005
Introduction: In the past decade or so, I have observed a certain cultural
shift in attitudes towards the dearly departed. I first noted the
consequence of the lack of knowledge of the light of salvation when several
students were killed in an automobile accident. The professional humanists
were comforting the mourners with a thought that as long as they remembered
the deceased, there would be something strong to hold on to. A popular
song of the time also appealed to the same misguided premise.
Again, in the same period of time, there has been a growing trend to mark
the spot of tragic accidents with all manner of tacky memorials. You may
remember the huge pile of sentimental debris outside Buckingham Palace when
Princess Diana was killed? Much of the impromptu reminders of those who
were killed in the 911 attack in New York City were hung or deposited in
similar sidewalk displays. Then of course, there are the several tons of
memorials laid to rest at the American wailing wall in Washington, DC: the
Viet Nam Memorial.
How long has it been since our society properly understood the two
holidays: Memorial Day and Armistice Day? The original intent of such
memorials was for those who survived to give their testimony for what God
had done in bringing them through the necessary battles of warfare.
But, so strong is the tacky humanistic paganism that families who showed up
in Crawford, Texas to remove their relatives ?crosses? from the protest
site, were threatened and intimidated ? as if they had no right to control
the uses of the names of their own dead who were being dishonored in the
rural ditches of the Texas countryside.
Now I do not mean that there is no proper place for memorials for the
dearly departed, they are called cemeteries and for centuries in Christian
countries that is where tombstones were erected at the place where the dead
await the end of the age.
Development: Given this sad commentary on the current state of affairs, it
is indeed refreshing to read the wonderful ending to David?s mourning
psalm. In the last two verses, David is careful to tell us the final
outcome of his dangerous dilemma. ?You have turned for me my mourning into
dancing,? he gleefully writes after the tragedy which caused the poetic
soul searching of this psalm.
Much as war veterans once rolled up their sleeves to show their wounds, and
to give thanks for being alive ? so too does David remember not the details
that prompted this psalm, but instead: those events whatever they were are
laid aside so that all glory may be given to God and that countless others
who read his testimony may know, not the sorrow of the moment, but the
gladness of eternity.
In all pagan countries, there is a certain weeping and wailing associated
with death, but in a proper Judeo-Christian sense there should be a
celebration that the dead in Christ are forever in His presence. Indeed,
even in funerals where I had no clue what the deceased?s understanding of
Christ was ? I made every attempt to show and demonstrate the power and
promise of the resurrection. And in one funeral where an aged saint went
home to be with the Lord, we sang psalms and hymns. The funeral director,
who was obviously in his sixties, came up to me afterwards and thanked me,
he said he hadn?t seen such a joyous funeral in nearly thirty years. He
had almost forgotten the Christian context of going home to be with the Lord!
Beyond the premise of joyful dancing, David also tells us that on the
occasion of this psalm the Lord also ?loosed my sackcloth and wrapped me in
gladness.? There is a double transformation here, not only in the inner
soul, but also in the outward appearance. So that we may know the
spiritual freedom given in, through and by the grace of God.
Application: This brings us to our last verse in the psalm, the
twelfth. And it is here that David shows us the providence of God working
in and through the tragic events of our lives. ?So that my soul may sing
Your praise and not be silent.? All of life, David understands it, is in
the hands of the Almighty. He it is who transforms the sadness and tragedy
of life into dancing and gladness. And why? Simply this: in order that
our ?souls may sing [His] praise.?
Earlier in our psalm, David had wondered if he would personally go down to
the dust of Hades and not be allowed to praise the God of heaven. ?Will
the dust praise You?? he had asked. Of course not, even as he realized it
? the dust after all is silent. It is only souls saved by the power, love
and grace of God that may give praise to His glorious name forever and ever.
A fact that David ends this poem with: ?O my Lord God, forever will I give
You thanks!? Calvin notes that ?David concludes the psalm as he had begun
it, with thanksgiving. He affirms that it was by the help and blessing of
God that he had escaped safe and he then adds, that the final object of his
escape was, that he might employ the rest of his life in celebrating the
praises of God.?
Ah, isn?t that the story of the entire church? All of us who are here have
come because the Lord has touched our hearts in the midst of life. The
Holy Spirit has guided and protected us and even whispered into our ears:
here is life in Christ! Were it not for the promise and providence of God,
we could not know and even as David worried logically ? the way to the pit
is broad indeed. But thanks be to God, we have been saved ? so therefore
we must assemble week by week to give to Him the honor, glory and praise
due His holy Name. Amen.
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PREACHING RESOURCES
Calvin, John: Commentary on Book of Psalms.
Delitzsch, F: Commentary on the Old Testament ? Psalms.
Spurgeon, C.H: Treasury of David.
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Permission granted to redistribute unedited versions with this notice.
http://www.tulip.org/selah/sel030d.htm
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From ccrlist at tulip.org Wed Aug 31 13:40:53 2005
From: ccrlist at tulip.org (ccrlist@tulip.org)
Date: Wed Aug 31 13:41:10 2005
Subject: [Ccrlist] CCR Weekly 28 Aug 05
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20050831133506.02df4910@mail.loganrec.com>
Good Afternoon,
Please be in prayer for our many brethren in the south.
God bless,
Max A Forsythe
Psalm 31
To the Choirmaster
A Psalm of David
01 In you, O Lord, have I placed my trust.
Let me never be ashamed;
in Your fidelity deliver me!
02 Incline Your ear to me;
rescue me speedily!
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a stronghold to save me!
03 For You are my rock and my fortress.
For the honor of Your Name
You will lead me and guide me;
04 You will pull me out of the net they have spread for me,
for You are my refuge.
====================================================================================
The Honor of His Name
For the Lord?s Day: the 28th of August 2005
Introduction: Our first obligation in regard to this Psalm is to
acknowledge the authorship of David, with which the Psalm is certainly
ascribed. Never mind the commentators who suppose later prophets being
more properly credited. Just as many saints down through the ages have
quoted scripture or appealed to biblical themes in their own writings, so
should we view the use of this Psalm, by Jonah and Jeremiah. The only case
we can make for another?s authorship would be the use of a phrase here in
verse five by Jesus Himself, in His agony on the cross. Of course the
commending of His Spirit to the Father is well within the divine intent and
plan from the beginning of time. And the inspiration of David by the Holy
Spirit can only be taken as part of the preparation of God?s people for the
purposeful integration of the whole of Scripture within the acts of men and
Christ working to please the Father of Lights.
A second obligation is to speak about the possibilities from which or for
which David composed this epic ode. Calvin notes that ?some are of opinion
that this psalm was composed by David, after he had most unexpectedly
escaped out of the wilderness of Maon.? Delitsch supposes the Psalm to
have originated in the time of Saul. Spurgeon calculates two further
possibilities: ?Some have thought that the occasion in his troubled life
which led to this Psalm, was the treachery of the men of Keilah.? But a
secondary possibility would be ?the period when Absalom had rebelled.?
However and whenever this Psalm was composed ? we are not going to be
certain at this late date. Spurgeon encourages us in this regard, by
writing: ?it is perhaps quite as well that we have no settled season
mentioned, or we might have been so busy in applying it to David?s case as
to forget its suitability to our own.?
A third obligation is to consider the appropriateness of singing psalms
with ?mingled measures and alternate strains of grief and woe,? as Spurgeon
styles it. C.S. Lewis expends considerable ink on this same topic
explaining why some passages of the Psalter are less used in our time, than
others with a more cheerful and positive outpouring. If I may observe that
a considerable quantity of Country Western singers have proved the genre of
grief and woe ? than this point of discussion need go no
further. Certainly, within Christ?s Church we are free to meditate upon
how the saints of old worked their way through trials and troubles more
intense than our own.
A fourth introductory note is in order. Before we begin our detailed
meditation, we must prepare the preaching outline to give each component of
this psalm its due consideration. For this purpose, I have pretty much
followed Spurgeon?s division of this psalm into six parts. Verses one to
four testify to David?s confidence in God. Moving on to verses five and
eight, we sense the gratitude of David for mercies received. Then in
verses nine to thirteen, David describes his case and pleads for
deliverance in fourteen to eighteen. Confidently, he expects the Lord?s
blessing in verses nineteen to twenty-two and closes in twenty-three and
four by demonstrating how this case bears upon all the people of God.
Finally, the place of this psalm, (as well as all the rest within the five
book division) is probably not as random as some commentators may
suppose. Our own Trinity Hymnal has a visible outline in its collection of
songs, hymns and psalms. However, the greater majority of hymnals are much
less obvious in their organization. And while we do not comprehend the
original intent, we do often sense a relationship within smaller groups
within the Psalter.
Development: We begin our meditation on this Psalm in verse one, and what
a wonderful confession there is from the heart of Israel?s greatest king
and poet. ?In you, O Lord, have I placed my trust.? Calvin notes that the
verb is in the past tense, indicated a continued act. David ?held it as a
principle, that the hope which depends upon God cannot possibly be
disappointed.? David is not like many pagans who in the midst of turmoil
and trouble do finally pray in the possible hope that some deity will hear
their prayers. David?s God, as we all know is a personal God, always
taking into account the needs of His saints in every time and place.
Some years ago, a bank that I did business with instituted a policy of
personal tellers who would handle and oversee each depositor?s varied
accounts. And when you went into the bank, customers would line up at the
window of their appointed teller. Strangers, coming in, not knowing the
procedure ? would line up before the less busy employees and thereby
inadvertently choose their personal teller. Of course, if your teller was
off for the day or afternoon, any one of the employees would handle your
transactions. Even after the program was discontinued in one of the many
mergers of those years, still the older relationships continued. Affection
was not an issue, but loyalty and service were. Here we should understand
that David employs all aspects of his relationship to announce his ongoing
affection and ultimate trust. ?In you, O Lord, have I placed my trust.?
After the introductory statement, David rounds out verses one and two with
three statements to describe his irrevocable trust.
?Let me never be ashamed; in Your fidelity deliver me!
Incline Your ear to me; rescue me speedily!
Be a rock of refuge for me, a stronghold to save me!?
Because of my trust in your person, David begs that he may never be shamed
for placing his trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ?In Your
fidelity,? he announces the cause of his faith, knowing all the while that
the Lord will ultimately deliver him. Absolutely, can the Lord be trusted
through every endeavor of life, David affirms.
Second, David begs the attention of the Lord God, ?incline Your ear to
me,? listen to my heartfelt cries, petitions and tears. Thus, we may
understand that even the mere attention and acknowledgement of the Lord is
sufficient to accomplish every rescue. I heard on the news earlier, that
some people in New Orleans had managed to call in their need for help. On
the way to their assistance, the authorities discovered dozens of cases
where people were just as needy. The news did not specify who received
help first, the one who requested it, or the others noticed along the
roadside? In the case of our Father?s interest in His elect, we may be
assured that His help is specific for those He has known. All the worldly
that care not for the Gospel or for Christ will have the inattention they
wish because the Lord not only knows His own, but cares wonderfully for
them, so David?s rescue is assured because the Lord God of heaven and earth
was already listening for David?s prayers.
Third, David begs the ultimate safety of God?s person. ?Be a rock of
refuge for me,? he hopefully petitions. Unlike the strong buildings in New
Orleans, refuge in the Lord alone is not transient, it is permanent and for
all time. The Super Dome in Louisiana is housing thousands of people in
the midst of disaster, but it is damaged and the water is rising ? so the
whole group of refugees must board buses for another city, where they may
find long term safety. Yes, David probably has in mind here the rocky
desert haunts where he fled from old King Saul, however ? David is looking
higher than the formations that gave him and his followers a place of
refuge early on in his career. While those rocky crags saved David and his
men from Saul, still David is looking higher in this Psalm. Salvation is
here petitioned, not for a time in the world itself but in the immortal and
eternal hands of the Father who saves us all through the power and
sacrifice of His only Son.
Application: David makes that point clear in the opening line of verse
two: ?For You are my rock and my fortress.? It is the personal God of
Abraham?s children to whom David is praying. And David knows the strength
of his God, the relationship of God?s people with Him is beyond reproach,
and in God?s hands are all the elect safe and secure, even as David
demonstrates.
On this last point David gives two supporting statements:
?For the honor of Your Name, You will lead me and guide me;
You will pull me out of the net they have spread for me, for You are my
refuge.?
Now, there is a very important lesson to be found in the concept of honor
here. The word honor is usually used in circumstances where the integrity
of the one who guarantees a contract is at stake. Let us be absolutely
clear, that it is not because of who David was in the grand scheme of
things, it was not the character of David that counts, but the earnest
character of the Lord God that is at stake in these words contained in
verses three and four.
David realizes that God will continue to lead and guide him, because of the
integrity of the Lord God Himself. Notice the detail here, not only will
the Lord answer prayer in desperate circumstances, he will also lead and
guide those who belong to Him. And finally, David returns to his
circumstance and gives the Lord thanks for pulling him out of the ulterior
mischief which his enemies desired. His enemies had spread traps to snare
the king, but in every case ? those traps had been sprung without a chance
of snaring the servant of the most high God.
Well does David testify that the Lord is indeed his refuge. In every case
in David?s life, the God was sovereign over all. Do we have this same
confidence in our day and age? Can we pray with the same boldness of
David? If we can, the honor of God?s name is always assured. May we learn
the same knowledge that David knew - the Lord God of heaven and earth
loves His saints, graces them with salvation and even protects, leads and
guides them through this life. What a wonderful God we serve, always true,
always faithful and everywhere present to guard us and guide us, if we will
but turn to Him in prayer and seek His will. Amen.
======================================================
PREACHING RESOURCES
Calvin, John: Commentary on Book of Psalms.
Delitzsch, F: Commentary on the Old Testament ? Psalms.
Spurgeon, C.H: Treasury of David.
============================================================================
Permission granted to redistribute unedited versions with this notice.
http://www.tulip.org/selah/sel031a.htm
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