From ccrlist at tulip.org Wed Oct 5 13:56:31 2005
From: ccrlist at tulip.org (ccrlist@tulip.org)
Date: Wed Oct 5 13:56:47 2005
Subject: [Ccrlist] CCR "Weakly" for 25 Sept 05
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20051005134928.022cc490@mail.loganrec.com>
Good Afternoon,
Too many twelve hour daze lately, I'm still running a week behind.
God bless,
Max
Psalm 31
14 But: I trust in You, O Lord;
You are my God,
15 [Every aspect of my life] is in Your hand.
Rescue me from the hand of my enemies
[those who would persecute me].
16 Make Your face shine on Your servant;
save me in Your steadfast love!
17 O Lord, let me not be disgraced,
when I call upon You;
[Instead]: let the wicked be put to shame,
let them go silently to Sheol.
18 Let their lying lips be muted,
which speak insolently against the righteous
in pride and contempt.
====================================================================================
My Days are Yours
For the Lord?s Day: the 25th of September 2005
Introduction: Once again the Psalmist hopes to rise from the black
emotional and spiritual hole into which he had fallen. In these verses, he
begs rescue from the Lord of Heaven, even as he pledges his
trust. Delitszch comments that ?although a curse of the world and an off
scouring of all people, he is confident in God, his Deliverer and
Avenger.? Further Delitszch writes ?the times, with whatsoever they bring
with them, are in the Lord?s hand, every lot is of His appointment or sending.?
Here is David, ever the warrior king laying out the whole of his life
before his God. It is with such bold confidence that believers can enter
into battle in every age and place. Come what may, the Lord is gracious
indeed and into His hands we may commit not only our spirit, as David did
in this Psalm earlier, but also our times as well. In order to convey the
totality of David?s understanding, I have translated the first line of
verse fifteen in this way: ?[Every aspect of my life] is in Your
hand.? And well it is, if we read our scriptures correctly. God?s people
are the equal of any and every challenge because the Lord in the kindness
of His grace will uphold us in every trial and situation ? and thereby is
His glory shown to all the earth.
But, we are not finished with the opening thoughts here in verse
fourteen. In the opening line, I have followed Delitszch in dramatically
setting apart the context of these verses from those that went
before. ?But? or ?yet?, David boldly proclaims, even in spite of all my
trials, troubles and tribulations, still ?I trust in You, O Lord.? And
why, the world may well ask? Because ?You are my God,? David
proclaims. And therein lays the great and vast divide between the elect of
all the earth, and the common worldings who have been left to their own
imagination and devices. This is the Covenant message of the whole
Scripture, God has proclaimed to His people: ?I will be Your God and you
shall be my people.? And from our perspective, even as we understand that
of David, not only are we His, but He is ours as well. This is why the
people of God may come with boldness before the very throne of the Lord of
life, because He has told us we are His and He is ours!
When we read the scriptural report of the many adventures of David, do we
surmise even half of the whole of it? Consider the incredible course of
his life, the challenges, the threats and all the problems that came his
way. In a world ignorant of the providence of God, what are the chances,
the odds of such a life lived on the brink for many decades? Must not any
person fall prey to some trouble or another? In Tolkien?s classic tale,
the elves were ?immortal? in the limited sense that they did not die a
natural death. However, in the course of the ?history? of Middle Earth,
they could have accidents and they could be killed. Once a student asked
exactly what that meant. I supposed out loud, that if he had such a
limited gift of ?immortality,? he would not want to step in front of a big
Mack Truck! He agreed as he understood the meaning of Tolkien?s fictional
universe.
Now write that fiction a little larger in the sense that we are getting
at. The very fact that David survived and ruled the very fact that the
Hebrew people survived in the Middle East when so many others disappeared
completely ? and thereby: through the gracious acts of God in that
history, we like David may better learn to trust the One whose guided
providence informs the pages of history.
Development: In light of all that a gracious God intends, David humbly
makes three requests in the following verses, and then closes this section
by contrasting the way of the elect with that of the wicked.
His first request is for delivery from his present predicament:
?Rescue me from the hand of my enemies
[those who would persecute me].?
Calvin explores the intensity of David?s plea. ?Nothing is more difficult,
when we see our faith derided by the whole world, than to direct our speech
to God only, and to rest satisfied with this testimony which our conscience
gives us, that he is our God.? The specific focus of lines two and three
of verse fifteen is that David might be relieved from persecution by the
contemporary adversaries of God Himself. The persecution comes upon David
precisely because he is God?s man and king. While contemporary events are
not as intense in public spirituality as those of David, we can certainly
see the current political persecution of our own president by the Media and
all those who would oppose any mildly biblical agenda. David?s enemies are
clearly those who oppose his God, and thereby the wickedness of their
actions reflects their real agenda: opposition to the providence of God.
His second request is for the knowledge and blessings of personal salvation:
?Make Your face shine on Your servant;
save me in Your steadfast love!?
David understands that this is not possible unless the Lord God of heaven
and earth first looks upon him and his sinful condition. ?Shine on me,?
David pleas, in the words of a contemporary spiritual song. And thereby,
as David would explain it, the very interest of the Creator God is
sufficient to accomplish salvation and demonstrate the Lord God?s
?steadfast love.? God first loved us, the apostles would inform us,
therefore we should not be afraid, but stand up for every spiritual task:
simple or difficult that may come our way day by day.
David?s third request is that the honor of God?s name and reputation for
loving him be upheld and that none of that saving relationship be tarnished
in any way shape or form before the watching world.
?O Lord, let me not be disgraced,
when I call upon You.?
O Lord, he is asking ? do not let Your cause be disgraced by any stupid or
crass thing which he may in his ignorance reflect before a watching
world. Because he must call upon Him, he begs the assistance of God to
proclaim the wonders of Your grace and please allow me the honor and
privilege of doing Your will. I am reminded of the Australian volunteers
in South East Asia in the sixties. For misbehavior in the field, they
could be sent home in disgrace. Our American draftees never quite
understood the question of honor that motivated our allies. Neither does
the world appreciate or comprehend the relationship of David with his
God. We of course have much to learn in this regard. We may wish to avoid
disgrace for our own reasons, but to pray so for the honor of Christ is
another matter entirely. Church discipline, whenever it is allowed to be
instituted is always about the honor of Christ and only secondarily for the
eternal good of those being disciplined.
Application: If we understand the point of Christ?s honor in this regard,
then the closing verses in this section will make more sense:
?[Instead]: let the wicked be put to shame,
let them go silently to Sheol.
Let their lying lips be muted,
which speak insolently against the righteous
in pride and contempt.?
In my translation, I printed boldly the word ?But:? which sets this section
apart from that which came before. In the same way I have done the same
with the word [Instead:] in the second half of verse seventeen. I do this
to set up the implied contrast between how David understands his cause and
purpose in opposition to every worldly impulse aimed at the Covenantal
promises and acts of God.
Instead of the disgracing persecution of the godly, he prays that the
wicked receive their just reward not only in this life but also in the
world to come. What we have here is the biblical position concerning
apostasy in all times and places. The naming of that which is good as bad
and the raising up of the bad to being understood as good. That is why
these advocates are being eloquently and verbally cast into the
netherworld, or in our language today, David is simply saying, ?let them go
to hell!?
And in this world, David begs that their jaundiced opinions be muted simply
because they speak against any civilization that must always spring from a
proper understanding and application of the Bible to the lives of citizens
and their culture. These worldly of David?s time, as well as those in our
world do speak against the regulations of our God and king because they are
puffed up with their own pride in place and their resultant contempt for
the ways of God.
The transition here in this section is proper and right, ever and
always. Because, whenever the people of God, like David: are persecuted
by a world run amuck in sin and depravity, then the worldly must be called
on the carpet and told in no uncertain terms just who it is they are
representing. Jesus pointedly told the leaders of the Old Covenant Church
that they served the father of lies, Satan himself. And then He went on to
castigate them in no uncertain terms. If you look at those passages in the
New Testament, we can better comprehend the restraint of David here in this
section. After all, it is the proper place and role of the Almighty to
speak pointedly against His adversaries. It is also His prerogative to
take timely and final actions to make the distinctions for which David
prays here in this section.
Like David, we too must practice all do restraint in our public discourse
as well. And like David as well, we too must engage the Lord of all the
earth in sincere prayer, praying that His cause and the honor of His Name
be upheld on earth even as it is in heaven. May David?s prayer be ours as
well. 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/sel031d.htm
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From ccrlist at tulip.org Sat Oct 8 18:27:08 2005
From: ccrlist at tulip.org (ccrlist@tulip.org)
Date: Sat Oct 8 18:32:04 2005
Subject: [Ccrlist] CCR Weekly 2 October 05
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20051008182025.022c6390@mail.loganrec.com>
Good Saturday Afternoon,
I've had some time off to get caught up with things, so this meditation is
going out before the following Lord's Day tomorrow.
God bless,
Max A Forsythe
Selah: Sacred Songs of the Psalter
Max A Forsythe ? Anno Domini 2005
======================================================
Psalm 31
19 How great is Your goodness,
stored up for those who fear You;
gathered [especially] for all who take refuge in You,
in the sight of the sons of men!
20 In the cover of Your presence,
You hide them from the intrigues of men;
In Your dwelling, You keep them safe
from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord,
for He has demonstrated His steadfast love to me
in a city besieged.
22 As for me, I had said in my alarm,
?I am cut off from Your sight.?
But still You heard my pleas for mercy
when I cried to You for help.
====================================================================================
Besieged
For the Lord?s Day: the 2nd of October 2005
Introduction: While many commentators would downplay the idea, the verses
selected for meditation today all seem to relate to a time when David?s
cause was under siege, very much like an ancient city or fortress
surrounded on every side by the arms and trenches of a desperate enemy. In
verse nineteen there is the storehouse gathered for those who take refuge,
and in twenty ? the elect are hidden in plain sight of the enemy. Then in
verse twenty-one David states the obvious fact of God?s love even in the
midst of spiritual warfare, and finally in verse twenty-two David admits
that he came close to giving up his cause before God came in power and
might to raise the siege and save David?s skin and soul.
David begins this section with a note of praise for all that the Lord in
His eternal goodness has done for the struggles and troubles of every saint
in extremis! Following after a section where David has admitted that our
times are in the hands of the Almighty, the statement here in verse
nineteen should be no surprise. Just as every careful sovereign stores up
resources for difficult times, so too has David?s Lord God prepared for
every emergency. Twenty-some years ago, it was necessary for the
government of Britain to assemble a task force and send it off to rescue
the residents of a little known outpost in the Falkland Islands. The
Islands had just been invaded by the forces of Argentina and many surmised
that Britain might not be able to afford any military adventure in the
latter quarter of the twentieth century. However, the government announced
that millions of pounds of gold had been sequestered away for just such an
emergency, so no new taxes would be necessary and inflation was staved off
because of the solid metallic change that had been prepared for just such
an emergency.
Over the years, our own country has stored eatable commodities for any lean
season. At one time, it was estimated that if every milk cow suddenly
dropped dead, there would have been enough dairy products for seventeen
years. On another occasion, a mild drought was covered by enough
foodstuffs to go another three and a half years. Of course that was during
the Cold War and since the end of that twilight struggle, the reserves and
resources have been drawn down considerably. But, at the height of that
struggle, I read that if necessary, the military had enough leather and
goods in storage to convert our forces back to a horse economy if
necessary? While that seems a bit far fetched ? still everywhere but
Louisiana and New Orleans it seems that governments have plans for
desperate times. Given the storm history of the last several years, it
appears that the State governments of Texas and Florida have emergencies
very much in mind.
This is the state of preparedness that David tells us underlies the kind
sovereign care that the Lord God showers upon His people, whenever they
face desperate times, be they spiritual or natural.
?How great is Your goodness,
stored up for those who fear You;
gathered [especially] for all who take refuge in You,
in the sight of the sons of men!?
Except in the blindness of their vanities ? the worldly will give little
public account of the multitude of churches, denominations and Christian
agencies who would imitate David?s God in our own day and age. In fact, if
I may address the spiritual struggle of every age, and by that I mean the
ongoing opposition of the City of Man to the City of God ? even though
every spiritual, intellectual and political battle the last hundred years
has gone to the humanists, still the Church of Jesus Christ survives and
even kicks a little in our time. If Rush Limbaugh is prophetic in his
analysis ? the worldly wicked are much nearer collapse than the eternal
cause of Christ. Even as David knows, the Lord protects his own.
Development: Just in case you doubt the sensibleness of my theorem here,
look ahead at verse twenty. It almost a commentary on the spiritual nature
of the struggle of the Lord?s saints in every time and place:
?In the cover of Your presence,
You hide them from the intrigues of men;
In Your dwelling, You keep them safe
from the strife of tongues.?
Certainly, in David?s age and in every violent century since, the image
here is one of the City besieged, cut off from its heartland and subject to
every manner of assault from fire, missile and disease. But, the Lord?s
elect are hidden from the intrigues of mere humans. They are safe in the
very house of God and as we should always remember, the continued cultural
wars where the strife of tongues would bite deeper if they could ? still
the invisible Church of the Living Lord remains in the presence of many
adversaries.
David celebrates the divine goodness, care and mercy in verse twenty-one,
where he gives thanks for the constant sovereignty and providence of the
Lord?s oversight and rule:
?Blessed be the Lord,
for He has demonstrated His steadfast love to me
in a city besieged.?
The evangelical churches in England and Europe today are pitifully small in
comparison to other centuries, yet in spite of rampant humanism ? they are
stronger today than fifty some years ago. While on the surface, the
American church seemed stronger by comparison, dry rot had strangled the
work and witness of far too many organizations. And the liberal modernists
had almost succeeded in burying the theological orthodoxy of the
past. But, thanks be to the providence and wisdom of God, the Church is
still around, and the number of believing ministers is much larger than
several decades ago.
Even in a fortress city, surrounded on every side, David felt the strong
power and might of his God who could deliver and raise up the fortunes of
Israel once again. And so it is in every time and place, even thought the
world believes we are down for the count, God is not done yet ? no indeed
He intends to raise the siege and come again in triumphal victory with the
return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But in the meantime, we must
realize we are all too human, even as David admits in the last verse in
this section.
Application: Calvin catches the emotional pain of David?s confession in
our last verse for today. ?David here confesses that for his distrust he
deserved to be deserted by God and left to perish. It is true that to
confess this before men he felt to be a shameful thing; but that he may the
more fully illustrate the grace of God to him, he hesitates not to publish
the same of his fault.?
You see, in spite of the biblical doctrines wrapped up in the triumphal
celebration in the verses just considered, still in the inmost recesses of
David?s mind and heart ? he has doubts and fears as do we all. Listen to
David?s confession:
?As for me, I had said in my alarm,
?I am cut off from Your sight.?
But still You heard my pleas for mercy
when I cried to You for help.?
All was not well within the city wherein David faces the circumstances of
this Psalm. Being surrounded on every side, he knew not from whence his
help would come. Momentarily, the great heart skipped a few beats and he
admitted before the Lord of the universe: ?I am cut off from Your
sight.? His cause and kingdom seemed little better than that of the wicked.
?But?, and here that word resounds forth like the trumpet blast of the
Angel Gabriel at the end of the age. ?But, still You heard my pleas for
mercy when I cried to You for help.? David was not so deep in despair that
he stopped praying to the Lord of heaven and earth. Do you have spiritual
causes for which you hope? Keep them in prayer for many years if
necessary. The Lord does indeed hear the prayers of David and every saint
within the Church. Remember even as our times are in the Lord?s hands, so
too is every event, great and small. Within the ordinary history of
mankind, no citadel has proved finally to be capable of holding out for
ever. But, the City of God is a different from of structure, not made with
human hands. And even as David realizes it will last until the end of the
age. And one day ? the Lord shall return and at His return every knee
shall bow and every one shall admit that Jesus Christ is Lord. May we hold
to this precious hope in every time of trouble and despair. 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/sel031e.htm
To Subscribe or Unsubscribe go
to:
http://www.four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/ccrlist/
From ccrlist at tulip.org Mon Oct 10 20:42:40 2005
From: ccrlist at tulip.org (ccrlist@tulip.org)
Date: Wed Oct 12 10:44:11 2005
Subject: [Ccrlist] CCR Weekly
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20051010203818.022c8990@mail.loganrec.com>
Good Evening,
I'm caught up with this sending!
God bless,
Max A Forsythe
Selah: Sacred Songs of the Psalter
Max A Forsythe ? Anno Domini 2005
======================================================
Psalm 31
23 Love the Lord, all you His saints!
for the Lord preserves the faithful
but repays the arrogant completely.
24 Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart,
all you who hope in the Lord!
====================================================================================
Hope in the Lord
For the Lord?s Day: the 9th of October 2005
Introduction: Earlier this year, there was some worry that enlistments in
the military forces at war might fall far short of the necessary numbers to
keep our forces in the field. But, while it is true that new enlistments
are down, an unexpected increase in re-enlistments is holding the force
levels almost steady. One would naturally think in a humanistic world that
this phenomenon is incredible to the extreme. Why would those soldiers and
marines most exposed to the dangers of Iraqi terrorists choose to keep on
with the difficult task of bringing peace to that war torn corner of the world?
This question will have to beg an answer in a different venue, because ? I
raise this issue only to posit another theorem concerning the life long
loyalty and service of every Christian who has seen hard service down
through the ages. It was Spurgeon who pointed me in this direction this
morning. In writing about the context of the twenty-third verse with the
rest of the Psalm, he writes: ?A most affecting exhortation, showing
clearly the deep love of the writer to his God: there is the more beauty in
the expression, because it reveals love towards a smiting God, love which
many waters could not quench. To bless him who gives is easy, but to cling
to him who takes away is a work of grace.?
Let us reprise the ordering of this Psalm to illustrate the point of this
question. In verses one to four David establishes the honor of the Lord?s
Name as an attractive foundation for life and salvation. Then in verses
five to eight he gives the totality of his life over into the hands of a
gracious God. Having said and done all of that, in verse nine to thirteen
David raises a complaint for the obvious depths to which he has
sunk. Quickly, he reaffirms his trust and pleads his case, stating that
all of his days belong to the Lord God of heaven and earth. Then in verses
nineteen to twenty-two he outlines the besieged mentality he has fallen
into because of his briefly supposed abandonment. Up and down, his
emotions had held sway ? but in spite of everything, his faith in God
remained firm.
This brings us to our text for the day, and in it he rises above the mortal
and ongoing natural fray of daily living to share his confidence to any and
all who will listen to his testimony of God?s eternal kindness and grace
towards those who seek to do His will. Delitszch catches the incredible
spirit of David the king: ?In this part well-grounded hope expands to
triumphant certainty; and this breaks forth into grateful praise of the
goodness of God to His own, and an exhortation to all to wait with
steadfast faith in Jahve.?
I do not know if this is true in many churches, but over the years, it
seems if the saints in our little congregation have been challenged to a
greater extent than many within the faith. I know that in the last few
years, I have personally been challenged far deeper theologically than I
ever expected. After all, when I came into the PCA ? this was where the
?good guys? were. There was no comparison with the cut-throat mentality of
personal destruction, reminiscent of national politics the last few
decades. And yet, even as individuals and families came into the church
from many diverse and interesting places, it seems that life?s challenges
took on a new urgency once they became members. Many have been tested to
their limits and beyond. Too many have moved on to greener and fairer
pastures where the deep things of the faith are only hinted at.
While my heart goes out to any, and all who have suffered emotionally
within our extended family; still it is those like David who see the bigger
picture of God?s sanctifying fires: who grow in steadfastness as well as in
grace to meet every challenge. That does not mean that we should organize
a rugged, strident means of testing in any church, but unfortunately
wherever the spiritual stakes are higher than ordinary, Satan takes every
opportunity to create conflict, misunderstanding and every other deterrent
to a godly state of affairs. Of course in today?s spiritual market, there
be few who would understand these things except in the context of a
?Survivor? series on reality television.
Development: Wouldn?t it be interesting to organize a ?believer?s?
documentary of life in a church, much along the same media lines. We could
throw in an honest pervert or intelligent pagan just to see what might
happen? Of course, we would expect every honest Christian to always vote
for him or her self whenever a vote was taken to expel someone from the
pew! But, I digress from the purpose of David?s closure to his own
survivor dynamics of living within two worlds.
?Love the Lord, all you His saints!? David?s first admonition in verse
twenty-two is one that common wisdom would tell us: covers a multitude of
evils. However, David sees more deeply into the mind of God as Calvin
explains it: ?The Psalmist does not here exhort the saints to fear and
reverence God, as many think, but encourages them to confide in him; or, in
other words, to devote themselves wholly to him, to put all their hope in
him, and to rely entirely upon him, without seeking to any other.? He
continues with the observation ?that our own fond devices delight us, but
because we do not delight in God so much as we ought, and because our
affections do not cleave to him? This love of God, therefore, comprehends
in it all the desires of the heart.?
As any marriage counselor will tell you, the love between a husband and
wife is very often a mixed bag of desires, intentions and expectations. So
it is with our love for the Father in heaven. What I believe David is
saying here, after rehearsing all the fearful events in his life that came
within the allowance and providence of God, is this: we must love the Lord
God, even as we vow to love our husbands and wives, in good times and in
bad, in sorrow and in joy, in peace and in trouble.
And why is it that David encourages us to love the Lord above all else, is
nothing more than the righteous holiness and manifold promises of the ever
faithful God over heaven and earth. The first reason that David gives is
that according to David?s testimony and experience is simply this: ?the
Lord preserves the faithful.?
We can certainly take this in the eternal sense of the promises of life
after death. But, also ? even as David?s life celebrates, the Lord takes
care of all of His people. In spite of wars, hurricanes, floods and
earthquakes, the Lord?s people are safe from all alarms and even in death ?
there is the precious hope that Christ has won victory over the grave for
all of those who believe in His precious name.
Further, we should add, that in the midst of natural disasters, untimely
family events and all the things that happen whenever life turns
interesting, through it all, the Lord?s people are drawn in closer to the
One who first loved them.
By contrast, David reminds us that the Lord God ?repays the arrogant
completely.? There is a profound distinction made between those who love
the Lord and those who prefer their own company. Here, David reminds us
that the arrogant will receive full payment for every sin done in defiance
of the Holy God of Israel. Complete and utter will be their ongoing
destruction in the realm of Hell. I think I saw this in a Science Fiction
movie, where deviant doctors, murder and bring back to life their victims
over and over again. Given the imagination of such writers, it is no
stretch to presume that the process of being destroyed in the realm of hell
forever is possible, even presumed in any responsible expositional theology
of the end times.
Application: But, this end is not one that comes the way of the elect of
every nation. David would encourage us all ?who hope in the Lord.? Given
the tremendous troubles of his times and the constant agitation militarily,
emotionally and spiritually ? David counts constantly upon the goodness and
promises of our Father God. So much confidence has he, that even in the
despair of this Psalm, he can end with this profound encouragement:
?Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart,
all you who hope in the Lord!?
All we need to do in the face of every trial is to stand fast, maintaining
courage in the face of every enemy and in so doing, the Lord God Himself
will strengthen our hearts by proving the multitude of blessings which He
would bestow on all of those who serve Him. Now perhaps we can return to
the worldly example with which we began and having seen it all in the
contested spiritual realm, realize also that the same courage in the face
of adversity may serve the common history of many nations around this old
world. After all, it is not in the heart and mind of American fighting men
to conquer and die for mere military ?gloria,? but to serve the cause of
civilization, which at bottom may be inspired by a biblical understanding
of history and the good providence of civilization?s Creator. Within the
Church of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are called to demonstrate the same
heroic fortitude in the face of all manner of obstacles: spiritual,
emotional and material. We may do this because, like David we may be
assured that God is real, and that He has a purpose for His Church and
therefore we must realize the potential He has given us and serve Him
faithfully as long as we have breath and a calling. May the good Lord so
stimulate and encourage us to this essential duty. 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/sel031g.htm
To Subscribe or Unsubscribe go
to:
http://www.four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/ccrlist/
From ccrlist at tulip.org Thu Oct 20 13:13:49 2005
From: ccrlist at tulip.org (ccrlist@tulip.org)
Date: Thu Oct 20 13:14:13 2005
Subject: [Ccrlist] CCR Weekly
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20051020130621.022ce5e0@mail.loganrec.com>
Good Afternoon,
Here is the beginning of Psalm 32, this may be spread out over the next few
months, with Psalm 33 sent out in between.
God bless,
Max A Forsythe
Psalm 32
A Maskil of David
01 Blessed is the one:
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
02 Blessed is the man:
against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
in whose spirit there is no deceit.
03 When I kept silent [about my sin]:
my bones wasted away
from groaning all day long.
04 By day and by night,
Your hand was heavy upon me.
My vitality was sapped,
[like moisture by] the heat of the summer.
Selah
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Forgiven
For the Lord?s Day: the 16th of October 2005
Introduction: The word ?Maskil? in the title is as my Translator?s
Handbook defines it: ?a participle of a verb which means ?be wise,
prudent,? or even to be fit and capable. From this form, most commentators
come to the conclusion that the giving of instruction is in mind here. A
?Teaching Psalm? is the English rendition of the Greek understanding in
this matter. Calvin considers the word as a description of the ?whole
scope and subject? matter contained in the Psalm. Years ago when weekly
lesson plans were being crafted regularly, scope and sequence were buzz
words for what teachers were supposed to be about.
And the lesson being passed on in this Psalm is simple indeed. It is all
about confession and forgiveness. Calvin describes the spiritually
sensitive soul in ordinary torment of worrying about sin: ?All men must
necessarily be either in miserable torment, or, which is worse, forgetting
themselves and God, must continue in deadly lethargy, until they are
persuaded that God is reconciled towards them.?
Further he admonishes us that happiness can be found only in the
forgiveness of sin. But, so many choose the terrible misery of keeping God
as their enemy instead of finding His graceful pardon through confession of
sin.
The psalm begins with a celebration of the blessedness of being forgiven in
the first two verses, and then in verses three and four David shares the
terror of resisting the Lord?s favor. A Selah at the end of verse four
commends us to ponder and meditate upon not only David?s initial
stubbornness, but also our own as well. Then in the second portion of our
Psalm, in verse five cuts to the chase and demonstrates David?s heartfelt
confession and the forgiveness that the Father is so willing to
give. Again, we are asked to ponder the merciful goodness of our Lord and
our God. The third portion in verses six and seven commends to us the same
habit as the balm of a wondrous transformation from belaboring our personal
guilt to being in grace.
David closes with the admonition that the elect should not be stubbornly
mulish in resisting the hand of the Lord. In the last two verses he
compares and contrasts the way of the wicked with the way of the saints in
Christ.
Development: Delitzsch tells us that this ?Psalm begins with the
celebration of the happiness of the man who experiences God?s justifying
grace, when he gives himself up unreservedly to Him.? Calvin waxes
eloquent in descriptive prose concerning the absolute glories of our God
and King who freely gives grace through mercy to those whom He has
humbled. The Apostle Paul uses our text to prove in Calvin?s
description: ?Men are then only blessed when they are freely reconciled to
God, and counted as righteous by him.?
Listen to the New Covenant recording of David?s words from the LXX
translation in the Greek: ?Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are
forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the
Lord will not count his sin.?
In the lines of the blessed poetry before us, the threefold repetition is
no vane thing, but consistent with the bull headed nature of sinful men,
who must hear over and over the fact and cursedness of sin. There is also
in the threefold description of verse one, a broad sweep of instruction
bound up in the three words used in David?s celebration. My Translator?s
Handbook outlines the three words used by David:
1. ?Transgression?: which word indicates disobedience and rebellion
against the divine will.
2. The word for ?Sin?: means any form of misconduct or faulty action.
3. ?Iniquity? is anything that which is patently wrong and even evil
In the second grouping of verse one, there is the further matter of David?s
personal ?deceit? wherein his whole persona is wrapped up in lies,
hypocrisy and fraud. Do we begin to appreciate the depths of human
capabilities? Over the last few years, the session has been given all
manner of excuses by people who have left our fellowship. As time has
passed and more information has become available, we are profoundly
disappointed in some of the lies that we have had to base our decisions upon.
Certainly, we appreciate that people grow in different directions and take
different views, so that like Paul and Barnabas, separate paths may
providentially be ordained. However, it would be so much easier to
consider our calling and to admit our mistakes, as a session - if there
were greater clarity and honesty all around. But all that I have mentioned
is forgivable in and through the grace and charity of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And it is this great grace and charity the David celebrates here, possibly
in conjunction with the year after taking Bathsheba as his wife. There is
some speculation that Psalm 32 should follow Psalm 51 in the commonality of
their related themes.
In verse three we read about the virtual physical and spiritual causes and
effects of unconfessed sin.
?When I kept silent [about my sin]:
my bones wasted away
from groaning all day long.
This verse and the next seem to need some emendation of understanding in
our language and culture. For that reason, I have inserted the words
[about my sin] to the first line of verse three. The New American Standard
Bible, one noted for its linguistic preciseness, takes this approach as
well. After all, this is the full intent of David?s heartfelt
suffering. He has not confessed his sin, and so his whole life is
affected. Jay Adams, in his writings ? once described a young man who
spent many months in an insane asylum because he would not admit to himself
or anyone else that he had cheated on a final exam at the end of his
schooling. His personal guilt, as well as the hand of God on him was so
heavy that he had to be institutionalized.
Days and nights of weeping seem to be common throughout many periods of
David?s life. Did he know at all times how the Lord would manhandle him
because of his elective calling?
Application: In our last verse for today, the fourth, we get to the
essential truth of God?s providential care and oversight for all of the elect.
?By day and by night,
Your hand was heavy upon me.
My vitality was sapped,
[like moisture by] the heat of the summer.?
God has a purpose to history, both personal and societal. Whole nations
come under His discipline, and so too do individuals as well. Those whom
the Lord loves may count upon His interest in their behavior, especially as
it limits their calling and salvation. Military psychologists speak of
being able to break any human completely within a short period of time. By
so doing, they can completely remake the person in an image of their own
desire. Our military, even while they understand the process and advise
our troops of what to expect, are not allowed to pursue the most torturous
aspects of that craft and science.
God of course is at the same time, gentler and patient in His dealings with
those He calls His own. And yet, who can long withstand the power of His
anger and wrath, unless He has some good in mind. David here speaks of a
long hot summer for his soul. His ?vitality was sapped?, like so much
sweat! Do you get the picture here of the profound image of one who would
resist the God of all creation? The very most you can conjure up in
opposition is no more than the sweat on our face! David had to learn the
lesson the hard way, he sweated in sin for a long period of time, and what
good did it do for him, except to prolong his misery.
It is not my intention to inflict pain and suffering in so many words, if
any who hear or read my words feel oppressed, it is not my work, but of the
Lord. Spurgeon ends this section of his commentary with the hope of the
next verses in this truly beautiful Psalm. It is ?time to change the tune,
for the notes are very low in the scale, and with such hard usage, the
strings of the harp are out of order: the next verse will surely be set to
another key, or will rehearse a more joyful subject.?
Let me give you an excerpt from the next portion: ?I acknowledge my sin.?
David writes and therein his whole world and perspective within it changes
for the better! Today, we would more likely write ?I have sinned.? But
those three little words are the hardest in all creation to draw out of the
human soul, because everyone at bottom wants to keep the sin and only
pretend that they have repented. But the God of heaven and earth is not
mocked, He neither slumbers nor sleeps ? He knows our inward being and
while He will not crush those He loves completely, many are the self-willed
sufferings that unrepentant sinners bring upon themselves! But, as the
media delightfully show us day after day, too many people prefer the soap
opera of sin and delusion to the blessings of repentance and
forgiveness. If, the opening words of our Psalm portion today rang a bell
in the back of your minds, then the despair of David in his hour of turmoil
should not be your common experience. May all of we who belong to Christ
sing songs of glad adoration for the redemption that is ours, all because
the Lord first loved us, and then by placing His holy hands upon us,
brought us to repentance and salvation. Praise the Lord for His wonderful
grace and mercy towards us. May we be instructed by David today and
always. 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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From ccrlist at tulip.org Wed Oct 26 09:26:58 2005
From: ccrlist at tulip.org (ccrlist@tulip.org)
Date: Wed Oct 26 09:27:44 2005
Subject: [Ccrlist] CCR Weekly
Message-ID: <6.1.0.6.2.20051026092155.022d3eb0@mail.loganrec.com>
Good Morning,
I will be mixing Psalms 32 & 33, so as to give the congregation unpreached
sermons on the 32nd once a month. Please be in prayer for our church
planter in Ashland, Matt Timmons, he is recovering from a serious infection.
God bless,
Max A Forsythe
A Ministry of Christ Covenant Reformed (PCA)
=====================================================================
Selah: Sacred Songs of the Psalter
Max A Forsythe ? Anno Domini 2005
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Psalm 33
01 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous!
[Such] praise from the upright is beautiful.
02 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
[add] melody with the ten stringed harp!
03 Sing to Him a new song;
play sweetly, with joyful acclamation.
====================================================================================
O Praise Him!
For the Lord?s Day: the 23rd of October 2005
Introduction: With few exceptions, the Psalms of the first book in the
Psalter, are credited to David the king. Psalms, one, two and ten are the
exceptions thus far in our ongoing study. Psalm One, we generally
understand to be the introductory Psalm to the whole Psalter and the Second
is understood as a preface to the first book specifically. The Tenth Psalm
is sometimes supposed to be split off from the ninth. However, the
collection was edited and arranged, we know not the specific details - and
therefore, we must take things in the form that the Lord has chosen to give
us.
This Psalm is particularly beautiful in its celebration of the Creator
God?s gracious sovereignty over every aspect of life on earth. For this
doctrinal accord, the faithful are called to give their God all due honor,
praise and thanksgiving. ?Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous!? the
Psalmist begins and therein is the theme to be reasoned and resonated in
poetry, song and delightful harmony.
Calvin notes that: ?David, or whoever was the author of this psalm, in
order to excite believers to praise God, founds his argument upon the
general providence of God, by which he sustains, protects, and governs the
whole world. Afterwards he celebrates God?s paternal kindness towards his
chosen people, showing at the same time how necessary it is that the godly
should be cherished by his special care.?
Delitzsch allows that the previous Psalm ?is followed by an anonymous
congregational song of a hymnic character, which begins just like the
former closes.? In the language of his experience he suggests that ?it
exhibits no trace of dependence upon earlier models,? and thereby it is as
the original poet establishes: a new song crafted especially to be sung
before the Lord.
We may divide this poem into six parts for our ongoing examination. These
first three verses call the elect to praise the God of their
salvation. Verses four and five encourage us to understand that our praise
is to be given just because of who the Almighty of heaven and earth
is. Verses six through nine celebrate the mighty works of God. Verses ten
to fifteen speaks of the complete sovereignty He has over the destiny of
every person under the sun. Sixteen through nineteen go on to explore the
providence of His managing the various nations and in the last three
verses, the worshippers acclaim the goodness of our God and praise the
ordering of His providential will and supreme sovereignty. ?O Praise Him!?
may we exclaim in our own day and time. ?O Praise Him!? for all eternity.
Development: As we turn our attention to the whole of the first verse, my
translation is derived from the thinking evident in the Old King James
Version, where the ?comeliness? of praise is celebrated. However, I have
understood that the beauty of the phrase is aimed at the person, goodness
and grace of God because of His kind care and continued blessing of the
people whom He counts as righteous. Thus, we may reason that the reflected
glory and beauty of the Church in every age is its continued worship,
honor, praise and thanksgiving given faithfully and honestly to the Triune
God of heaven and earth.
?Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous!
[Such] praise from the upright is beautiful.?
Therefore, even as we are encouraged week by week throughout our lifelong
worship, that very worship and commitment is counted as beautiful even as
it is expected and even courted, if I may be so bold to describe the loving
relationship which springs up from the hearts of men and women as they
gather regularly in the Lord?s presence.
Our second verse explains how our love for God can be expressed. From the
time of David and even before, as we know from songs from the time of
Moses, the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has been praise by a
singing church. While many of the earliest songs and poems may have been
lost or even possibly included anonymously in the Psalter, it is still the
pen and harp of David from which flows the first collections gathered into
five books and bound up for us as the Psalter. Musical instruments are to
be included with the singing of the divine poetry. In verse two we hear
the Church being encouraged in this regard.
?Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
[add] melody with the ten stringed harp!?
In these two lines, we have two stringed instruments. As my Translator?s
Guide describes them, ?the smaller one, the kinnor, with two to fur
strings, and the larger ten-stringed instrument, the nebel.? Certainly, we
would understand then, that between the simplicity of the smaller and the
complexity of the larger: different parts may be played and the whole music
thereby orchestrated to support various voices in the choir so that a
certain sophisticated harmony is accomplished. Since my musical abilities
are so limited, I will not elaborate any further than to edit the second
line as encouraging the complexity of melody so as to enhance the beauty of
the praise of God?s gathered congregation.
Certainly, over the centuries, the practice of music has grown and as the
instruments have evolved ? not only the worldly beauty of the art form has
been advanced, but also thereby some have been saved because they wanted to
know who it was that inspired the beauty of the holiness being
celebrated. A few years ago, there was a movie about Beethoven entitled
the Immortal Beloved. As the movie unfolded, the worldly medium supposed
that his beloved must have been a feminine siren of exquisite character or
beauty to excite such a grand ardor and beauteous complexion, as the notes
of Beethoven?s life unfolded composition by composition. How sad in the
extreme that the worldly director, cast and screen writer never ever
thought that Beethoven?s ?Immortal Beloved? might possibly be One other
than a mere human sweetheart!
The same might be said of a lot of crossover music being written today. By
this term, we mean the composition of song lyrics, which being sung in a
church are assumed to be directed to the God and Creator of the whole
universe, or even His Son Jesus Christ. ?I don?t know how to love him,?
crooned a songster in the seventies. It was part of a worldly musical that
explored the humanity of Christ. And the character who sang so sweetly was
the former harlot Mary Magdalene. The on scene implication was that she
was more confused than the church ever supposed.
Other songs too, by leaving out the naming of their love leave every option
open for being sung, not only in churches but also in bars and the media
wherein any old tramp may become the object of such affection that should
be lavished only on the Trinity. But, therein lays the reasoning for
multiplying the profits. Many musical groups have profited immensely by
beginning in the Christian end of the industry and then crossing over to
the more profitable secular market. The Iraqi Chicks, are a notable
example of a once popular group that moved on over to another gambit once
they proved themselves to be three French hens no longer acceptable to
their patriotic Country Western base.
I have probably gone on longer with this line of thought, than I should ?
so let me summarize the implications of the music sought by the poet in
this descriptive illustration. Complexity and popularity in and of
themselves is not the intended outcome of godly musicians. Indeed, the
sense of the advice here is simply that many notes and voices make a
cohesive chorus as long as they sing together with one spiritual voice
aimed at demonstrating the beauty of their faith and devotion.
Application: In the encouragement of our last verse for the morning, we
find many of the lesser glories in the richness of Church History. By this
I mean that the music is only so much gilding on the surface of the poetic
praises aimed at pleasing our God and King. When I was in Belgium in the
sixties, our tour bus drove by an exquisite ancient building with elaborate
carvings in wood all over the outside. There were scaffolds along one side
and craftsmen were carefully applying a modern layer of gold over the
surface to highlight the beauty of the carved surfaces.
This is all that musical notes really are when you come right down to
it. The music in the church, both Old and New Covenant is not an end in
and of itself. Indeed, the greater majority of the ancient tunes mentioned
in the text of the Psalter have been long lost. However, the God of glory
carefully guarded the words which He inspired David and other Psalmists to
write in loving tribute to their saving deity.
So ever an anew, the church is challenged to:
?Sing to Him a new song;
play sweetly, with joyful acclamation.?
So, even as the compiler of songs, hymns and psalms edited into the
collection of David this new song written by an unknown composer ? so is
the church in every age called to compose fresh poems and music to
demonstrate the freshness of the Church?s love. In that regard, it has
been a special blessing that at least twice in the history of our
congregation ? two new songs have been sung to the Lord for the very first
time. And when I left the old liberal church, in the intensity of the
process by prayer and study ? I did compose a little ditty in celebration
of the exodus. I am not even sure where it is, or if it is even
singable. It was a three verse praise to the Trinity to a worldly tune
once sung by British Grenadiers! My favorite theologian in Seminary wrote
several hymns, once we were treated to a selection and the general
consensus was that his skills were better kept to celebrating the great
doctrines of the church. And yet, the performance did demonstrate the
poetic beauty of a life given to celebrate the goodness of our God and king.
Our poet in this last verse not only commends a new song from as many
hearts that can compose their praise, but also admonishes us to ?play
sweetly, with joyful acclamation.? May we all learn to do so, keeping our
private squawking to the prayer closet and celebrating our love for Christ
in the better proven traditions of the Church at large. Many translations
of this phrase emphasize the loudness of such noise even as it is
skillfully accomplished. But, we all know that loudness is not a proper
measure of good music. Far too many modern rock bands purposely camouflage
their lack of artistic ability by playing loud and long. Such is not to be
the music and poetry of the church. Acclamation, given in joyful
celebration of what the Lord has done is our most solemn purpose. Of
course such acclamation should be done sweetly in all practical harmony
between the members of the choir and the church at large. May this be our
calling today and always. 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/sel033a.htm
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