Why Must God Rejoice in His Works?

[This devotion is based on a sermon on Psalm 104 preached June 13, 2021. The audio is available here.]

Why did God create beautiful sunsets and majestic mountains? Why did He create the giant rings of Saturn and the tiny DNA double helix?

You might answer: So that in learning of them, we humans would learn of Him. So that we would see something of what He is like as we observe them.

Undoubtedly that is one reason for their creation: “The heaven are telling the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands” (Psalm 19:1). “His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:20).

But what about those parts of His creation that no man has ever seen – that no man ever will see?

Think of a planet orbiting a star in a galaxy millions of light years from our own. Now think of a sunset on that planet – the particular mix of colors and hues. What did God create those sunsets? That beauty?

Not for us. Possibly in part for angels – the Job 38:4-7 suggests that might be the case.

But surely for His joy, His delight.

In Psalm 104, the author meditates on Genesis 1, and in so doing brings out God’s purposes in creation marvelously – especially God’s joy, saying in Psalm 104:31, “May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works.”

Note that this is not only the glory and joy of God the Father; this is also the glory and joy of God the Son. The Son was intimately involved in creation (John 1:2-3, Hebrews 1:2). So the glory of the Father in creation is the glory of the Son; the joy of the Father in creation is the joy of the Son. Indeed, the joy of the Father in creation is closely related to the joy of the Father in the Son.

In this devotion we’ll speak primarily of God – but remember: the Father, the Son, and, indeed, the Spirit are all involved; all have the same joy in creation.

The psalm tells us that God orders creation, provides for His creatures, gives and takes away life, glorifies Himself before men in creation, and rejoices in creation. We’ll consider these actions in turn.

God Orders Creation

God puts everything in its place, exactly where He wants it to be. We see this particularly in Psalm 104:6-9, where the psalmist reflects on both Genesis 1, the creation, and Genesis 9, the flood.

In verse 6, God dresses the earth with water, like a garment, covering it – indeed, during the flood, the waters even cover the mountains. When He decides, however, the waters retreat according to His plan (Psalm 104:7). Then the waters “flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them” (Psalm 104:8 NIV). Psalm 104:9 then speaks of the boundaries the waters would never again cross, as promised in Genesis 9:11.

The point: God orders the waters and the land – and, by inference, everything. There is a place for everything, and everything is in its place. The mountains, the seas – as mighty and powerful as they are – are placed by Him where He pleases.

God Provides for His Creatures

Psalm 104:10-23 show that the placement of the waters is not arbitrary. God puts the waters in places where He can bring sustenance and joy to His creatures. Indeed, He arranges all things with their welfare in view:

  • He provides streams of water for both domesticated and wild animals (Psalm 104:11)
  • He provides trees and bushes next to the waters as places for birds to nest and sing (Psalm 104:12)
  • Through rain, He causes grass to grow for livestock and crops to grow for mankind (Psalm 104:13-14)
  • For man especially, He provides wine for joy, oil for our skin, and bread for strength (Psalm 104:15)
  • He waters large trees in forests also, even those far from streams, providing nesting spots for different varieties of birds (Psalm 104:16-17)
  • He provides dwelling places for wild animals (Psalm 104:18)
  • As in the Genesis account, He separates night from day, light from darkness, using the moon and the sun (Psalm 104:19-23). Night in the psalmist’s day was for animals – and thus was a dangerous time for man. But even the most dangerous creatures, lions, “seek their food from God” (Psalm 104:21). And when God causes sun to rise, the lions retreat, while man – now safe from attacks – goes out to work (Psalm 104:22-23)

So God gives water, homes, food, night, day – and even joy to His creatures. Thus, there is not only a place for everything, with everything in its place, but there is provision for everything. All creation works harmoniously together as He wisely rules.

God Gives and Takes Away Life

The lions are not the only creatures who look to God for their food. He often provides food; they take it, and thus are “filled with good things” (Psalm 104:27-28). Recognizing His provision, we rightly thank Him before every meal.

But at other times God hides His face; His creatures then are dismayed or terrified – they panic (Psalm 104:29). Their lives depend solely on God: When He takes away their breath, they die; when He sends His spirit/breath, they are created (Psalm 104:30). As Jesus says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” (Matthew 10:29). Thus for all creatures, there is “a time to be born, and a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:2), and God sees to it that both events happen at exactly the right time.

Sometimes we speak correctly of a “right to life.” That phrase is strongly biblical when referring to the right not to have another human take your life, unless you’ve committed a capital offense or you’re a soldier in an opposing army. We – and unborn children – have a right to life in that sense.

But you and I have no right to life before God. Life is a gift from Him. He gives us life initially; He sustains our lives by His mercy and grace; but He is under no obligation to keep us alive. He has the right to take away our breath at any moment.

The life of every human, every animal, every bird, every insect is in His hand. He is God.

God Glorifies Himself Before Men in Creation

In the psalm’s opening verses, the main point is not a description of God, but our reaction to Him. While contemplating creation, the psalmist cries out: “Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent” (Psalm 104:1-2).

Psalm 104:24 highlights the psalmist being blown away as he thinks of all God’s creatures, many of which he can never see, and how God placed each in exactly in the right place: “O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures” (or ‘possessions’) (Psalm 104:24).

Verses 33-34 then summarize the psalmist’s reaction to creation: “I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD” (Psalm 104:33-34).

As mentioned, generating such delight, such praise is a key purpose of God in creation. We see His majesty, His greatness, His purity, His wisdom, His creativity, and so sing to Him every day – for all of our lives, glorifying Him by rejoicing in Him.

Do you do this?

When you look at the world around you, do you mainly notice its faults, its fallenness, its groaning? Or do you mainly see God’s glory?

There are many horrors in this world, many tragedies, many sorrows. Indeed, Jesus promises that we will have tribulation in this world. But the horrors of the world are not the essence of the world. At its essence, this entire creation is very good, as God declared in Genesis 1:31. We need to be able to delight in God’s creation, to delight in God through His creation, to see Him in the majesty and intricacy of what He has made. This psalm does not ignore the impact of the Fall, as we will see shortly. But the psalm looks past the fallenness, and sees the wisdom and power and glory of God.

We too must see that glory, must take note of that glory, must rejoice in that glory – as it exists today, thanking Him, even while we how much more glorious it will be when Jesus returns and redeems all things.

God Rejoices in Creation

God surely takes joy in revealing His wisdom and might to mankind through creation. But the psalmist speaks of another joy for God – perhaps a deeper joy: “Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great” (Psalm. 104:25).

At the time of writing, there was no way for men to even know what is in the sea, leading to the question: Who do all those unseen sea creatures please?

The psalm continues: “There go the ships, and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it” (Psalm 104:26).

Think of Leviathan as a sea monster: dangerous, deadly to any ship traversing the sea. But what is God’s attitude toward Leviathan? He formed it to watch it play in the sea! He enjoys its frolics the way you or I might enjoy watching a black lab fetch sticks!

Earlier, the psalmist said: “He makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind” (Psalm 104:3b).

God is not using the clouds or wind for transportation. Rather, He is pictured as riding on the wind as we might ride the roller coasters at Carowinds, or as a cyclist might be thrilled at hitting 40 miles per hour on a downhill.

The point is not that a pre-incarnate Jesus took human form and said “Whoopee!” while rushing along in the wind. This is a picture. Yet there is a clear and precious reality behind the picture: God takes great joy in His creation. He delights in His creation – not only because of what it communicates about Him, but also because He simply loves it. Creation – in all its intricacies, in all its abundance, in all its beauty –is a delight to God.

This picture lays the groundwork for verse 31: “May the glory of the LORD endure forever, may the LORD rejoice in His works” (Psalm 104:31, emphasis added).

The glory of the Lord should shine clearly through His creation. He should rejoice in His very good works. This is right and proper. Anything in creation that doesn’t give God joy does not belong.

What is that? What is out of place in the present creation?

All of creation is “very good” at the end of Genesis 1. But then Adam and Eve rebel against this good, merciful, loving God in Genesis 3. This rebellion stains mankind and the entire world, leading to the horrors we see throughout history to the present day. As Paul writes: “The creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now” (Romans 8:19-22).

In the marvelous word picture, anthropomorphized creation is groaning, eagerly straining forward to catch a glimpse of our future redemption, when creation itself will no longer be bound up with corruption.

And God Himself, naturally, hates this rebellion: “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Romans 1:18).

So: God delights in creation when everything is fulfilling its purpose, and He hates the rebellion of mankind and its impact on creation. Thus the psalm concludes: “Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more! Bless the LORD, O my soul! Praise the LORD!” (Psalm 104:35).

To many of us today, this verse seems out of place: The psalmist is delighting in creation – why even say anything about sinners?

But this verse is central to the message of the psalm. Sin has no place in God’s very good creation! God must rejoice in the entirety of creation! So sinners must be consumed from the earth; the wicked must be no more. The present, fallen state of creation cannot continue forever. Instead, the glory of the Lord must endure forever; God must rejoice in all His works, in their entirety. All remaining mankind must sing praise to God while they have being.

Revelation 21:27 underlines this truth: Nothing unclean will ever enter New Jerusalem, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. That is: The ones to enter are those redeemed by the blood of Jesus by grace through faith, those conformed to His likeness by the power of the Holy Spirit, those who will praise His Name for all eternity in the new heavens and new earth, delighting with God in the vast intricacies of His creation, learning over millennia more of more of Who He is and What He has created, thus joining Him in rejoicing over all His works.

Conclusion: Should We Not Rejoice with God?

Thursday night, while a friend was over for dinner, a barred owl called out so loudly we knew he was close by. Over the years we’ve heard these owls frequently, but have rarely seen them. With the full foliage of June, there seemed little chance this would be one of those rare occasions. But I kept my eyes fixed in the direction of the calls – when suddenly, he took off and flew to the west. I only saw him for a split second through the leaves. But I was thrilled. The sighting was a gift of God. I’m so glad I kept looking.

Friends, join the psalmist in looking at creation, at noticing creation, at reflecting on the God who designed it so intricately. Open your eyes to see its beauty:

  • Smell the honeysuckle
  • Pick up a box turtle
  • Get up early to watch the sunrise

Delight in the beauty of God’s creation, and thus deepen your delight in the Creator.

Remember: He is a God of joy. He delights in what you and I can’t see. And this God of joy will delight in you – when you cease your rebellion, when you come to Him through the sacrifice of Jesus, when you assume the place He designed for you in His perfected creation.

Come to Him. Fulfill your purpose.

May the Lord rejoice in all His works – including you.

Fighting Persistent Sin

[Not long ago, a friend asked about fighting a persistent sin. Here is an edited version of my reply – Coty]

After God makes us a new creation in Christ, certain sins disappear. They never rear their ugly heads again. Often this happens immediately upon being saved, sometimes much later. He graciously gives us these tokens as a down-payment of the complete transformation that He promises in the new heavens and the new earth.

With some other sins, the temptation to give in may disappear for a time. But God has not removed our susceptibility. The disappearance is temporary. Satan waits “until an opportune time” to tempt us again (as Satan did, unsuccessfully, with our Lord – Luke 4:13). In this case, the period of zero temptation is a strategy by the Enemy to get us to let our guard down, to remove boundaries – as in a war, a general might withdraw his troops and temporarily not engage in any action, all the while preparing for a surprise major assault.

Then there is a third type of sin. These are constantly with us. We feel the temptation every day until we die or Jesus returns. Scripture calls us to battle these continually, putting to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit (Romans 8:13).

How do we do that? How can we put this third type of sin to death when the temptation keeps popping up every day?

The battle takes place on three fronts: In the mind, in the affections, and in actions.

The Battle in the Mind

1) Satan is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). What lies has Satan used successfully against you in the past in tempting you into these sins? Once you’ve identified the lies, arm yourself with the Word of Truth to fight those lies. This link provides some examples.

2) Fight desire with desire. Sin is not the way to love, joy, peace, security, or fulfillment. It is the way to death, to the destruction of all that is good, even all that is pleasurable.

3) Don’t downplay the importance of any sin. Never excuse it or claim it is not so bad.

4) Preach the Gospel to yourself, listen to the Gospel preached, and ask others to speak it to you. Satan will try to condemn you and to make you think that you are His slave. In Christ you are not. 1 John 1:5-2:2 is helpful here.

So points 2, 3, and 4 together say: Your sin is great. And the Gospel is greater.

5) Remind yourself regularly: This fight is temporary. God has placed you in it, requiring you to depend on Him to fight it. He will glorify Himself in the fight, and, in the new heavens and the new earth, He will make you perfect practically as you already are perfect positionally before Him in Christ.

The Battle in the Affections

1) Cultivate a hatred for this sin. Reflect on ways this same type of sin has destroyed the lives of others and dishonored our Lord. Reflect on the way Jesus did resist (if there are biblical examples) or must have resisted this temptation. Remind yourself regularly that sin is completely antithetical to who you are in Christ (1 John 2:28-3:10 is especially helpful, particularly verse 9. The KJV is quite literal: “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” We cannot sin without denying our new birth.)

2) Cultivate love of God, love of Jesus, especially a longing to be like Him.

3) Cultivate a love for your family and the family of God around you, thanking God always for each of them. Every sin will have an impact on them.

The Battle in Actions

1) Be quick to confess and repent, making no excuses.

2) Be quick to pray when tempted

3) Identify those situations and moods that lead you to be tempted, or to let your guard down, avoiding such situations when possible, and watching yourself even more carefully when you can’t. Develop a strategy for what you will do in those cases.

4) Seek help and prayer from others and develop a regular plan for who will ask you about your battle against such temptations.

5) Pray every day for each person in your family and for several in your church, asking God to use you in each of their lives.

Note that this is not a way to put the sin behind you once and for all. For sins in this third category, there is a daily – even hourly – fight the rest of your life. But the fight itself can be God-glorifying. That’s why God hasn’t taken away the temptation.

Love you, brother. You are indeed a new man in Christ. Live it out through the fight to depend on Him, the fight to love Him, the fight to love your family and the family of God.

In Him, Coty

 

Baby and Child Dedication: Questions to Parents and the Congregation

Tomorrow May 16 we have the privilege of dedicating six children to God. In addition, we will baptize eight.

Following the practice of Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis, we ask five questions of parents when they dedicate children:

1. Do you today recognize your children as gifts of God and give heartfelt thanks for God’s blessing?

This question is based on Psalm 127:3. God is the one who gives children; they belong to Him. God has the right to do with these children as He wishes. Thus Hannah says of baby Samuel in 1 Samuel 1:28, “So I have also dedicated him to the LORD; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the LORD.”

2. Do you now dedicate your children to the Lord who gave them to you, surrendering all worldly claims upon their lives in the hope that they will belong wholly to God?

A dedication does not bring about the salvation of the child, nor is a dedication a picture of the salvation of the child. It is not baptism. Instead: It is a set of solemn promises by the parents in the presence of the church, and an expression of faith and hope in God’s future grace.

3. Do you pledge as parents that, with God’s fatherly help, you will bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, making every reasonable effort, with patience and love, to build the Word of God, the character of Christ and the joy of the Lord into their lives?

God calls every parent to the task of training up children (Proverbs 22:6, Ephesians 6:4). Parents here make a commitment to help their children live lives of personal obedience. Yet personal obedience is not the goal; faith is the goal. Through learning obedience to loving parents, our children can learn the joy of obedience to a loving God; this can then be a means of grace that God uses to bring the children to faith, and that very faith will bear fruit in genuine Christian obedience. As parents, we are living out a similar responsibility to that of Ezekiel as watchmen (Ezekiel 3:17-19), setting examples, teaching, and warning our children.

4. Do you promise to provide, through God’s blessing, for their physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs, looking to your own heavenly Father for the wisdom, love and strength to serve them and not use them?

We as parents are tempted to use our children: As status symbols, as props for our egos, as accomplishments, as ways to succeed vicariously where we failed in our younger years. But biblically we are to provide for our children and serve them – not serving under them, but so to lead them that they grow into independent adults who by God’s grace love Jesus Christ and put Him first. This last goal is the subject of the final question:

5. Do you promise, God helping you, to make it your regular prayer that, by God’s grace, they will come to trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of their sins and for the fulfillment of all God’s promises to them, even eternal life; and in this faith follow Jesus as Lord and obey his teachings?

After asking the parents these questions, we ask the members of the church:

Do you pledge to pray for these little ones, and pledge to help these parents to live up to their promises?

Then an elder prays these words individually over each child being dedicated.

Together with your parents, who love you dearly, and with this people who also love you and care about the outcome of your faith, I dedicate you to God, surrendering together with them all worldly claims upon your life, in the hope that you will belong wholly to God by His grace forever.

The Foundation for a Thankful Heart

What leads to “spontaneous” gratefulness?

The middle of the night. Wakened – barely – by the sound of raindrops, I turn from my back to my side. My hand accidentally touches Beth’s shoulder. Resting it there, I pray, “Thank You, Lord, for this precious woman.”

The prayer was not the result of a logical chain of reasoning. It simply welled up within me in the moment. It was spontaneous in that sense.

However, if the same sequence of events had happened forty years ago, that prayer would not have occurred. So what has changed in me over these decades that leads my heart to thank God spontaneously?

Scripture tells us again and again that we must be grateful:

  • Psalm 52:9: “I will thank you forever.”
  • Psalm 105:1 (and seventeen other verses): “Give thanks to the LORD.”
  • Colossians 3:15: “Be thankful.”
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:18: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
  • 2 Timothy 1:3: “I thank God … as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.”

Why are we to be overflowing in thanksgiving to God? Because He is the source of everything good:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights (James 1:17).

In particular:

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).

Yet I deserve neither good gifts nor everything needed for life and godliness. Rather, I deserve the opposite: punishment from God:

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”… All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…. The wages of sin is death (Romans 3:10-12, 3:23, 6:23).

Yet in His mercy He shone the light of the Gospel in my heart, enabling me to see Jesus for Who He is (2 Corinthians 4:6); He laid my iniquity onto Jesus (Isaiah 53:6); and He therefore declared me righteous “by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).

A gift! And how should we respond to gifts?

So salvation alone should lead to our giving abundant thanks to God.

Now, I understood the gift of redemption many years ago, and have thanked God for it regularly. That is the base of the foundation of “spontaneous” thanksgiving. But more layers were needed before such thanks would well up within me.

I had to see – and not only see but take to heart – that everything good in this world as well as anything good in me is the result of the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

I had to learn that apart from Him I could do nothing (John 15:5); apart from Him I could not succeed in any business or profession (Deuteronomy 8:17-18); apart from Him there are no beautiful sunsets, no glorious galaxies, no creative people; apart from Him there is no love, no hope, no joy, no peace. For the heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1), and when we display any goodness, we are reflecting the remnants of His image in us (Genesis 1:26-27).

When, through daily encounters with the Word of God over decades, the Spirit builds these truths in our hearts on to the foundation of redemption, we then thank God spontaneously when we notice a snapdragon in bloom, a chicken pot pie in the oven, or a loving spouse next to us in the bed. Spontaneously – but not so spontaneously. For the foundation was built up over many years.

So now I remind myself every morning and at every meal: This food, this day, this breath, even the ability to move – all of these are mine only because of Jesus. So I thank You, Lord, in His Name.

Do realize – I am not yet fulfilling Ephesians 5:20, “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I must continue to grow in thankfulness, to God and to others. But I can look back forty years ago and say with John Newton, “Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be– I can truly say that I am not what I once was…. ‘by the grace of God I am what I am!’” (1 Corinthians 15:10).

You too can grow in this grace. Go to the Word. Ask the Spirit to lay this foundation. Remind yourself daily of these truths. And then open your eyes! Notice His gifts! They are all around you.

Come to the King!

God is King!

Yet Psalm 95 emphasizes something unusual about this king. Who can approach a king?

In the book of Esther, recall that no one was allowed to enter the kings presence without his explicit invitation. If you did come in, you would die – unless the king leaned his scepter towards you.

In contrast, three times in Psalm 95 we read: Come!

  • Come to the king
  • Let’s come into His presence
  • Come let us worship

Jesus issues similar invitations to all:

  • “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28)
  • “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37)
  • “Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst…. Whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:35, 37)

Despite these extensive invitations, many do not come. Jesus says to some of them: “You refuse to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:40).

Thus, nothing is more important than coming to God, than coming to Jesus.

So let’s examine this psalm that exhorts us to come to God again and again, and listen to its explanation of why we should come.

We’ll examine this psalm under three headings:

  • Come to Him!
  • Why?
  • Oh That You Would Hear His Voice!

Along the way we’ll see three different ways we are to come to Him.

Come to Him!

The psalmist commands us to come in Psalm 95:1-2 and again in verse 6. At first reading, these may appear to be similar commands. But both in ancient Israel and today, these commands refer to two distinct purposes behind our coming to God. The first:

Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! (Psalm 95:1-2)

We come to do what? To sing, to make a joyful noise, to thank Him, to praise Him. But note: we are doing all this while coming into His presence.  The picture is of procession approaching the tabernacle or temple, praising Him along the way.

These verses describe a rambunctious, joyful, noisy procession, praising God for being the “rock of our

So this is first of the three ways we are to come to Him: Come with joyful praise.

Psalm 95:6 is rather different:

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

Now the procession has entered the tabernacle or temple. The joyful praise changes to awe at His presence. So the worshipers now come to bow and kneel rather than to make a joyful noise.

This second type of coming expresses similar sentiments to Habakkuk 2:20:  “The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”

So Psalm 95 commands us, first, to come to God with joyful, loud worship, and, second, to come to Him with quiet, reflective, contemplative worship.

Although we today don’t come into the tabernacle or temple, both ideas still hold. In worship, we express joy in Christ. There is a place expressing that joy in noise, in loud singing, in celebration. And there is a place for expressing that joy in quiet contemplation, as we consider our sinfulness and His great grace, the judgment we deserve and the cost to Jesus of taking that judgment on Himself.

The great King calls you to come to Him, into His very presence, in both ways. So come to God in joyful praise! Come to God in quiet confession, considering how you deserve His judgment.

Both are important. Do you love both? Do you respond to both?

We still must consider the third way to come to God. But first let’s see why we should come to Him.

Why?

Why should we come in both ways? The psalmist gives three reasons Psalm 95:3-7.

First: He is a great king above all gods:

For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods (Psalm 95:3)

He is the greatest king, the greatest god – there is no comparison.

But most of us are not tempted to worship Baal or Molech or a block of wood. So replace “gods” with “idols.” Aren’t you tempted to idolatry? That is: Aren’t you tempted to look to something other than God for identity, for security, for joy? This verse tells us that God is far greater than all these alternatives:

  • Nothing else can satisfy us and give us true joy
  • Nothing else can protect us
  • Nothing else can tell us who we really are
  • Nothing else endures

The second reason we should come to Him: He created and controls all.

In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. (Psalm 95:4-5)

The psalmist uses extremes to communicate how extensive God’s work is: He controls the depths and the heights, the sea and the dry land.

To show God’s intimate involvement, the psalm uses the metaphor of God’s hand thrice (two times here and again in verse 7). He made everything by His hand – and all things remain in His hand. God thus controls all.

The third reason we should come to Him: He is our Maker, and we are His sheep

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand (Psalm 95:6-7a).

What does the psalmist mean by saying that God is our Maker?

Surely that God creates us, as He creates the seas and  mountains.

Surely that He controls us, we are in His hand, as is the case with the dry land and the depths of the earth.

But there’s a third level to God’s relationship with us that does not hold for inanimate creation: We are not only made by His hand, we not only are in His hand, we are sheep of His hand; we are people of His pasture. So He not only created us, He made us to be in relationship with Him. He is our God.

Throughout history God has been working to create, protect, and complete His faithful remnant, His perfected people, Christ’s spotless bride. As Romans 8:28-30 tell us, God works all things together for good of His people, so that the very ones He foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son; these very same ones He then calls at specific points in time – calls them to come to Him; these very same ones He justifies, He declares righteous by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross; and these very same ones He glorifies, making them like Himself. Furthermore, all this is so certain that it is as good as done.

That’s what it means to be the sheep of His hand. The good, all-powerful shepherd loves you. Amidst all the apparent threats to the flock – the roaring lion of Satan, the wolves of disease and danger, the foolishness and stupidity and wandering that we sheep are prone to – His hand guides us and holds us, lifting us up on His shoulders to bring us back when we wander, fighting off attackers, hindering and ultimately destroying the lion, Satan. By His hand, He brings His entire flock into the fold. And we remain His for all eternity.

Indeed, by His hand He brought you here to read or listen to this sermon.

So come to Him:

  • He is the great king who offers you what no idol can ever grant
  • He created and controls all – including all that happens in your life
  • He can be your You can be His sheep, guided and protected by His hand.

Join that flock. For Jesus says: “Come to me – however weary and burdened you may be. Come to Me – and I will give you rest.”

O That You Would Hear His Voice!

In the second have of verse 7, the tone of the psalm changes dramatically. Indeed, it changes so much that some have wondered if this should be considered a different psalm. But this change of tone is a powerful way to communicate the third command to come. To help us see that, let’s consider briefly a New Testament passage in which Jesus commands a man to come.

In Mark 10:17-22, a man runs up to Jesus – he comes. This man kneels before Him – as Psalm 95:6 tells us to do before God. The man praises Jesus, calling Him “Good teacher.” He then asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus tells him that he already knows the commandments, and then lists several. The man replies, saying he has always kept them.

Now – when we consider the way that Jesus understands the commandments, we know that statement is false (see Matthew 5:17-48). But instead of quibbling with the man’s statement and explaining what obedience to the commandments really means,    Jesus goes directly to the root of the man’s problem. Our Savior looks at him, loves him, and tells him he lacks one thing. Then Jesus gives him five commands:

“Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” (Mark 10:21)

Five commands. What is the one thing he lacks?

  • He has come to Jesus physically.
  • He has fallen before Him and acknowledged His goodness – thus he has worshiped Jesus in some sense.

But He is not following Jesus. He has not come to obey Jesus in all of His life. Indeed, he disobeys Jesus’ explicit command. So he walks away sorrowful.

He has not come to Jesus in obedience. He has not come to hear and obey.

It’s that sense of coming that Psalm 95 refers to in verses 7 to the end.

“Today, if you hear his voice” (Psalm 95:7b ESV)

Or “Today, if only you would hear His voice!” (Psalm 95:7b NIV)

Understand: In Scripture, hearing God implies obedience to Him. Thus Jesus repeatedly says, “He who has ears to ear, let him hear!” (for example, in Mark 4:9, 23). Jesus means: “Don’t just let the words go in one ear and out the other! Take them to heart! Obey them!”

So the NET renders Psalm 95:7b, “Today, if you would only obey Him!”

The psalmist is not saying, “Maybe you’ll hear His voice, maybe you won’t.” Rather, he says: “He has made Himself clear. Listen to Him! Come to Him and obey Him! Follow Him!”

This is thus the third sense in which we are to come to God – the same sense Jesus uses in the story in Mark 10:

  • Come in joyful praise
  • Come in quiet contemplation and worship
  • Come and obey. Come and follow

Verses 8-9 then state this negatively:

Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. (Psalm 95:8-9)

This refers to an incident recorded in Exodus 17. Consider what the people of Israel have experienced:

  • They have seen the ten plagues in Egypt that God used to orchestrate their release
  • They have walked through the Red Sea as if on dry land, while Pharaoh’s army was drowned
  • They have worshiped God joyfully as a result (Exodus 15)

God has proven Himself mighty; He has proven Himself faithful.

But now they are in place with no water. They grumble. They complain, saying to Moses: “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us… with thirst?” (Exodus 17:3)

God tells Moses to strike a rock with his staff – and water miraculously flows out of that rock. God does provide for them.

But they had hardened their hearts.

In what sense?

They had plenty of revelation concerning God’s character and love in both word and deed. Now was the time for faith – a time to remember who God is, to trust that He would once again work for them. This was not a time for demanding further proof that God was for them.

Aren’t we tempted to have similar hard hearts?

  • Hasn’t he given us everything pertaining to life and godliness in His Word?
  • Hasn’t He shown Himself faithful to us, His people over the centuries?
  • Don’t we have thousands and thousands of witnesses to His power, grace, and mercy among people we know and among those who have told their stories?

In 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Paul refers to Exodus 17 and experiences of the people of Israel in the wilderness, saying they are examples for us, written for our instruction, so that we would not be idolators like them, or engage in sexual immorality like them, or put Christ to the test like them, or grumble like them.

Friends, don’t harden your heart against God. Soften it instead. He has told you who He is. He has told you how to be among His people. He has told you the path to life. He has commanded you to come to Him and to follow Him joyfully.

As Proverbs 28:14 tells us: “Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.”

The great majority of the Israelites kept hardening their hearts, kept going astray, and thus never knew God. So Psalm 95 concludes:

For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.” Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”

The very people He had brought out of Egypt and spoken to at Mt Sinai are under His wrath. They cannot come to Him (the Hebrew word translated “enter” in verse 11 is translated “come” in verse 6).

As Hebrew 4 tells us when the author comments on Psalm 95, we must make every effort to enter, to come to His rest. We must quit depending on our own resources; we must quit depending on other, alternate resources. We must come to Jesus for grace, for help, for joy, for fulfillment. We must follow Him in joyful obedience by His Holy Spirit. He provides us with the way to resist temptation. His hand leads us in His ways

Conclusion

“Oh that you would hear his voice!”

Friends: We preach the way we do – opening up passages, sticking closely to the text – so that the voice you hear is God’s, not the preacher’s. You have ears to hear. The sounds of His voice have gone out. Now: You must obey.

Come, then: Follow Him. Obey Him.

  • Don’t be like the Israelites, demanding signs when they have plenty of evidence, plenty of revelation of Who God is.
  • Don’t be like the rich young ruler, saying nice things about Jesus, but rejecting His command and walking away from the only possible Savior.
  • Don’t make excuses for your sin, claiming that God couldn’t expect you to overcome it.

Admit that you are at best the stupid sheep of His hand: Prone to wander – but guided by Him, loved by Him, protected by Him.

Come into His rest.

  • Come! Praise Him with thanksgiving, with lots of noise.
  • Come! Kneel, worship quietly before Him, confessing your sins and accepting His grace in Jesus.
  • Come! Delight to follow Him in obedience, delight to be His sheep – now and forever.

[This is a shortened write up of a sermon preached April 18, 2021. You can listen to the audio at this link.]

 

 

 

O God of Vengeance, Shine Forth!

On Wednesday afternoon April 7, Phillip Adams, armed with two firearms, approached the house of prominent Rock Hill physician Robert Lesslie. He shot two HVAC technicians working at the property. Adams then forced entry into the house, where he shot and killed Dr Lesslie, his wife, and two of their grandchildren, ages 5 and 9. Phillip Adams later killed himself. At this point, apparently no one knows why.

We live in a world where terrible events happen all too frequently. And many feel as if our world is getting worse.

Look around this world, this country, this city – what concerns you? (more…)

What God Tells Us About Himself 6,800 Times

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

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

The Doctrine of Repentance by Thomas Watson

[John Finney recommended this book during a discussion of the April 4 sermon on Peter’s call to repentance at Pentecost (the sermon begins 33:45 into the video of the service). This excerpt contains almost all of Watson’s outline and selected paragraphs – about one-sixth of the book. The entire text is available online; you can order the Banner of Truth paperback edition here – Coty]

[Preface]…

Christians, do you have a sad resentment of other things and not of sin? Worldly tears fall to the earth, but godly tears are kept in a bottle (Ps. 56.8). Judge not holy weeping superfluous…. Either sin must drown or the soul burn. Let it not be said that repentance is difficult. Things that are excellent deserve labour. Will not a man dig for gold in the ore though it makes him sweat? It is better to go with difficulty to heaven, than with ease to hell….

The well-wisher of your soul’s happiness,

THOMAS WATSON
25 May 1668

  1. A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE…

the first sermon that Christ preached, indeed, the first word of his sermon, was ‘Repent’ (Matt. 4:17). And his farewell that he left when he was going to ascend was that ‘repentance should be preached in his name’ (Luke 24:47)….

How is repentance wrought?…

  1. Partly by the word…
  2. By the Spirit…

Ministers are but the pipes and organs. It is the Holy Ghost breathing in them that makes their words effectual…

  1. COUNTERFEIT REPENTANCE…

To discover what true repentance is, I shall first show what it is not….

  1. The first deceit of repentance is legal terror…

(more…)

The Discipline of Daily Declarations

Psalm 92 declares that the righteous will “flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him” (Psalm 92:13b-15).

What leads to that type of flourishing – flourishing not for a day or a year or even a decade, but flourishing in delight in God, in proclaiming His goodness and His support, through the end of your life, even if you should live to 90 or 100? That is: What can you do today to bring about such flourishing many years in the future?

In Sunday’s sermon on this psalm we considered its exhortations to give thanks to God, to praise Him for His love and faithfulness and justice, to sing to Him, to recall His works, and to remember how far He is above us. Indeed, the psalmist tells us it is good to “declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night” (Psalm 92:2). That is, we should make such declarations at all times.

In summary, I suggested we consider doing so also in the morning and evening of our lives – when we are young and old. We thus can commit ourselves to the discipline of daily declarations – stating four reminders every day that encourage us to depend on Him and not on ourselves.

The following four declarations are based on Romans 11:33-36 as well as Psalm 92:

  • First: I can never be God’s counselor – His wisdom is far beyond me. So when oftentimes feeling as if I know better than God how to run the world, or my country, or my life, or the lives of my loved ones, I will humbly acknowledge that He is all wise, and I am not.
  • Second: Everything good in my life is mine only because of Jesus, for I deserve only condemnation. All of us from the time of Adam – except Jesus – do not deserve even to take a single breath. Apart from God’s plan of redemption through His Son, Adam and Eve would have died upon their rebellion against God. To live, to breath, to eat, to grow, to see God’s creation, to have any joy or pleasure – these are all undeserved gifts. And the greatest gift is to be welcomed into God’s intimate family through the sacrifice of Jesus. He is the source of all that is good, whether in us or around us.
  • Third: All those who seem to thrive by turning their backs on Jesus will perish. Though they may flourish for a while, God raises them up only to bring them down – either in this life or in eternity. This reminder guards me from self-pity and envy – what we have in Christ far outweighs any lack we may experience that comes from following Him – and prompts me to witness to His grace.
  • Fourth: I will flourish today and forever only by depending on Him – He is my rock. My task is to depend actively on Him, to turn to Him, to pray to Him, to remind myself of the promises that are all Yes in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20). Apart from Him I can do nothing (John 15:5). This declaration helps protect me from self-righteousness and any sense of superiority over others. As the Apostle Paul says, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7).

I encourage you to modify these or add to them to effectively fight the fight of faith, the fight to depend on God through Jesus. May we all endure in joy in the Lord to the end of this present life – whether that’s tomorrow, next year, or many decades in the future.

 

When is an Attack Not Evil? Suffering in the Apostle Paul’s Life

Psalm 91 includes great promises concerning God’s protection of His people. Verse 10 summarizes them all: “No evil shall be allowed to befall you” (Psalm 91:10). In Sunday’s sermon (video, audio), we considered as examples of the fulfillment of these promises the miraculous deliverance of the Apostle Paul and all his shipmates from a terrible storm, as recorded in Acts 27, and Paul’s statement to Timothy shortly before his certain execution: “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:18 NIV). The Apostle may well have had Psalm 91 in mind when he wrote those words. He clearly does not consider his upcoming execution as an evil attack, but rather God’s providentially bringing his earthly mission to a close, taking him to Himself.

Paul had this understanding concerning the evil acts of evil men for decades prior to his death. Consider the following quotations from the book of Acts and some of Paul’s letters, cited in chronological order (with my comments in square brackets]. The Apostle sees himself as an instrument in God’s hands to be used for His glory. This includes considerable suffering, as promised immediately upon his conversion. But in every difficult encounter, God was with him (Psalm 91:15), working out His good and wise purposes for His church, including the salvation of individuals and people groups.

I encourage you to meditate on these excerpts, and take heart (more…)