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Vanity of vanities

By on May 10th, 2011

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In Proverbs we heard the wisdom of Solomon, here in Ecclesiastes we listen in on his despair.

“The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.  Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”  (Ecclesiastes 1:1-2)

So begins the spiritual journal of the richest, wisest and most famous man of his time.  And yet Solomon’s project is to tell us about “life under the sun”.  That’s a phrase we will consider shortly.  But for now let’s note that Solomon’s perspective will be limited to the here and now.  And if that’s all we have, then life is “vanity of vanities.”

Interestingly, the word for “vanity” is actually the name Abel.  We met him very early in the bible.  He was the first righteous offspring of Adam and Eve.  There would have been great expectations for this offspring of the woman.  And yet, instead of bringing life to the world, he is the first to die – slain by Cain, his brother.

What a picture of this fallen world!  High hopes dashed.  Life under the sun promises much but delivers death.  And so the name “Abel” becomes synonymous with “vanity”, with “meaninglessness.”  When things go wrong, we might say “Murphy’s law”, a Hebrew would say “Abel.”  And if things were really rough it would be “Abel of Abels!!”  This is the outlook of Solomon.

And let’s be clear, if anyone was going to find purpose in “life under the sun” it would be Solomon.  He had all the wealth, power, sex, wisdom and achievements he could possibly pursue.  And he went after them with relentless passion.  First he tried wisdom (Ecclesiastes 1:12-18).  Then came pleasure (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11).  Then work (Ecclesiastes 2:17-26).  Then riches (Ecclesiastes 5:8-20).  Then family (Ecclesiastes 6:1-12).  Nothing satisfied.

I wonder what you think Solomon should have tried?

I remember hearing a sermon on Ecclesiastes as a younger man and commenting to my friend “That man just needed a girlfriend.”  I wonder what that revealed about me?  Whatever we think Solomon needed, that’s where we think life is found.

Well I was wrong about Solomon needing a girlfriend.  1 Kings 11:3 tells us he had 700 wives and 300 concubines!  Solomon never did anything in halves.  And after sucking the marrow from all of life, his constant appraisal was:

“all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”  (Ecclesiastes 1:14; 2:11,17,26; 4:4,16; 6:9)

Both “vanity” and “spirit” can mean “breath or wind”.  A more modern translation calls Solomon’s pursuits “a chasing after the wind.”  It’s like trying to catch your shadow.  It’s like running after a rainbow.  The goal is always out of reach and the ending is always empty.

This is life under the sun.  And Solomon lays bare its pointlessness.  Every time we are tempted to say “Yes but what about this“, Solomon replies “Been there.  Done that.  Got the T-shirt.  Vanity!”  The reader is brought to despair along with Solomon and to yearn for a life that is not just “under the sun.”

But for that to be a real hope and not just wishful thinking there will have to be an answer to Abel.  And in that answer, there will have to be a fulfilment of spirit?

This is exactly what Jesus brings.  He is the true Righteous One – the Offspring of the woman.  And though He too was slain, yet He rose again to give hope beyond the vanity of our death-bound world.  What’s more, He is filled with the Spirit of Wisdom (as we saw in Proverbs).  And He will give His Spirit to all who seek Him.

Life is not found in sex, money, power, fame, family or accomplishments.  Such things are a chasing after the wind.  Yet Jesus stands as the Fulfilled Man – Filled Full with the Life-Giving Spirit and overflowing to us.  To those weary of “life under the sun” He says:

If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.  But this spake he of the Spirit.  (John 7:37-39)

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Spare the rod and spoil the child

By on May 10th, 2011

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This phrase is biblical in origin, but distilled through the poetry of Samuel Butler:

“Love is a Boy,
by Poets styl’d,
Then Spare the Rod,
and spill the Child.”

In 1662 “spill” was an alternative spelling for “spoil.”  But it seems that Butler relied on a yet more ancient poet.  In 1377 William Langland wrote:

“Who-so spareth ye sprynge, spilleth his children.”

But both of these were drawing on the book of Proverbs which speaks often of disciplining “thy son” with “the rod” (see verses here).  Perhaps the closest that Proverbs gets to this actual phrase is Proverbs 13:24:

He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

Why this emphasis on the “rod” of discipline?

Well, first of all remember that Proverbs is a fire-side chat between the King and his son, the crown prince.  The son who will face “the rod” is no ordinary son!

Second, think of how the “rod” is used throughout the bible.

The word appears first in Genesis 49:10 (though the King James translation renders it as “sceptre”).  Here is a wonderful prophecy of Christ’s coming as universal King:

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Here the rod (or sceptre) is being passed from king to king to king “until Shiloh come” – and He will be a universal Ruler.  That’s interesting, because mostly in the bible if someone comes at you with a “rod” you are about to get a beating.  But, according to this first Scriptural mention, when the dying king comes at his son with the rod, he is passing on the rule.

And so the “rod” combines glory and suffering.  We see the glory of the sceptre and the suffering of the “rod”.  The glory of the crown prince juxtaposed with the suffering of his discipline.

Well the rod continues to be spoken of in the bible.  In Exodus it’s the staff by which Moses rules.  But it’s also used to “strike” Egypt with plagues, to “strike” the Red Sea and to “strike” the rock so that water will flow for the people.  Again we see how the rod is both sceptre and club!

When we come to 2 Samuel 7, David is given a prophecy about the Future King – “Shiloh” – to Whom the sceptre will be handed:

12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. 14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: 15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. 16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

Even for Jesus – in fact, especially for Jesus – the sceptre will mean a rod.  Obviously verse 14 is not referring to Christ having committed iniquities.  The word “commit” is not there in the Hebrew.  But Jesus did take our sins to Himself and was punished with the rod on our behalf.

And here’s what it means: Even for Christ the sceptre meant suffering.  The Crown Prince of Heaven inherits His rule only through the cross.  He would hold the rod because first He was struck by it.  Now that we are in Him, we cannot expect to enter glory via any other route:

Jesus [was] crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death  (Hebrews 2:9)

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;  (Hebrews 5:8-9)

Not even the Eternal Son is spared the rod.  Therefore…

My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?   (Hebrews 12:5-7)

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New Book and New Video – now in High Definition

By on May 9th, 2011

For those who read via RSS feed you may be unaware of two new “King’s English” adventures. (See the new home page).

We’ve produced a video in which I say 100+ King James phrases to camera (in rhyming couplets of course!)  The new high definition version can be found here.  Feel free to use in churches or elsewhere to promote bible-events.  And please do share it on social media if you can.

I’ve also written a little evangelistic booklet in which I take 12 phrases and, through them, tell the story of the whole bible. It’s one to be enjoyed and passed on to a friend.  It’s online as a free pdf here.  Or you can order a paper copy here.

Share the word!

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A soft answer turneth away wrath

By on May 8th, 2011

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Why doesn’t God simply forgive us of our sins?  Why the mess and the agony of the cross?  Why the elaborate nature of atonement – prefigured through millions of animal deaths, and then purchased by the death of Christ Himself?

Surely God could go to our sin folder, hit “Select all” and drag it into the Recycle Bin.  Surely the whole sorry mess could be quickly and clinically deleted forever.

Yet if a person thinks forgiveness can ever work like that, they’ve clearly never tried it for themselves.  Forgiveness is always painful, costly, messy, heart-wrenching. Forgiveness is always deeply sacrificial.  Consider this verse from Proverbs:

A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.  (Proverbs 15:1)

Have you ever been in an argument where you’re exchanging grievous words with another.  As this verse describes it, anger is being “stirred up”… and stirred up… and stirred up.  A truly vicious cycle develops as you both descend into greater harshness.  In such a situation, what is it like to answer the other person with genuine gentleness?  If they have spoken “grievous words” which Proverbs 12:18 says are “like piercings of a sword” – what is it like to make “a soft answer”?

It is painful, it is hard, it is a wrench, it is a sacrifice. It is not just water off a duck’s back. It is not like dragging some “sin files” into the Recycle Bin.  It is not a simple matter of forgiving and forgetting – it involves sacrifice.

And this proverb describes it is as a sacrifice. You see the phrase ‘turneth away wrath’ is a special phrase in the bible that’s almost always associated with sacrifices.  It is blood sacrifices that turn away wrath.  That’s how atonement works.  Anger is turned away from you because it’s turned on the sacrifice.

And Proverbs says: if you’re in an argument and you answer someone gently it’s like being a human sacrifice!  If we’ve ever tried it, we know that’s how it feels.  Forgiveness is always sacrificial.

And nowhere is this more true than at the cross. The bible describes the cross as the place where Jesus turns away God’s wrath (Romans 3:25; 1 John 4:10).  At the cross the wrath of God is turned away from us and turned onto Jesus.

So here’s a way of thinking about the cross.  Imagine all our harsh words against heaven.  Imagine our grievous rebellion, like sword-thrusts that pierce the heart.  And now think of the “soft answer” of Jesus.  He receives the blow, He refuses to lash back, He opens wide His arms and absorbs our hatred.  In this way He turns away wrath.

His grace heals and restores us.  But it is so costly to Him.  To give us peace, He must take wrath.

There no such thing as simple forgiveness.  It is always sacrificial.  So it is with the ultimate atonement – and so it will be with every reconciliation we make.   As we look to Christ crucified we draw strength from Him to make our own soft answers.  It hurts, but it’s the only peacemaking power in the world:

Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.  (Romans 12:21)

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Trust in the LORD with all thine heart

By on May 7th, 2011

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This is many people’s favourite Scripture.  It was the verse written by my mother into my confirmation bible:

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:4-5)

I wonder what approach you take to the question of guidance.

Some people approach guidance like a tight-rope walker.  They think life is all about making the right choices.  There’s one best path for them and if they miss it, they’ve fallen off God’s will for their life.  Is that how you think about guidance?

The other approach is the boundary keeper.  This person thinks life is all about cutting loose. Essentially there are some boundaries out there.  But as long as they’re not breaking any major commandments they get on and choose what they please.

Are you more of a tightrope walker or a boundary keeper?

Both are wrong. And these verses from Proverbs tell us why.

The very first phrase takes us into a completely different realm.  “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart.”

This is about confidence – not the fear of the tightrope-walker.  And it’s about love – not the detachment of the boundary-keeper.  You see, neither the tight-rope walker nor the boundary-keeper are thinking in personal terms.  They’re too busy “getting it right” or “doing their own thing” to bother with relationship.  But as we saw yesterday – the essence of wise living is to be joined to a Person called Wisdom.  We are not on a tight-rope, nor in a wide-open plain.  We’re in a relationship – a trusting, heart-to-heart relationship.  This is the context for guidance.

Once we’re clear on this, Solomon continues with a note of wonderful freedom:

In all thy ways acknowledge him.

The verse doesn’t say “As you travel along God’s one and only path…”  It says “In all thy ways…”

You see we do have different ways that we can travel.  And they are truly our ways.  Jesus lets us own our own decisions.  He entrusts us with wonderful freedom here.  So, again, the tight-rope walker is wrong.

But as the verse continues, we see that the boundary-keeper is wrong also.  “In all thy ways acknowledge him.”  Literally “acknowledge” is just the word “to know” him.  Whatever path we take we are to walk it with the LORD in order to know Him better.

So, Take the job, don’t take it.  Marry the person, don’t marry them.  But whatever you do, know the LORD.  The point is not so much to make the right decision.  The point in all our decisions is to know Jesus better.

It’s interesting that so much tightrope-walking is a rejection of relationship in order be right. And so much boundary-keeping is a rejection of relationship in order to be free. But the Christian makes decisions not to be right and not to be free, but in order to know Jesus better.

And in that context, Solomon gives us a promise: “and he shall direct thy paths.”  Doors will open up, other options will close down.  He will redeem old mistakes and simplify new options for the future.  He will take care of the path.  We are simply to keep our eyes on Him.

No wonder these verses are precious to so many:

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3:4-5)

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The words of the wise

By on May 6th, 2011

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We’ve seen Job and the Psalms, now the books of “wisdom literature” continue as we turn to the book of Proverbs.   Here we have a long and colourful fireside chat.  It’s the words of a father to his son.  Verse 1 introduces us to the father:

“The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel”

We already know about the wisdom of Solomon.  Verse 8 tells us who he’s addressing:

“My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother.”

Solomon keeps saying, over twenty times in this book, “My son“.  The King is addressing the crown prince.  Essentially he is offering “the words of the wise and their dark sayings” (Proverbs 1:6).  This isn’t a philosophical treatise (not as we would understand it anyway).  These “dark sayings” are riddles to be chewed over and reflected upon.

Too often people dip into Proverbs the way they might sample “pick and mix” sweets.  Those bite-sized proverbs – especially of chapters 10-31 – seem ripe for the plucking, a handy snack for Christians on the go.  People imagine that they can throw a dart at the book and come up with an apt aphorism.  But these are not the “fortune cookies” of the bible.  These are “dark sayings” – riddles – given from the King to his son.

This means that,

1) They must be chewed over thoughtfully, not gobbled in a hurry,

2) They are first words which are addressed to the crown prince, and not to us, and

3) The last twenty chapters (where the bite-sized proverbs appear) must be read in the light of the first ten.

And in the first ten there is one message which the King drums into his son above all others: Watch out for the ladies!

In particular there are two ladies the son needs to watch.

There’s a lady called Wisdom.  She is magnificent, she is heart-captivating, she is beautiful, she is more precious than rubies, she brings the “favour of the LORD” into your life, she is everything you need.

Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.  Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.  Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom:  (Proverbs 4:5-7)

And throughout the book, Wisdom and the good wife are spoken of almost interchangeably.  A good wife is also “more precious than rubies” (Proverbs 31:10).  A good wife also brings “the favour of the LORD” (Proverbs 18:22).  The young prince needs to marry Wisdom.

But there’s another lady.  She’s described like this,

A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing.  (Proverbs 9:13)

Here is a woman who is folly itself.  She is loud, flashy, deceptive, seductive and deadly.  She is the original femme fatale.  If you get her you lose everything.  Therefore avoid her, ignore her, resist her, don’t be seduced, don’t be ensnared by her.

And so folly is spoken of, almost interchangeably, as an adulterous woman.  Chapters 5-7 weave together warnings against folly with warnings against adultery.

So this is the message of the King:  My son, watch out for the ladies.  Embrace Wisdom, shun Folly.

According to Proverbs, success in life is not ultimately a matter of the intellect.  Nor is success about the will.  No, Wisdom and Folly are matters of the heart.

Solomon says to the prince in Proverbs 4:23

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

The heart is our wellspring.  What we love will flow out into every area of life.

Or perhaps we should say who we love.  Because Wisdom is very definitely a Person.  She is Lady Wisdom.

Chapter 1 introduces her like this:

Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: 21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, 22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? 23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.  (Proverbs 1:20-23)

She has words to speak, a reproof to give and the spirit of Wisdom to offer. Who is she?

Well she will be very attractive to the crown prince.  In Proverbs 8 she says,

By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.  (Proverbs 8:15)

She empowers kings.  But she is not just the Wisdom of rulers, she is the Wisdom of the cosmos.  In chapter 8 she speaks of her role in creation:

30 Then I was by [the LORD], as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; 31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. 32 Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways. 33 Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. 34 Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. 35 For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.  36 But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.  (Proverbs 8:30-36)

As the crown prince hears these words, his heart is to be won by Wisdom.  Wisdom will be his true partner, the one by whom he will rule.

If we imagine ourselves at the Father-Son fireside chat, it’s obvious who Wisdom represents.  Wisdom is the eternal Spirit, the Son’s true Partner, the One by Whom He will rule.

But what about us?  We are not the crown prince.  Can we expect to know Wisdom for ourselves?  And how?  Well the Apostle Paul has good news:

[Ye are] in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom  (1 Corinthians 1:30)

The Spirit belongs to Christ.  But if we belong to Christ, we get Wisdom.  So as we read Proverbs, we read it in Christ.  Therefore Christ is made unto us Wisdom.

This means that the Christian hears Proverbs 8:35 from Christ’s lips – and here is the key lesson for the book, in fact for the whole bible:

For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.

Forget “fortune cookie” aphorisms.  These are the most fundamental “words of the wise.”  Come to Christ and share in His Spirit.  Whatever else you get in life, get Wisdom!

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Praise the LORD

By on May 5th, 2011

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The book of Psalms concludes the way all things will conclude – with noisy, joyful praise.  Psalm 150:

“Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.  Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.  Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.  Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.  Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.  Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.”  (Psalm 150)

Here the Psalmist invites the whole world – everything with breath! – to praise God.  How do we feel about that command?

Because it is a command.  It’s in the imperative.  “Praise ye the LORD!”

One person who struggled with such a heavenly dictate was CS Lewis.  In “A word about praise” from his Reflections on the Psalms, he wrote:

When I first began to draw near to belief in God and even for some time after it had been given to me, I found a stumbling block in the demand so clamorously made by all religious people that we should ‘praise’ God; still more in the suggestion that God Himself demanded it. We all despise the man who demands continued assurance of his own virtue, intelligence or delightfulness; we despise still more the crowd of people round every dictator, every millionaire, every celebrity, who gratify that demand. Thus a picture, at once ludicrous and horrible, both of God and His worshippers, threatened to appear in my mind. The Psalms were especially troublesome in this way.

Lewis found something of an answer to this stumbling block when he noted the universality of worship:

The world rings with praise — lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game…  [And] just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it: ‘Isn’t she lovely? Wasn’t it glorious? Don’t you think that magnificent?’

So then praise is not alien to us at all.  In fact our species could be better labelled homo adorans – we are worshippers.  Why?  Lewis answers:

…I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; …to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with. . . .

Here’s what Lewis is saying.  When I declare that “I love you”, I’m not simply updating you on the state of my affections.  Instead, when I express my love, that is a part of that love.  The love overflows into expression.  It would be less than true love if it remained unexpressed.

And so it is with God.  To know the God for whom we are made must mean praise.  But the must is not written in stone – it’s written into the nature of reality.  A smiling grandchild, a gorgeous sunset, a spine-tingling performance simply does elicit a joyful, heart-felt response.  Indeed we must praise the praiseworthy.  We can do no other.

Lewis continues…

If it were possible for a created soul fully… to ‘appreciate’, that is to love and delight in, the worthiest object of all, and simultaneously at every moment to give this delight perfect expression, then that soul would be in supreme beatitude…  To see what the doctrine really means, we must suppose ourselves to be in perfect love with God — drunk with, drowned in, dissolved by, that delight which, far from remaining pent up within ourselves as incommunicable, hence hardly tolerable, bliss, flows out from us incessantly again in effortless and perfect expression, our joy is no more separable from the praise in which it liberates and utters itself than the brightness a mirror receives is separable from the brightness it sheds.

What do you make of Lewis’s argument?  For me it’s promising but ultimately I’m left disappointed.  You see I am not this “drunk… drowned… dissolved” worshipper.  I am not in “supreme beatitude” and I can’t really imagine the state – no matter how evocative his descriptions. I’m left feeling that “praising the LORD” seems a really good idea for someone.  But I can’t imagine that person being me.  Not given the state of my sluggish heart.

Well there’s good news here.  Because there is Someone “in supreme beatitude.”  In fact there is a Blessed Man.  And in Psalm 22:22 He speaks to God as our Vicarious Worshipper:

I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.  (Psalm 22:22)

Calvin, commenting on this verse, called Christ ‘our heavenly Choirmaster’ who tunes our hearts to sing God’s praises.  He is the King who truly praises the LORD.

What a relief!  Because, left to myself I do not, I cannot, praise God as I ought.  I am not a white-hot worshipper like the Psalmist.  And I can’t whip up such intense passion.

But first I need to see that the Psalmist is my Priest and King.  He is “drunk… drowned… dissolved” in love for God.  He has always been the Man after God’s heart.  For now I will say my Amen to His worship, even before I feel it.  Though the Praise-Worthy might not elicit my praise, I allow the Praise-Giver to offer my response.  And I watch as He shows the way.

Christ is like the first Dancer onto the floor, moved by the Music, laughing and clapping and dancing as we never could.  The more we watch Him dance, the more our foot starts to tap, then we start clapping.  Pretty soon we’ll link arms and join in.  The Music itself should get us on the dance floor.  But in fact the Music never does – not really.  It’s the Dancer who inspires, who links arms and who leads.

And He says “Praise ye the LORD!”  If this command came merely from the prayer diary of an ancient near eastern poet it could only judge your apathy.  But it’s not.  The Psalmist is your King.   This is Christ your Substitute, your Priest, your Vicarious Worshipper.  He bears your name on His heart as He praises the LORD in joyful abandon.  For now just allow Him to offer the praise you cannot find in yourself.  In time you’ll join the dance.

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At their wits' end

By on May 4th, 2011

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There’s a saying: “Most people only look up when they’re flat on their backs.”  It’s proved in the bible time and again.  And this phrase “at their wits’ end” is a perfect description for where people find Jesus.  Or rather, where He finds them.

“Wits’ end” is quite a creative translation from the AV.  If Psalm 107:27 was rendered more literally  it would say, “all their wisdom was swallowed up / ruined”.  But “at their wits’ end” is brilliantly pithy.  And it’s stuck.  Modern translations can’t seem to improve on the saying and it has certainly passed into common parlance.

When a person is out of ideas and out of hope they are “at their wits’ end.”  In the Psalm it’s a mighty storm that brings people to this point.

(It’s worth knowing that storms are symbols of chaos, of disorder, of trouble in life):

“They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.   Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!”  (Psalm 107:23-31)

Here is an eerily accurate prophecy of the storm which Jesus calms in Mark 4.  The disciples – led by hardened fishermen – set sail, confident in their years of experience on the Sea of Galilee.  The wind gets up and we can imagine them steeling themselves and pressing on.  The waves crash into the boat.  Well, no matter, they can bail themselves out.  They start to sink.  But never fear, they can navigate it.  They start throwing cargo overboard.  Whatever the storm dishes up, they determine to handle.  The storm is not beyond them.  So they think.  Until at some point it all gets too much.  “They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble.” (Psalm 107:27-28)

The word “then” is very revealing.  The LORD is not their first port of call but their last.  But, wonderfully, He doesn’t hold this against them.  Immediately “he bringeth them out of their distresses.  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.”  (Psalm 107:28-29).  This is precisely what Jesus does in Mark 4.  He simply speaks to the wind and the waves and brings instant calm.

The disciples are not equal to the storm.  But they find that Jesus is infinitely superior to the storm.  And when He proves it, He leaves His people staggered and breathless, asking “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41).

With Psalm 107 before us the answer is obvious: He is the LORD.  But as the disciples come to terms with having God in the boat with them “they feared exceedingly” (Mark 4:41).  Of course they feared exceedingly, they are face to face with Someone more powerful than a hurricane.  Jesus is the LORD.

But most frightening of all is this – He’s the LORD who doesn’t always bring “plain sailing.”  In fact He “raiseth the stormy wind”.  That is such a confronting truth.  Many times Jesus sets sail for rough seas.  He even creates the rough seas!

Why?

Because He’s the LORD who is known best in storms.  Think of it this way:  Did the disciples know Jesus before the hurricane?  Yes, to a degree.  But did they know Him after the hurricane?  With awe and wonder they cry out “What manner of man is this!”  “Wits’ end” experiences can have a unique ability to reveal Jesus.  There’s a sense in which we only begin to know Him as LORD when we come to the end of ourselves.

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As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth

By on May 3rd, 2011

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Psalm 103 gives us a sobering contrast between the life of man and the love of God.  One is extremely fragile and short-lived, the other is eternal and unchanging:

“As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.  For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.  But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children.”  (Psalm 103:15-17)

The actress in her dream role, the athlete breaking all records, the musician with the world at his feet – they are like a brilliant bluebell.  They dazzle, they bring joy and delight.  They reflect the glory of the Word, their Maker.  They seem so full of life.  But it only takes the wind to change and they’re gone.

It’s not that our lives are pointless or a sick joke.  Flowers of the field are not pointless – they are delightful.  They testify to an extravagant God who lavishes His world with beauty at every turn.  Human life is not a cruel joke.  But it is brief. So very, very brief.

As quickly as the seasons change so the actress loses her looks, the athlete breaks down and the world turns away to the next great musician.   And so soon those bodies will be compost for the flowers their lives resembled.

We may erect monuments in honour of the dead, but it doesn’t take long before our place “shall know it no more.”  In spite of the tombstones, I don’t know the names of my great-grandparents.  And my great grandchildren will not know mine.  We don’t even live on in the memories of those that are left.  Those memories are just as ephemeral as we are.

This is the fleeting flourishing of the flesh.

BUT — verse 17 continues — the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him.  Now that is quite a claim!  For such insubstantial apparitions as us there is an eternal reality to belong to.  For we withering bluebells, there’s a merciful love that goes on forever.

But did you notice that this merciful love does not just last eternally into the future, did you notice that such love has been upon us “from everlasting”?  The love of God does not just preserve the God-fearer to all eternity.  It is upon the God-fearer from all eternity.

How can that be?

I was not in existence from everlasting.  How can the love of God be on me from eternity past?

Well the stunning answer of the bible is this:  God the Father loves me with the very love which He has for His eternal Son, Christ.  You see only Christ could be said to be loved “from everlasting to everlasting.”  If such a love is upon me it can only be because God’s love for me is His love for His Son.

When the beloved Son came to take flesh He opened His arms to the world to draw us into His life.  God-fearers (another name for believers) become incorporated into Christ, and in Him we could not be more secure.  Now that we are in Jesus, God’s love for us is not like His love for Jesus.  God’s love for us is not based on His love for Jesus.  God’s love for us is His love for Jesus.  We are so identified with Christ that we are loved by God as the eternal Son.  If we are in Christ then we share in something unbreakably, unwaveringly, unimprovably wonderful – the everlasting love of God.

This is incredible news.  Perishing plants like ourselves can get grafted into the true Vine, Jesus Christ.  In Him we participate in a love without beginning and without end.

No wonder the Psalm ends with rapturous praise:

Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.

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Strength to strength

By on May 2nd, 2011

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The way we think about it, careers, businesses and sports teams go from “strength to strength.”  And usually they go from “strength to strength” because of hard work and perseverence.

But in Psalm 84 both those assumptions are challenged.

First of all, it is God’s people who go from “strength to strength.”  (Psalm 84:7)  Now isn’t that an attractive thought?  We speak of impersonal things – like the stock market – going from strength to strength.  But our personal experience is the exact opposite.  In our “green salad days” we might be full of life and vitality.  But isn’t it true that we go from “strength to weakness“??  How can we go from strength to strength?  Such a trajectory goes against everything we know in nature.  How can it be?

Well listen to the context…

Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee… They go from strength to strength  (Psalm 84:5-7)

If I told you I was rich you would expect my riches to be in my possession.  If I said that my money was in someone else’s account you might not call me wealthy.  But what if I had a relationship with that person?  And what if I’ve entrusted the money to them, to be received back with interest?  Then you might say my money will go from wealth to wealth!

So it is with strength.  The Christian has no strength in themselves.  Indeed they step out into the world looking just like their Lord.  They turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile, forgive their enemies and answer evil with blessing.  It looks very weak.  But actually they have entrusted their strength to a Lord who, by His cross and resurrection, knows how to turn such weakness into strength.

In all our weakness, our prayer is verse 9:

Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed

Our strength is not in ourselves.  We do not protect ourselves. But we have a Shield in heaven who is strong enough for all of us.  Another name for Him is our Anointed – the Messiah.  He is our protection and strength.  So He is the One to whom we look.  Just as the Father entrusts all things to Christ, so we entrust ourselves (our strength) to Him.

This is an investment that will pay eternal dividends.

I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.  (1 Timothy 1:12)

And in the meantime:

though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.  (2 Corinthians 4:16)

The whole world follows the pattern of “strength to weakness,” because the whole world believes the lie of “strength in ourselves”.  But the Christian is different.  We know “strength in Christ.”  And therefore we experience “strength to strength” – now and forever!