Archive for » January, 2007 «

Knee Bends

Wednesday, January 31st, 2007 | Author:

The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock;  Psalm 18:46

Blessed – What do you get for a man who has everything?  If you thought that was a tough question, try this one:  what do you give to a God Who owns everything?  David gives us the answer:  knee bends.

The Hebrew verb is barak.  It is associated with kneeling, saluting and greeting.  We often think of it as it is translated here – blessing.  But can a man bless God?  Isn’t blessing always an act of the more powerful toward the needy?  Yes, it does have that meaning (see I Kings 8:14), especially when God blesses us (Genesis 17:16).  But there is a case where the opposite is true, not because we are powerful and God is needy but rather because we express our gratefulness and honor toward God by offering a blessing on Him.

Perhaps you’ve never thought about just how odd this is.  Perhaps, because you clearly recognize God’s vast superiority over you, you’ve never said, with David, “I bless you, Lord.”  Perhaps it just seems too comfortable.  Then let’s dig a little deeper and see what this really means.

The Old Testament concept of blessing is not really about a hierarchy of power.  Although it often occurs in this relationship, a blessing is really an invocation to endue another with power, prosperity, longevity and fruitfulness.  All of this is set in the context of the Old Testament’s vision of the world, and that vision begins and ends with the grace and power of God.  In other words, no blessing for anyone is possible at all without God’s primary and initial underwriting of the whole idea of blessing.  That is why the Old Testament opens with God’s sole declaration of blessing over all creation.  He alone is the ultimate source of blessing.  To bless someone is to express your most fervent desire to see the person filled with every good thing.

Now, just because God already has all good things is no reason not to express our desire to honor and esteem Him above all else.  While it’s true that we only offer back to Him what He has already given, the very fact that our hearts overflow with a desire to give it all back with thanksgiving is something of enormous value to God.  It is His desire that all His creation should wish to express joy for Who He is and what He has given, and there is no better way than to return to Him His own blessing, magnifying His name in the process.

So, when the Old Testament vocabulary of prayer reaches its zenith, it includes barak, not as a sign that points from God to Man but rather as a sign that points from God to Man and back to God.  Barak in prayer is the return voyage.  It’s bended knees with hands held high.  “The Lord gives – and I am honored to give back.”  Blessed be the name of the Lord.

 

 

 

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Palm or Fist?

Tuesday, January 30th, 2007 | Author:

and there is no deliverer from My hand Deuteronomy 32:39

Deliverer – I’m not trying to scare you, but you should be scared.  The question about God’s hand is really simple.  Is His hand an open palm or a closed fist?  Does God welcome your attitudes, behaviors and thoughts with open arms, embracing you as a son or daughter of the King?  Or do you feel a different kind of hand – and a terror about what is to come?

Palm or fist.  Nothing about your life is more important than this.  Why?  Actually, it has nothing to do with heaven.  Concern about a palm or a fist begins here, where we are right now.  Heaven can wait.  If you don’t get the right hand sign here, it will be too late to look for it from six feet under.

Of course, once you know the open palm experience of God’s grace, then this verse is powerful affirmation.  If you are held in His grip, no one can tear you away.  That’s what Paul had in mind in that wonderful passage in Romans – neither height nor depth, neither death nor life, neither things present nor things to come (Romans 8:38).  There is no deliverer from the hand of God.  If He holds me, that news is a great and wonderful thing.  If He doesn’t hold me, then I better do something right now.

The Hebrew is matsil, from the root nasal.  Its primary meaning involves the power of one entity to overcome another.  It is often associated with important Hebrew words that mean redeem, release, set free, ransom and rescue.  Certainly Jesus has these words in mind when He said that He came to set us free.  Freedom never meant cutting us loose.  Freedom is being gripped by the God of deliverance.  When I am safely in His hand, then I know what real freedom is.  It is the assurance that nothing can pull me away from Him.  Freedom is being His captive.

This word is like a lot of life’s experiences.  With the right alignment, it is exhilarating and liberating.  With the wrong alignment, it is terrifying.  Paul summarizes this conundrum with the words, “all things work together.”  The only way all things can work together positively is if you know the inside of God’s hand.

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Return to Sender

Monday, January 29th, 2007 | Author:

For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay”  Hebrews 10:30

Repay – You won’t hear much about vengeance from the pulpit today.  One hundred years ago, you would have been shocked not to hear this word in a sermon.  But today we have evolved to a higher moral order where we no longer think that God is a God of retribution.  We have been convinced that love conquers all.  It’s a big mistake!

The truth is that God’s character does not change.  What He hated in the days of Abraham He still hates today.  What deserved punishment in the days of Noah still deserves the same today.  To think otherwise is to assume that the moral fabric of the universe has shifted.  Since God establishes the law of all life based on His character alone, imagining that the rules have changed is real insanity.

In fact, it is the very permanence of the moral order that propels the need for the gospel.  Forgiveness isn’t good news to those who believe sin is simply a curable disease or a cultural oddity.  Forgiveness doesn’t matter much to those who think life ends at the grave. Without the expectation of repayment for my evil deeds and callous behavior, Jesus’ death means nothing. If I am not a sinner, I don’t need Jesus.  Forgiveness only counts if retribution is a reality.  And if retribution is real, then forgiveness becomes life’s most important problem.

This verse uses the word antapodidomi, literally, “to return to the giver.”  There is an allusion to Deuteronomy 32:35, a passage that cements God’s attitude toward those who practice their own moral code.  Justice requires retribution and God promises that He will execute His vengeance on all those who insult His justice.  Think about the implications in this word.  God, the giver of life and all that life provides us, will require it all back.  This is the ultimate RSVP.  There is no option here. 

This verse is not about God’s wrath poured out on terrorists and murderers.  It is about God’s wrath poured out on everyone who fails to honor His character by keeping His law.  It is an RSVP of death.  And it’s for you and me – and everyone else.  The Bible is pretty clear about this.  No one is excused.  There are no “Get out of jail free” cards.  Unless Jesus acts on your behalf, you have only one thing to look forward to – vengeance.  That’s why the good news is so urgent!

Jesus is the ultimate solution to life’s most terrifying expectation.  Aren’t you glad you know Him?

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Upside-Down Prayer

Sunday, January 28th, 2007 | Author:

Therefore, I will rather gladly boast in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may overshadow me.   2 Corinthians 12:9

Boast – First, Paul entreats the Lord.  We know what that means.  It is parakaleo – to call for aid alongside.  In one of those rare occurrences where the word is a synonym for proseuchomai (to pray), Paul tells us that three times he pleaded for aid.  And then he received God’s triumphant answer, “My grace is sufficient.”  Paul realizes that God’s answer requires a different kind of prayer – the prayer of boasting in his weakness.

The word is kauchaomai.  It is almost always used in a bad sense, denoting that self-glorifying proclamation that accompanies arrogance and pride.  Paul himself speaks against prideful boasting in Romans 3:27.  His Jewish heritage reinforces this idea in Proverbs where the Hebrew equivalent is often ascribed to fools and the ungodly. 

With this in mind, imagine how startling it is for Paul to say that he boasts!  Is Paul a fool?  The answer, of course, is, “Yes, I am a fool for Christ.”  Paul takes a word that we would never have associated with godly attitudes and turns it upside-down.  He shows us that when we have nothing of merit in ourselves, God uses our empty worthlessness for His glory.  We can boast as fools, as long as we are boasting in the complete reversal of human effort brought about by the Lord.

What Paul discovered, and what we must also learn, is that prayer is often answered with foolishness.  Prayer is not about me becoming stronger.  It is about my weakness becoming the vehicle of God’s strength.  I do not pray, “Lord, give me power.”  I pray, “Lord, use my weakness to manifest Your power.”

“Lord, I am not able, but You are.  I am not smart enough, but You know.  I am not unwavering, but You are faithful.  Lord, my weakness will overwhelm me unless You manifest Your grace.  I am nothing without You, so use this weak servant who struggles just to be obedient as a vessel of Your glory.  Let me never forget that my weakness is the sacred curse for Your purpose.  And, Lord, let others see Your hand because they recognize my inability.”

It’s not about me.  It will never be about me.  That is why His grace does not repair my weaknesses.  God is most glorified in my flaws.


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Prayer and Retribution

Saturday, January 27th, 2007 | Author:

“So shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”   Matthew 18:35

Not Forgive – Jesus’ parable of the wicked servant who refused to forgive the little owned to him after the king forgave an enormous debt is a chilling story.  It begins with a question each of us asks.  “How many times am I required to forgive someone?”  Peter suggests seven, the perfect number of completion.  Certainly if I forgive someone seven times, I have done my duty!  But Jesus responds with a humanly impossible answer.  No, not seven times but seventy times seven.  Then Jesus tells us the story of this ungrateful slave.  What is the result of the slave’s unwillingness to shed forgiveness on others?  He is handed over to the torturers until the debt is paid in full – in other words, for the rest of his life.

We nod our heads, agreeing that this ungrateful slave needed to be punished.  And then we come to this verse.  It scalds our hearts.  Jesus says that God will deal with us in the same way, delivering us to the torturers, unless we forgive from the heart.  If this doesn’t make you shudder, then you aren’t listening. 

The words in Greek are ean me aphete (if not you forgive).  The construction is important.  This is forgiveness conditioned upon real circumstances.  Jesus is not offering a hypothetical example.  This is not hyperbole, as we are usually led to conclude.  Jesus is quite literally saying that, in real life situations, you are required to forgive over and over and over, just as God, the King, has forgiven.  Why?  We see the answer in the middle of the parable (verse 32).  “I forgave,” says the King, “because you entreated me.”  We know this word.  It is a prayer word.  The slave begged to be released from his obligation and because he begged, the heart of the King was moved to compassion.  The King does not forgive for any other reason.  But here is the twist.  To forgive from the heart is not to forgive simply because compassion compels me to do so.  To forgive from the heart is to forgive because I stand in a relationship with God.  I am asked to act as God does.  I do not forgive because it is the right thing to do.  I forgive because God forgives.

How difficult it is for us to respond like God does!  We have built-in personal advantage tendencies that we must deliberately set aside.  In fact, if we find that we are calculating before forgiving, we will not fulfill Jesus’ requirement (and the  torturers will await us).

There is another implication in this parable that cannot be ignored.  Forgiveness is not conceivable without retribution.  Do you understand this?  Buchsel points out that love is not opposed to retribution.  To claim that the God of love is incompatible with judgment and punishment is to misunderstand the entire gospel.  It is the expectation of retribution that fuels the need for the good news.  And when we forgive, we must never lose sight of this connection.  There is no forgiveness without the possibility of retribution.  To pray for forgiveness is to ask that inevitable retribution be set aside.  God does just that.  So should we.

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Unexpected Absence

Friday, January 26th, 2007 | Author:

“or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”   Matthew 26:53

Appeal – The Hebrew vocabulary is rich in words for prayer.  Every nuance of our relationship with God seems to find its own special word.  So, when we come to this statement by Jesus, clearly indicating a request of the Father, we expect to find a similar breadth of meanings in Greek.  But, amazingly, we don’t.  The word we find here is familiar.  It’s parakaleo (to call alongside), the same root word that Jesus uses to identify the coming Holy Spirit (the Paraclete).  But when we investigate further, we discover the amazing fact that parakaleo is almost never used for calling on God or Christ in prayer.  It finds most of its usage in the action of salvation, calling on Jesus to rescue us from our pitiful, sinful condition.  The idea of exhorting, quite common in ancient Greek literature, is virtually absent from the New Testament.  Instead, we find this word used in connection with calling for aid in missions and admonitions.

Just for a moment, consider how unusual this really is.  Here is a word that could have been incorporated into the prayer language of the New Testament.  It has parallels in Hebrew (like “entreat,” and “cry out”).  But it finds another specialized use – a use that is associated with a particular event rather than with a continual request.  The paradigm of parakaleo is not prayer but rather redemption.  In the New Testament, this Greek word is lifted out of its wider context of making a request and applied to the much narrower context of divine aid of salvation through Jesus.  When parakaleo is used for “asking,” it is found in the act of asking for grace.  When it is used for “exhorting,” it is found in the context of salvation already granted.  Either way, parakaleo becomes a word that defines God’s truest form of comfort – redemption.

It’s such a shame that we are left without a way to clearly see the Greek words behind translations like “appeal.”  That particular translation does help us identify that Jesus is using a word with carefully defined connotations.  If we knew this, we might understand just a bit more the role and the responsibility of the Spirit.  The Spirit does not come alongside for any reason whatsoever.  No, the Paraclete is about parakaleo – ushering in salvation and sanctification, the once-redeemed, daily delivered process that summarizes what it means for God to shed His grace upon us.

Is parakaleo a prayer word?  Yes, it is.  But is it not the kind of prayer word we might imagine.  It is not about asking for our needs.  It is about the specific action of the Spirit, given in grace, which brings us into fellowship with the Father.  So pray with parakaleo in mind, and let the Spirit work in you.

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Prayer in Context

Thursday, January 25th, 2007 | Author:

Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices   Psalm 16:8-9

Rejoices – If you’re going to make a joyful noise to the Lord, then you might be interested in the context of rejoicing.  Every kind of prayer has a context.  Sometimes it’s desperation.  Sometimes it’s trauma.  Sometimes it’s thanksgiving.  Rejoicing is no different.  David gives us the proper context for rejoicing in this verse and in Psalm 2:11.  Both are essential. 

In this verse, David tells us that rejoicing (giyl) is motivated by the unfailing presence of God.  When I realize that God is at my right hand (an idiom for support and strength), I know that the course of my life depends entirely on Him.  That is a foundation that cannot be moved.  Therefore, I will not waver.  Fear of circumstances can be thrust aside.  While the future is not up to me, it is up to God and since He is my strong shield, I have nothing to fear.  From face-to-the-ground humility, I can leap up, raising my hands to heaven in honor of the One Who favors me.  That is my motivation for rejoicing.  The context is all about Who He is, not where I am.  Rejoicing comes about because God can be trusted regardless of my situation.

Jesus in the Garden.  Paul in prison.  Steven about to be stoned.  Joan of Arc at the stake.  Bunyan in prison.  The list goes on and on.  Followers who rejoiced in God’s character in spite of their dire circumstances.  You and I can live in exactly the same context of rejoicing prayer.  God doesn’t change, so why be crushed by life’s trials?  No matter what, it is always worth rejoicing over Him.

To see the other half of the context of rejoicing, take a look at Psalm 2:11.  Rejoicing has some compatriots.  They are called “fear and trembling.”  You see, dancing and shouting and rejoicing before the Lord never loses sight of His awesome majesty.  When we truly rejoice in Who He is, we discover we are in the presence of blinding holiness.  So, sometimes rejoicing feels a lot like terror, not of fear, but of unworthiness.  You might think of Isaiah’s opening words.  Woe is me!  That is also rejoicing.  It is exuberance over the unimaginable power of the God Who calls me His own.

When you pray, do you pray in context?  Are you aware of the surrounding angels singing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty?”

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Prayers of Altitude

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007 | Author:

Exalt the LORD our God and worship at His footstool; He is holy.   Psalm 99:5

Exalt – “See Him high and lifted up.”  Yes, songs can also be prayers.  The Old Testament sees no distinction between songs of praise and prayers of exultation.  We need to blur that distinction too, for prayers that rejoice in the Lord and lift up His name are often jubilant and melodious expressions.  Go ahead.  Sing a prayer to God.

Contemporary churches might seem less entertainment if we just became more Hebrew.  The artificial distinctions we place on religious activities would be erased.  We would discover that prayer spills over from prostrate confession to exuberant singing.  We might even dance before the Lord (careful now J).  With kairos attention, we would suddenly see God’s hand in the strangest places, like parking lots and choir rooms, street corners and budget meetings.  Any place we can lift up God becomes an act of impassioned prayer.

David danced naked before the Lord.  He was soundly criticized.  Today he would probably be excommunicated or arrested.  We have become so civilized that we have forgotten we serve a dangerous and unpredictable God.  Just look at His record – leveling a city with a shout, fighting an army with a handful of men (or even one), sending a messenger who ate locust and, finally, bringing redemption through a Son who was tortured and died.  God is always surprising.  When David says, Rom mu, he emphasizes God’s magnificence.  He shouts it out.  “There is no One like You, O Lord!”  David is on the top of the mountain with the God of the heavens.  I can see him, hands raised, shouting, stomping, jumping, singing at the top of his lungs, making a spectacle of himself – because the glory of God has overwhelmed all his restraint.

Ever pray like that?  You would be in good company.  Set aside all those inhibitions that come with civilized prayer.  Go for God’s gusto.  Make a joyful noise to the Lord.  You might even hear Him laughing and dancing along with you.

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Personal Passion

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007 | Author:

“Did he not fear the LORD and entreat the favor of the LORD, and the LORD changed His mind about the misfortune which He had pronounced against them?”   Jeremiah 26:19

Entreat – What does it mean to entreat someone?  Even in English we have a difficult time expressing this thought succinctly. Certainly the concept involves a gesture of respect, an act of petition, a plea for assistance and a hope for benevolence.  But this does not exhaust the extension of the idea in the Bible.  In fact, this word is the beginning of a special idiom (chilah phanim) that we translate “entreat the favor of.”  It is literally “make gentle the face.”  In other words, this phrase introduces an act that attempts to make God smile.  That’s why you find it used in particularly stressful circumstances when it is very important that the prayers of men cause God to change His mind.

There’s something else that’s interesting about this phrase.  It is not part of the specialized religious language of the Hebrews.  It is not found in the temple language or the language that surrounds the sacrificial system of worship.  It is a phrase that it used by common people, not by the priests.  Making God smile is part of the prayer language of the non-professionals.  It is the kind of thing that you and I do. 

Just think about that.  Why do you suppose the religious aristocracy of Israel doesn’t use this phrase but the laity does?  Do you think it might be because this kind of action is like the action of a child before a father?  You wouldn’t expect to perform an act of humbling petition in front of a stranger, would you?  No, it is far more intimate than that!  To come before God with prayers that hope to make Him smile is to assume a deeply personal and intense bond.  It’s far more than asking for a favor.  It emphasizes an inner expectation that God wants to listen and help.  But it also has desperation in its mood.  I entreat God when I am up against it, when I have reached my last resource.  Did you notice that the verse suggests that attempting to make God smile is associated with the fear of the Lord?  Of course it is!  To fear the Lord is to honor Him as the ultimate authority and supreme ruler of my life.  More than that, He is my loving benefactor.  I seek His face because I know it is good for me to do so.

Have you prayed like this, detaching yourself from the religious rituals, the expected, sanctified vocabulary you hear in church, and opened your heart to the desperation of your soul?  Have you come before your Father expecting to see Him smile?  Have you asked God to change His mind on your behalf because your heart is breaking?  Or are your prayer just to passive too be noticed?

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Sub-Categorical Prayer

Monday, January 22nd, 2007 | Author:

That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving and declare all Your wonders.   Psalm 26:7

Thanksgiving -  Prayer is designed by God.  Does that surprise you?  Everything that works according to His purposes is designed by Him, so why should prayer be any different?  Did you think that just because prayers come from your mouth that the structure and operation of prayer was your invention?  David knows better.  In this psalm, he uses a word to remind us that prayers are part of a categorical system that God alone put in place.  Once we look at the Hebrew word, we discover something else about prayer.  It’s part of a much bigger picture.

David uses the word todah.  It’s the same word found in Leviticus 7:12, where we see it in its proper context.  It is the word for a sacrifice offering under the category of the peace offerings.  In other words, thanksgiving is a sub-category of shalom (peace). 

Let that sink in.  Thanksgiving belongs in the realm of shalom.  That means it is part of the experience of well-being and right fellowship.  It is expressly personal.  Oh, I can be thankful for a good job, a great school, a neighborhood or security, but these are merely circumstantial occurrences.  If my thanksgiving is based on only these sorts of things, then I will never be able to thank God when Job’s messengers come calling.  That’s why the biblical perspective about thanksgiving is grounded in a relationship that does not falter or fail.  Ultimately, my thanksgiving must be about the character of God.  All the rest is subject to change, as life clearly demonstrates.

Read the verse again.  Do you notice that David proclaims God’s wonders – not David’s benefits?  David knew that life could take you from the cave to the throne and back.  He knew that life twisted the greatest warriors for God into disobedient adulterers.  He knew that no man governs his own destiny.  So, he thanks God for Who God is.  And he does it with a word that reminds his readers that God’s real wonder is always found in the divinely established, personal relationship that guarantees well-being no matter what the circumstances are.  Thank God for God.  Without Him, there is no hope of shalom.

When you offer thanksgiving in your prayers, are you thanking God for the benefits you have received?  Are you able to thank Him for your trials and failures too?  Do you thank Him with an eye toward the shalom He is willing to give?

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