Psalm 100 When We're Hurting

When you come to church and something is weighing heavily on your heart, it's hard to sing, isn't it? We'd rather fall silent.

In our confusion or pain we hurt and singing a psalm for giving thanks feels like an impossibility.

Like the old testament saint Job whose story comes to mind so powerfully when we think of the doctrine of providence:

“He took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. And his wife said to him “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die." But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. (Job 2:9-10 ESV)

Job spoke rightly.

Of the way of God and the proper response we are to have as we confront health and sickness, prosperity and poverty.

He spoke of the way of God with humility, reverence, and a profound recognition that God's ways are inscrutable to us – but that God's ways are good and righteous.

Book Recommendation: Sacred Bond

Over at the Modern Reformation website, you can read an interview of the authors of Sacred Bond: Covenant Theology Explored. (interview here)

I've included an excerpt from the interview in order to whet your appetite for this excellent book that we'd highly recommend to you! I (Pastor Norm) have used it as a teaching resource for a course on covenant theology and it was great to see the reception it received among lay-readers! You can buy a copy through Reformed Fellowship. 

---

MR: How will this book impact the way lay Christians read the Bible devotionally?

MB: Our prayer is that reading Sacred Bond will help you know how to read and interpret the Bible more faithfully. Studying God’s covenants has one primary goal: to know God and our relationship with him more fully. Studying the covenants should never be a dry academic exercise. It has immense pastoral and practical value for the Christian. It revolutionizes our approach to Scripture, providing us with helpful categories to understand the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. It shows us that the Bible is actually one book with one story, told on the stage of real human history. It highlights the plotline and central point of Scripture, setting every story in the context of the larger story about Christ. More importantly, it comforts us as we learn that God accepts us not on the basis of our covenant faithfulness but on the basis of Christ’s. It sweetens our fellowship with the Father as we come to know his oath and promises to us, promises that are “yes” and “amen” through the Mediator of the new covenant. It changes our view of the local church as we discover that we are part of God’s covenant community and worship him in a covenant-renewal ceremony every Lord’s Day. It transforms the way we see our children—namely, as the baptized members of God’s covenant of grace. It helps us understand that covenant is not a means to an end, but it is the end itself—the communion between God and his people.

---

Why Do We Gather For Worship?

Michael Horton, Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California writes:

Whenever we gather for public worship, it is because we have been summoned. That is what “church” means: ekklesia, “called out.” …[Public worship] is a society of those who have been chosen, redeemed, called, justified, and are being sanctified until one day they will finally be glorified in heaven. We gather each Lord’s Day not merely out of habit, social custom, or felt needs but because God has chosen this weekly festival as a foretaste of the everlasting Sabbath day that will be enjoyed fully at the marriage supper of the Lamb. God has called us out of the world and into his marvelous light: That is why we gather.

(Taken from Michael Horton’s A Better Way, p.24)

Are You Looking for a Christian Church?

At its heart, the Christian church is committed to the declaration that Christ Jesus is Lord of all. 

We unashamedly want you to hear and believe the message that there is one way to be right with God: by faith in Jesus Christ who came to save us from our sins and grant to us everlasting life that is free from the judgment which is due for sins committed against a most holy God. 

If you've considered attending a Christian church, you are on the right track. We plead with you to come hear the authoritative proclamation of the Word of God with which our hearts and souls are fed every Sunday. Come meet Christ Jesus as he is made known in the Word!

For consider well what C.S. Lewis so helpfully argues for in his classic book Mere Christianity. 

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” 
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

"Fresh Reasons for Doxology" in the "Details of His Saving Plan"

In his recent book on the Westminster Confession of Faith, Dr. Chad Van Dixhoorn writes,

"Many of the topics raised in this confession of faith have deterred the faint-hearted, such as the problem of evil, the divine decrees, and the freedom or bondage of the will. The [Westminster] assembly offers careful sketches on each subject as well as clear counterpoints to associated errors; both new initiates to Christianity and seasoned theologians will find these outlines helpful."

"Why is it not enough to speak simply about being 'saved' or being 'in Christ'? Why must the confession also define 'justification' and 'imputation' and 'forgiveness'? If I am to be candid, it seems to me that one reason for the specificity of the confession has to do with the simple pleasure of its authors. Thoughtful Christians sometimes develop an appetite for God that can become an insatiable desire to discover fresh reasons for doxology.... We are told to rejoice in the details of his saving plan and in the distinct blessings we receive from God and his gospel. Serious students in Christ's school become instinctively equipped to enjoy every brush stroke on the canvas of God's revelation of redemption, and not simply the final effect that the Master has produced."

"The other reason why we see a careful attention to precise terminology in this confession is that labelling can promote learning. We see this in chemistry or grammar. We see this in theology too. Take the doctrine of justification as an example. The Scriptures tell us about a true righteousness being credited to those who do not deserve it and a free gift of forgiveness purchased for sinners. Sometimes the Scriptures tether this credited righteousness to justification, sometimes they tie forgiveness to justification. The authors of this confession, like many Bible readers before and after them, noted these frequent associations of words and ideas and, in this case, concluded that 'justification' must be the Bible's umbrella term for credited righteousness and divine forgiveness, two distinct but united aspects of the one doctrine of justification."

(Quotes from Chad Van Dixhoorn, Confessing the Faith, The Banner of Truth Trust, 2014) Available online here: https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/theology/confessing-the-faith/

Van Dixhoorn's argument that "labelling promotes learning" and that there is a simple pleasure to be found in the careful study of God's Word really resonates, doesn't it?! Do you rejoice in the "details of his saving plan"? Do you enjoy seeing the various brush strokes being laid down in Scripture to describe the ministry and work of our Saviour? Do you find something deeper than curiosity and stronger than wonder at work in your heart as you see the previews of our Saviour's work in the shadows of the Old Testament people, events, and places? 

Let me (Pastor Norm) be one of the many who recommends this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about the Westminster Confession of Faith and the background to each of the articles of the Confession! It's a great resource and tool for growing in your understanding of sound biblical teaching. Highly recommended!

Christians are called to love where they live

A great read by Adriel Sanchez over at Core Christianity about a topic that resonates with any Vancouver or Metro Vancouver resident wrestling with the dynamics of change in our neighbourhoods and the inflow/outflow of folks in our neighbourhoods.

If you have a few minutes for a thought-provoking article, give this a read:

https://corechristianity.com/resource-library/articles/dear-christian-love-where-you-live

Or for an immediate dose of reality, read Proverbs 11:11-12:

By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown. Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent.

(Proverbs 11:11-12 ESV)

(Thanks for the photo, Kyle Ryan on Unsplash)

What happens when you sing the Psalms?

Bradley Johnston, in his book "150 Questions about the Psalter",  insightfully expands on this question:

“Where does the Psalter move our attention as we sing?”

The Psalter moves our attention in a variety of directions as we sing.

It teaches us to focus upon the triune God and his mighty works, to ponder the condition of our own hearts and our affections, to consider the character of God’s people gathered in worship, to behold the nations in their rebellious unbelief, and above all, to cherish the good and sovereign reign of the messianic King. (p 51)

We know intuitively that we generally have a lot on our minds during each day. Nonetheless, in the singing of the psalms our attention is spiritually refocused on these wonderful realities that we are participants in!

Lift your voices and be renewed in your hearts and minds through the praise of His Holy Name!

The Psalter and its Counterparts in our Culture

Writing in the New Yorker, James Wood offers us an interesting take on the contemporary place that the Book of Common Prayer has in our society.

The words persist, but the belief they vouchsafe has long gone. A loss, one supposes—and yet, paradoxically, the words are, in the absence of belief, as richly usable as they were three hundred and fifty years ago. All at once, it seems, they are full and empty. They comfort, disappoint, haunt, irritate, disappear, linger.

The whole piece is worth a read here but it got me thinking about the ways that the Psalter (the 150 Psalms) are similarly looked upon in our contemporary culture. Certain phrases and snippets are printed onto mugs or used in funerals or on condolence cards but our neighbours (Canadian society more broadly) have largely left behind the beliefs which undergird and enliven the Psalms.

As with the Book of Common Prayer and the King James Bible, the Psalter in particular has had a profound impact on the literary and artistic culture that we have inherited. Nevertheless, it is increasingly a foreign and off-putting text which is, in the memorable phrase of James Wood, “full and empty”.

When we faith-full-y sing the Psalms in public worship and read the Psalms together, we are brought into a liturgy of sanctification that transforms us.

While our congregation has never made use of the Book of Common Prayer in a formal manner - and many would be quite unfamiliar with it - the theological content and the manner of expressing our heartfelt repentance for sin, our profound awareness of God’s glory and majesty, and our faithful reception of the mercies of God shown to us in Jesus Christ all find beautiful expression in the phrases and responses of the Book of Common Prayer. And the BCP derives much of its scriptural basis from the 150 Psalms. And where the Word is present, the Lord’s work is continued in us!

Thanks to Denisse Leon for the cover photo on Unsplash

Where's your head at when you sing the Psalms?

Bradley Johnston, in his book "150 Questions about the Psalter",  asks a great question for us to consider together as we worship the Lord and draw upon the wondrous resources found in the Psalms.

He asks a personal and pointed question: “What mindset should singers have as they sing a particular psalm?”

In reply, he writes:

As we sing a particular psalm, we should have a mindset focused clearly upon heaven, where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. We should be consciously lifting our souls to the Lord and praying for the strength and guidance of His Spirit, who enables us to turn away from sin, to rest in God’s abundant provision, and to walk in the ways of righteousness. (p 51)

I don’t know about you but I certainly can attest to the fact that it can be a challenge to adopt this proper mindset while singing the psalms or even in the time leading up to our singing. It’s easy to be distracted (even by the mechanics of singing!) and we can lose sight of the great wonder of bringing our songs before the very throne of God in praise of His Holy and Glorious Name!

May the Lord bless you as you sing!

Ever since... your life changed

“Ever since God exhibited himself to us as a Father, we must be convicted of extreme ingratitude if we do not in turn exhibit ourselves as his sons.

Ever since Christ purified us by the laver of his blood and communicated this purification by baptism, it would ill become us to be defiled with new pollution.

Ever since he ingrafted us into his body, we, who are his members, should anxiously beware of contracting any stain or taint.

Ever since he who is our head ascended to heaven, it is befitting in us to withdraw our affections from the earth, and with our whole soul aspire to heaven.

Every since the Holy Spirit dedicated us as temples to the Lord, we should make it our endeavour to show forth the glory of God, and guard against being profaned by the defilement of sin.

Ever since our soul and body were destined to heavenly incorruptibility and an unfading crown, we should earnestly strive to keep them pure and uncorrupted against the day of the Lord.

These, I say, are the surest foundations of a well-regulated life.”

• John Calvin, Institutes, Book 3 Chapter 6 Section 3