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Have Yourself a Merry Little Postmill – Christmas Eve Service (Doug Wilson)

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The point this evening is not to load your Christmas down with any exegetical postmill work, which has been done elsewhere. This is just intended as a simple word of Christmas encouragement—I do not seek to persuade you in these few minutes, but rather to embolden you.

It may well be that you even call yourself postmill and are happy to say that it is your doctrinal stance. You certainly live in a community that is characterized by postmill teaching and expectations. Well and good, but it may still be possible that this goon show of a century has gotten you down a time or two.

Your eschatology may say that the name of the Lord will be great among the Gentiles, from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same (Mal. 1:11). Your doctrinal commitments may well affirm that the earth is going to be filled up with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14). The books on your shelf may well argue that the root of Jesse will be raised up as a standard, and all the Gentiles shall seek Him (Is. 11:10). Yes, certainly.

But the last time you checked, dudes could marry dudes, teens were being legally mutilated in the name of pronoun madness, and half the population believes that if we raise our taxes and give more power to the EPA, the government promises to fix the weather.

It is easy, in other words, to come to feel like a thick fog can somehow erase the sun, moon and stars. This is a possible discouragement even in our postmill circles. And so this message of Christmas grace is that our sovereign God has stooped down to us in order to remind us how transient evil is, and how permanent His goodness is. Christmas is a stiff breeze that demonstrates that a fog is a lot easier to scrub than the sun, moon and stars are.

But when you look for God to move, remember that He doesn’t do things the way we would have predicted. Take, for example, how He established the first beachhead of His everlasting kingdom in an animal’s food trough. Who among us would have called that move beforehand?

“Of the increase of his government there will be no end.” But we should know by now that we do not define increase the same way that He does. John the Baptist said that he was going to decrease, while the Lord was going to increase. But then what did that increase look like? It looked like agony in the Garden, and a flogging, and spittle in the face, and a crown of thorns. He will increase, but you must read all the way through to the end.

After God had spoken all His raw materials into existence, speaking to a darkness that was nothing at all, that created matter was still shrouded in darkness. And so at that point, what was the first thing God ever said in this world? “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). He simply said light, and there it was. And so when the earth was an inchoate and shapeless mass of dark matter, when darkness was over the face of the deep (Gen. 1:2), all He did was simply speak.

This created darkness was His raw material, and it provided the apostle Paul with a marvelous illustration for God’s power over a different sort of darkness—the darkness of our rebellious iniquity.

“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

2 Corinthians 4:6–7 (KJV)

The created darkness of the shapeless void and the rebellious darkness of mankind’s sin and rebellion have this one thing in common. Neither one can resist the voice of God’s authority when that authority says anything like, “Let there be light.”

Tiglath-pileser, Caesar Augustus, Herod, Pilate, Sanballat, Shalmaneser, Pharaoh, Bismarck, Napoleon, Attila the Hun, Woodrow Wilson, Genghis Khan, what are they? They are all of them principalities and powers who breath through the nose. Let there be light.

Pornography, propaganda, pandemics, police states, what are they? Let there be light.

Darwinism, socialism, feminism, egalitarianism, fascism, environmentalism, mysticism, what are they? Let there be light.

The God who spoke the cosmos out of nothing is certainly capable of speaking a new cosmos out of the old one. He can make sons of Abraham out of rocks, remember.

So when you look around at all the black rock of man’s iniquitous folly, you should certainly look straight at it without flinching. You should confess that it is in fact an enormous amount of iniquitous folly, all of it dark, bent, and twisted rock. But never forget that you are also looking at God’s own quarry, from which He is going to speak into existence a cathedral of light, built entirely out of living stones, and the pavers all made from transparent gold.

So the Christmas message is much more than the fact that God conquers and overcomes evil. He does do that, but there is a greater mystery involved. The Christmas message is that God is in the process of creating something marvelous, using evil as His raw material. All the laws, and conspiracies, and plans, and movements, and resolutions, and plots . . . all the things that have us so worried . . . are nothing but scraps on His workshop floor.

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

Luke 12:32 (KJV)

And what a glorious kingdom that will be. That kingdom of light, inhabited by children of light (Eph. 5:8) . . . where did it start? That kingdom of light began in those pitch-black nights that enveloped Bethlehem, and the shepherds, and the sheep, and the wise men.

It was truly dark. But the star wasn’t.

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Veiled in Flesh the Godhead See (By Prophet Bards Foretold #4)

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INTRODUCTION

We have emphasized in the past that the gospel consists of two aspects—the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The first has to do with who He is, and the second aspect concerns what He has done. Regarding the person of Christ we confess that He is YHWH come in the flesh, Jehovah Incarnate. With regard to His work, we are talking about His life of sinless obedience, His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the dead. What did the Messiah do? He became one of us, only without sin, and He was crucified, buried, resurrected and crowned in Heaven. And who was it that did this thing? It was Emmanuel—God with us. 

This incarnate reality is closely connected with various Old Testament prophecies concerning the Lord’s nativity. Let’s consider some of them now. 

THE TEXT

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:6–7). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Remember that this passage is just a few verses down from our earlier text, the one that predicted that a virgin would conceive. That prophecy received a double fulfillment—first when Isaiah’s wife gave King Ahaz a sign, and the second coming to pass when Gabriel to Mary with his message. All of that took us into Isaiah 8. Here in Isaiah 9, we see that Galiee of the Gentiles will see a great light (vv. 1-2). And then a few verses below that, the prophet Isaiah opens up and starts delivering stupefying truths.

We need to take this whole passage in together. Taken together, you have something that requires the tight theology hammered out at Chalcedon. This is why we hail “the Incarnate Deity.” We are talking about incarnation—true humanity. But we are also talking about the eternal God being the one who becomes incarnate.

First, the humanity—a child is born (v. 6), a son is given (v. 6). He will be named (v. 6). He will sit on the throne of David, meaning He is descended from David (v. 7).

But what names are included? He will be called “mighty God” (v. 6). He will be called “everlasting Father” (v. 6). He will rule on His throne “forever” (v. 7). This is a man, but no ordinary man. 

“Mighty God” is a title that is assigned to the Lord Himself. See the next chapter (Is. 10:20-21). Consider Deuteronomy 10:17. The Lord your God is the mighty God. God is the great, the mighty, the awesome God (Neh. 9:32). The great and mighty God is the one whose name is the Lord of hosts (Jer. 32:18).

Everlasting Father: This is not a Trinitarian reference, where the Second Person is being confused with the First Person. But it is an ascription of Deity. Whatever else it is, He is everlasting. The image is one of a benevolent protector and provider (Is. 22:21; Job 29:16), which describes the behavior of an ideal king. Fathers provide and fathers protect. The Christ, when He comes, will be that for His people (Is. 63:16; 62:8; Ps. 103:13). Christ is going to be this way for us, and He is going to be this way in an everlasting fashion. In short, He is able to save “to the uttermost.”

“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25). 

FROM BETHLEHEM, FROM EVERLASTING

We considered Micah’ prophecy earlier, but it pays to revisit it. He is making the same point. The Christ is going to be a man, but not just a man. Where is this man from? We use that word from in two ways. He is from Bethlehem, and He is from everlasting. What does it mean to be from everlasting? This can mean nothing short of Deity. 

“But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2).  

WHAT WE MUST NOT SAY

In all of this, recall what we are confessing when we recite the Definition of Chalcedon together. In this Incarnation, there is a union of two distinct natures—human nature and divine nature. This is a complete mystery to us because we do not understanding how finitude can be united with infinitude. But it united, and the point of union is known by us as Jesus of Nazareth. 

And what can be predicated of one nature can certainly be predicated of the person. And what is predicated of the other nature can also be predicated of the person. We do this when we say that the Creator of the galaxies was laid in a manger. We say that this particular man child was circumcised on the eighth day. But what is predicated of one nature cannot be predicated of the other nature. Thus, for example, it would be incoherent to say that Christ’s body, which was, say, six feet tall, was also omnipresent. 

WHAT HE WAS BORN TO DO

“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4–5).

Collapse that phrase. “Born of a woman . . . to redeem.” God did this at just the right time, when the fulness of time was complete. God sent His Son into the world in order to accomplish a full and complete redemption for His people. And because all of this is true, and true in every respect, it is possible for Him to come to us, and in that coming, save to the uttermost.

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Gold In the Genealogies (By Prophet Bards Foretold #3)

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INTRODUCTION

The texts we are going to look at today are the genealogies of Christ, and other passages related to them, but the theme of this message will be on the promises of God. The fact of genealogies in Scripture are often nothing more than an obstacle to Christians in their Bible reading, but this is not the way to think of them. The genealogies are vast and intimidating mountain ranges, but what we need to realize is that there are actually rich veins of gold there. Like the land of Havilah, the gold is good there (Gen. 2:12). 

THE TEXT

“THE book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren . . .” (Matthew 1:1–2). 

“And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli . . .” (Luke 3:23). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

One of the more obvious facts about the genealogies of Matthew and Luke is that they are different. A common solution is to say that one of them is the line of Joseph, and the other the line of Mary. But this doesn’t really solve the problem because the lines are not entirely different. And besides, both claim to be the line of Joseph (Matt. 1:16; Luke 3:23). And because we don’t examine the problem closely, what God gave as a testimony to the fact that He is a covenant-keeping God is used by us as a way of rattling our faith instead of establishing it.

A genealogical line is called a stirp. Luke traces the Lord’s descent all the way back to Adam. Matthew gives us His line from the time of Abraham. We know that Matthew relied on a written account because in verse 1 he mentions the book. Luke follows Genesis 5 and 10, including Canaan between Arphaxad and Shelah, in line with the Septuagint. The stirps in Luke and Matthew run basically the same from Abraham to David. They then diverge from David to the Exile. Matthew goes through Solomon, and Luke goes through someone named Nathan (1 Chron. 3:5). They join up again in Shealtiel and Zerubbabel, before splitting up again. Then they both arrive at Joseph of Nazareth. So that is our central problem. There are some other very minor glitches which can be easily resolved, and so we won’t bother with those here.

But we should face the problem. It is not normal for the patrilineal lines of two brothers, Solomon and Nathan, to land on one individual, Joseph, a millennium later. Still less can distinct stirps converge, diverge, and then converge again. And if we try to solve the problem with a Joseph/Mary division, we just flip the problem over to the other side. Do we want to explain the divergences or the convergences? We have to explain either way.    

EXCOMMUNICATED FROM THE LINE

Matthew omits four ancestors of Christ from his account—Ahaziah, Jehoash, Amaziah, and Jehoiakim. This is not arbitrary or capricious. The first three of these were removed because of the curse pronounced by Elijah. Ahab’s line, to the fourth generation, were expunged, as Moses said. (Ex. 20:3-6).

“‘Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free” (1 Kings 21:21, NKJV).

And Jehoiakim was a really bad actor, and he fell under Jeremiah’s curse:

“Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost” (Jeremiah 36:30).

So Matthew excludes illegitimate kings or kings who disqualified themselves and were cursed.   

THE VARIABLE OF ADOPTION

According to Matthew, Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel. According to Luke, Neri was the father of Shealtiel. Which was it? Again, a prophetic curse pronounced on Jeconiah helps us out. 

“Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah” (Jeremiah 22:30). 

We are told in 1 Chron. 3:16 that Jeconiah had a son, Zedekiah (likely named after his great-uncle). But the very next verse (1 Chron. 3:17) lists seven sons of Jeconiah, none of whom were Zedekiah. While captive in Babylon, according to an ancient source, Jeconiah had married a woman named Tamar, and their son Zedekiah died young and without issue. Jeconiah then adopted her sons by a previous marriage, from the time when she was married to Neri, and Shealtiel becomes the crown prince. Neri was descended from Nathan, that mysterious son of David. Thus Jeremiah’s curse is fulfilled, and Matthew and Luke are both right. 

JOSEPH’S FATHER?

Was Joseph’s father Jacob or Heli? The best explanation comes from a second century source (Sextus Julius Africanus) who knew descendants of the Lord’s brother James. He said that the discrepancy was the result of a levirate marriage. Heli had died without issue, and so his brother Jacob raised up seed for him—by law a child of Heli, and biologically a son of Jacob.

HOW TO MINE FOR GOLD

At the risk of causing your eyes to glaze over a little bit more, I will conclude with just a little bit more. For the ancients, they used to keep careful track of the genealogies. They did this because they were looking intently for the way in which God would fulfill His promises. At the end of Ruth, this blessing is pronounced by the elders of Bethlehem.

“And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman.” (Ruth 4:12, 18-22).

Pharez had a twin, Zarah, who was the first born twin who came out second. He was marked by a scarlet thread around his wrist. Generations later, Zarah had a descendent, a man named Achan, who stole some things in the battle of Jericho. He and his whole royal line were wiped out as a result. Rahab, who had marked her house with a scarlet rope, came out into Israel, and married a man named Salmon. Their son was Boaz, who later married Ruth. The thing that this illustrates is that these men and women of faith were tracking with the genealogies carefully. They were looking for the Christ. 

“And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ” (Matthew 1:16).

“And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,” (Luke 3:23).

So always look for the Christ. Always look to the Christ. He is the desire of nations. He is risen with healing in His wings. He is the gold in the land of Havilah.

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The Authority of Gratitude

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INTRODUCTION

As we have all enjoyed the blessings of a Thanksgiving holiday just a few days ago, I thought it appropriate to spend some time on a little understood aspect of gratitude or thanksgiving. We of course understand how pleasant gratitude is. In addition, we readily grasp the duty of expressing our thanksgiving to God. We grasp that gratitude is something that is critical in keeping our faith renewing and constantly growing. The spiritual food we partake of every Lord’s Day is called the Eucharist, from the Greek word for giving thanks, which is eucharisto. But what I want to focus on this morning is what might be called the authority of gratitude. 

THE TEXT

“Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain” (Philippians 2:14–16). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The opposite of thanksgiving is grumbling or complaining. The carping, critical voice is one that repeatedly came under the judgment of God in Scripture, and being under the heavy hand of God is the opposite of entering into an authoritative position. Paul here instructs believers to do everything without complaining (v. 14) The result of this is that it will not be possible to assign blame or fault to such a one—“blameless and harmless” (v. 15). It is fitting that there be no blame or rebuke because we are the sons of God, and we are to contrast sharply against the backdrop of a crooked and perverse generation. It is as though they are the pitch black sky, and we are the stars arrayed across that sky. Such non-complaining Christians are privileged to hold forth the word of life, and this is a cause of great rejoicing for Paul. His race was not run in vain, and his work was not conducted in vain (v. 16). 

WITHOUT COMPLAINING

Paul requires that we do everything without complaining or grumbling. That word everything encompasses quite a lot, realize. No complaints about the weather, or the food, or the traffic, or the husband, or the wife, or the children, or the economy, or the administration, or the tool that just broke. 

Now there is a tightrope to walk here. This is a very imperfect world, and many things in it require correction. Many professions are correcting professions, and they are lawful professions—coaches, teachers, copyeditors, judges, policemen, reformers, guitar instructors, driving instructors, pastors, parents, and so on. Now with so much correction being required, what we to do with this requirement to do everything without complaining or grumbling? We are to enter into the task of helping others without exuding the sense that we are personally aggrieved. Those in positions of authority over others must banish from their lives all traces of self interest. 

“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Galatians 6:1). 

THREE MARKERS OF AUTHORITY

In this short passage, Paul gives us three phrases that we can tie into the gift of authority. Those phrases are sons of God, lights in the world, and holding forth the word of life.

Sons of God: There is authority involved in becoming a son of God. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power [authority, exousia] to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). There is authority in putting to death the sins of the flesh. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:14). And there is an authority that is building to a crescendo. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). 

Lights in the world: Shining as lights in the world is something that the world knows how to link back to the Father in heaven. “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14–16). 

Holding forth the word of life: A messenger or a sent one always brings with him the authority of the sender. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; That bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; That saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth!” (Isaiah 52:7). 

When our lives are characterized by gratitude, and we are freed from the whining spirit that affects us so easily, what does this do? It proclaims that we are living out the message that we are holding in our hands. It means that we shine like an array of stars against a very dark night. It means that we are the adopted sons of God, and that when the world comes into its rights, we will be manifested as the sons of God. And all of this, taken together, means that authority will come to you naturally. It is not something you will need to raise your voice in order to get. In fact, just the opposite.

Gratitude is one of the basic foundation stones of all true authority.  

THE THANKFUL CHRIST

In this, as in everything else, our task is to look to Christ. We look to Him first as our Savior, and then, having received the gift of a full and complete salvation, we look to Him as our example. If you look to Him as your example first, there will be nothing for you there but despair. You can’t jump that high. 

“For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps” (1 Peter 2:21).

We look to His suffering first. And then, after that, we follow in His steps. And what does Christ do after His great triumph. He praises God in the midst of the congregation (Ps. 22:22, 25). He sees the travail of His soul, and is satisfied (Is. 53:11). He did what He did because of the joy set before Him (Heb. 12:2). And He, with the most gratitude, has been granted all authority (Matt. 28:18-20). 

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Psalm 142: Prayer Ascends from Low Places

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INTRODUCTION

This is a maskil, meaning a psalm of instruction. There is much for us to learn here. The occasion for it was when David was “in the cave,” with that being doubtless the time when Saul was in hot pursuit of him with 3,000 men. David was in a very low place, and this was compounded by the fact that he was in a very low condition, a very low way. But Scripture teaches us that “with the lowly is wisdom” (Prov. 11:2) Remember that the Lord has “respect unto the lowly” (Ps. 138:6)

THE TEXT

“Maschil of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave. I cried unto the Lord with my voice; With my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: Refuge failed me; No man cared for my soul. I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. Attend unto my cry; For I am brought very low: Deliver me from my persecutors; For they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: The righteous shall compass me about; For thou shalt deal bountifully with me” (Psalm 142). 

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This is a maskil about affliction, and who does not need to learn the lessons here? This is a prayer from a deep cave. David was in enough distress that he cried out to the Lord aloud (v. 1). He says this twice—he presented his supplication out loud. He did not pray about his troubles in a vague or general way—he poured them all out before the Lord (v. 2). He showed Jehovah all his troubles, and not because God needed the information. Rather it is because we need to see Him seeing it. David reminds himself that when his spirit was overwhelmed . . . God knew the steps of his path (v. 3). And the path that God knows is the same path where his enemies have laid their snares (v. 3). David looked at his right hand, where his defender should have been, and there was no one there (v. 4). All had abandoned him. Nobody cared (v. 4). Bereft of friends, he cried out to the Lord (v. 5), the God who was his refuge and his portion in this life (v. 5). He pleads with God to hear his cry. His first argument is his despondency (v. 6). His second argument is that he is very weak (v. 6). Bring me out of this prison/cave in order that I might praise Your name (v. 7). And then he turns, as on a dime. He ends on a confident and jubilant note . . . from the same cave. This deserted one will at some point be surrounded with righteous men (v. 7). And why? Because God is going to deal bountifully with him (v. 7).

NOBODY LOVES ME BUT MY MOTHER

There is a pitiful blues lament from B.B. King that we might remember here. “Nobody loves me but my mother, and she could be jiving too.” This is the dilemma of the psalmist in vv. 4-5. He looks around for support from friends, and he sees that he doesn’t have any.

This is a common theme in Scripture. We should not be surprised that Job experienced it (Job 6:15). The apostle Paul knew what this terrible experience was like also. Demas deserted him (2 Tim. 4:10). At his first defense, everyone was absent (2 Tim. 4:16). All of Paul’s friends in Asia had ditched him (2 Tim. 1:15).

And of course, the ultimate experience of this is seen in the passion of the Lord. The shepherd was struck, and all the sheep were scattered (Zech. 13:7). This is made more poignant in that Jesus saw that particular desertion coming (Matt. 26:31). Judas, who had been one of the twelve, betrayed Him with a kiss, a fact that Jesus noted (Luke 22:48). Peter, spokesman for the Twelve, and very loud in his professions of loyalty to the Lord, denied Him three times, and with curses (Mark 14:71). And at the final, fatal moment, Jesus turned and looked at him (Luke 22:61). 

“I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: They that did see me without fled from me” (Psalm 31:11). 

PRAYER ASCENDS

It is the nature of true prayer to rise, to ascend. And if all you have left is prayer, it is no argument to say that you are in a very low place. We sometimes joke that from “down here” there is no place to go but up. While that may or may not be true about you personally, it is always true about a sincere and heartfelt prayer. There is no place for such prayer to go, but up.

True prayers don’t puddle on the floor. They don’t sink down like a heavy gas. They don’t clatter when you drop them. 

ENVISIONING THE END

There are two sorts of imagining. One is the more common of the two, and can best be described as daydreaming. The second kind of imagining is that which sees Christ with the eye of faith. And when you see Christ, you see everything that comes with Him. When Christ delivers, He delivers in real time, in history. And so, when David lifted up his eyes at the end of the psalm, his eyes following his prayer, what did he see? He saw, with the eye of faith, how this trouble was going to turn out. He had been deserted by his sunshine friends, but one of the things he foresaw is that he was going to be surrounded by a crowd of righteous men. In the moment of desertion, it is a temptation to say there are no righteous men. There are no true friends. This is a lie. It is accurate to say that there are no true friends here, but there are true friends. Remember, David. Remember Jonathan, one of the truest friends in all of Scripture. 

And we all have a friend who is even truer than that. When we walk in the faith of Abraham we find that we have become friends with the Friend of Abraham (Jas. 2:23).

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