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Psalm 44: Like Sheep for the Slaughter

Christ Church on

Fifth Decade of Psalms

Introduction

The next psalm is a desperate plea for help from God. He is the God of their salvation, and yet He appears not to care. The citation of this psalm in the New Testament shows it to be the plea of righteous martyrs.

The Text
“We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us . . .” (Psalm 44:1-26).

Outline and Summary of the Text

This psalm comes to us in a parallel structure—in an a/a/b/b/c form. The unmatched conclusion, in this case “c,” represents the psalmist’s main point.

a. Our fathers trusted You for victory, O God, and You granted it (44:1-3);

a’. We trusted You for victory, O God, and You granted it (vv. 4-8 );
b. But now You have rejected us (vv. 9-16);
b’. Even though we have not rejected You (vv. 17-22);
c God, rise up and help us (vv. 24-27).

Our fathers have told us marvelous stories of God’s deliverances (vv. 1-2). They accomplished great things, but did not do it in their own autonomous power (v. 3). The psalmist declares his allegiance to God, and asks Him to “command deliverance” (v. 4). Through God’s might, they will prevail (v. 5). He will not trust in his own might, any more than his fathers did (v. 6). God has delivered His people within living memory (v. 7). God is the basis of the only kind of boasting that is not obnoxious (v. 8). But God has apparently abandoned His armies (v. 9). God has turned His warriors into cowards (v. 10). His people are slaughtered like sheep kept in pens for food (v. 11). God has sold His own people at garage sale prices (v. 12). All outsiders now mock God’s people (vv. 13-14). The psalmist is overwhelmed by confusion, not knowing how to answer the one who reproaches him (vv. 15-16).Then there is a surprising turn. Where we would expect a confession of sin, we find a protestation of innocence (vv. 17-18). God has broken them in the desolate places (v. 19). But if Israel had really sinned, would not the omniscient God know about it (vv. 20-21)? And yet they are killed all day long, and reckoned as sheep for slaughter (v. 22). God, why are You sleeping (v. 23). Why do You forget Your people (v. 24)? We are brought down to the dust (v. 25). Rise up, O God, and redeem us out of Your great mercy (v. 26).

All Scripture Together

One of the things we have to learn how to do is balance all Scripture together in our hearts and minds. When we focus on one passage, we must not do it at the expense of other passages. On top of this, we have to be mindful of which came first, what their relationship to the coming of Christ is, and whether or not the applications are physical or spiritual or both.

Paul quotes this psalm in Romans 8:36, and he establishes that the protestation of innocence by the psalmist here is genuine. This was not a case of the psalmist kidding himself about his righteousness. Romans sheds light on Psalm 44. In an analogous way, Psalm 44 sheds light on the conclusion of Romans 8.
The tone around this statement—true at face value in both places—is very different. That difference has to do with the times and with the coming of Christ.

“What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:31-39).

The faith that is implicit in the psalm becomes explicit in the mouth of Paul. We are more than conquerors through Christ, even though our experience is often identical to that of the psalmist. This is not the cry of a sinner under well-deserved chastisement, but rather the triumphant shout of the martyr.

Heard With Our Ears

We must be careful to tell our sons and daughters the great stories of God’s deliverance in the past. We must be sure that we tell them of His merciful deliverances that have occurred more recently. It is common in this desperate times for various error-mongers in our midst to say that we have to abandon dogmatic theology for a more “narratival” theology. The problem with these people is two-fold. First, they don’t understand how dogmas and convictions drive plots and, secondly, their idea of a really exciting story is a Sunday afternoon interfaith roundtable discussion on PBS—like watching paint dry. They talk about stories all the time, but they don’t ever tell any. To tell a real story, you need conflict, dogma, dragons, armies, a sky black with arrows, a protagonist, great battles, and victory at the end.

Secondary Means

“God is our deliverance” is not inconsistent with “lock and load.” In two places in this psalm we are told that military might did not win the victory, when in both places military might was used. God is ultimate and sovereign, and He is the one who blesses the means employed. In physical warfare, if He does not bless the armies, then they will be defeated. In spiritual warfare, if He does not honor and bless the means we employ, then those means will in fact be fruitless.

Boasting in the Lord

In both testaments, we are told that the one who boasts should boast in the Lord (v. 8; Ps. 34:2). The only manna that did not rot was the manna that was laid up before the Lord. The only boasting that does not rot is boasting in God’s great and almighty power. The one who glories must do so in the Lord (1 Cor. 1:31).

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Psalm 43: Judge Me, O God

Christ Church on

Fifth Decade of Psalms

Introduction

The 43rd Psalm is very similar to the one before it, and in a handful of manuscripts it is even included together with it. But rather than consider it as a detached portion of the 42nd Psalm, it is a simpler explanation to consider this as a supplement, composed with the previous psalm in mind, expanding on the same themes.

The Text
“Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation . . .” (Psalm 43:1-5).

Summary of the Text

The psalmist cries out to God for judgment (v. 1). He is being attacked by an “ungodly nation,” and he seeks God’s vindication. Deliverance, when it comes, would be from the deceitful and unjust man (v. 1). God is the God of David’s strength, and David finds it inexplicable that God has cast him off (v. 2). Why does David have to go mourning because of the enemy’s oppression? He then prays that God would send out His light and His truth in order to lead David home, back to the worship of the true God (v. 3). When light and truth have done this, then David will approach the altar of God, unto God Himself as his joy, and David will not be able to contain the music (v. 4). The psalm concludes with David chiding himself, just as he had done in the previous psalm (v. 5). He then ends with the triumph of faith, knowing that he will in fact praise God, who is the health of his countenance and his God (v. 5).

Judge Me

We have commented before on the striking differences that arise when we compare the mentality of the psalmist with the mentality of many modern Christians. One of those differences is the eagerness with which the psalmist frequently seeks out and is hungry for God to judge him. The Christian who understands that all his righteousness is filthy rags is reluctant to say this, and quite understandably. But this kind of isolated judgment is not the only kind of judgment there is. And if it were, the psalmist knew as well as we do that we would all be in serious trouble. “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” (Ps. 130:3).

But there is another sense of judgment in Scripture—vindication, deliverance, justification. This cannot be understood apart from a distinction made between absolute righteousness (Godward), which no one has, and covenant righteousness (toward God and man), which all believers are called to display. When we cry out to God, asking Him to judge our cause, vindicating us “because of our righteousness,” this is what we are doing. Think of it as the difference between “being righteous” and “being in the right.”

As C.S. Lewis notes, “The difference is that the Christian pictures the case to be tried as a criminal case with himself in the dock; the Jew pictures it as a civil case with himself as the plaintiff” (p. 15). The Psalms are full of pleadings from plaintiffs, and this is something we must recover. This does not erase our awareness of our justification in that great criminal case, in which we were the guilty accused, but rather should heighten it.

Remember your great forgiveness in that criminal trial every time you enter a civil complaint—do not be like the wicked servant who was forgiven 10 million and then choked his fellow servant over a quarter—but do not remember your acquittal in such a way as renders you incapable of taking up your own cause ever. One definition of a liberal is one who is incapable of taking up his own side in a dispute. Don’t be like that. But neither should you be the kind of person that cannot conceive of ever having been at fault in any way. There are at least two senses of justification, and we must remember them both.

Twin Vipers

David needs to be delivered from the deceitful and unjust man (v. 1). Those two characteristics are twin vipers. Because he is unjust, he has no standard of justice to operate by other than his own self-interest, whatever that might happen to be. And because that is the case, and because lies are frequently a good way to get your way on the cheap, he is also deceitful. This makes every conflict lopsided. One disputant is constrained by a sense of justice and fair play, and the other is not. An amateur Olympic boxer has to fight in this way, and he is up against someone fighting by ultimate cage fighting standards. And because of this, the psalmist cries out to God, who is the one who will ultimately put all things to rights.

God of My Strength

God will certainly do this, even though it appears that He is uninterested in doing it now. God, You are my strength. Where did You go? This the same theme as the previous psalm, and it has the same resolution. David chides himself, talking to himself. “Why are you disquieted?” But again, the same as before, he turns to God in confidence—”for I shall yet praise him.” In the midst of great troubles, remember that you are the servant of a far greater God. And the greatness of God surpasses the greatness of your troubles in a way that overcomes the apparent distance of this great God.

Bring Me to the Altar

Just as in the previous psalm David longed to be in the great multitude, worshipping God in a very public way, so here he desires to come to God’s holy hill, His tabernacles. He wants to approach the altar of God, which is simply a way of saying he wants to approach God Himself, the God who is his exceeding joy (v. 4).

Great Deliverance is the Mother of Great Music

After David is brought to the altar of God, after he is successfully brought to God his exceeding joy, the result is music. “Upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God” (v. 4). The one who is forgiven little loves little (Luke 7:47). The one who is complacent has little to sing about. The one who is lethargic has little reason to break into song. God often brings us through great trials because it is the only way to produce magnificent music. He doesn’t want to bring us to heaven in such a way that we can only stand around and hum. For the wine to be made, the grapes must be crushed. For the songs of deliverance to come forth, the people must be afflicted first.

It is therefore no coincidence that periods of reformation and revival are periods marked by musical explosiveness. Paul tells the Colossians that the word of Christ should dwell in the them richly, and that they should then overflow in psalm, hymns and spiritual songs (Col. 3:16). The richness of the dwelling should line up with the richness of the fruit, and if the fruit is poor, then the spiritual experience producing it is poor. And that often happens because we are lukewarm, and have no intention of every getting into the kind of trouble that David used to get into.

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Psalm 42: The Breakers of Jehovah

Christ Church on

Fifth Decade of Psalms

Introduction

This next psalm is not attributed directly to David, although it is almost certainly his. The psalm is given to the chief musician, for the sons of Korah to sing. These were probably the descendants of the same Korah who rebelled against Moses in the wilderness (Num. 16).

The Text
“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God . . .” (Ps. 42:1-11).

Summary of the Text

The psalmist is parched in his soul, and thirsts after God the way a hart longs for a brook (v. 1). He repeats this— his soul thirsts for Elohim, the living Elohim. When will he be able to appear before Elohim in worship (v. 2)? He is in such trouble that he is unable to eat at all—tears are his only food (v. 3). His adversaries know how to taunt him in a way that really hurts; they ask “where is your God” (v. 3)? There was a time when the psalmist was able to rejoice with God’s people in God’s house, but all he has now are memories (v. 4). But David chides himself—why are you downcast (v. 5)? But having said this, he returns immediately to the problem, which is that he is downcast (v. 6). He recalls God’s goodness to Israel in the past—crossing the Jordan, for example, and Hermon is where Og and Sihon had been defeated. Mizar was (perhaps) a small mountain near Sinai (v. 6). But though he remembers great deliverances from the past, he is still in deep trouble now. He is caught between water below and water above, and the breakers of Jehovah have gone over his head (v. 7). Nevertheless, all appearances to the contrary, God will command His lovingkindness to come in the daytime, and will command His song to come at night (v. 8). David will pray (v. 8). What will he say? He will say to his rock, “Why have you forgotten me” (v. 9)? They say, “where is your God”? Why should I have to say it too (v. 10)? David chides himself again, and with the same words. Why are you cast down? Hope in God, who will deliver (v. 11).

Talking and Listening

The trouble here is very great. In the midst of such trouble, we have only two options. We may listen to ourselves, which is not healthy. Or we may do what David does here, which is talk to himself. He takes himself in hand— David talks, requiring David to listen. This is very different than simply accepting whatever your murmuring heart might churn up. Don’t doubt in the dark what you knew in the light, and speak to yourself deliberately in terms of what you knew in the light. This is the way of wisdom. The way of folly is to sit in the dark giving full credence to whatever thoughts drift into your head. The necessity of this distinction is underscored by the n eed that David has to do it twice in the course of just eleven verses. If you don’t listen the first time, say it again (vv. 5, 11).

The Godly May Do What the Ungodly May Not

One of the most striking things about this psalm is the way David rejects the taunts of the ungodly, knowing the malice that was driving them, while at the same time asking the same question himself. The difference is that they did not want an answer, and would refuse to accept one if it came. David was hungry for an answer, wanting it desperately. But it was still the same question. His soul thirsts for God because he does not know when he can appear before Him (v. 2). But these malicious adversaries touch him in that tender spot by asking, “Where is your God?” This is just the question David was asking. The question gets to him, and so he has to speak to himself firmly (v. 5). But this is not the double-minded man, unstable in all his ways (Jas. 1:8). Rather, deep faith and profound desperation are woven together. Notice how it goes: Why am I downcast (v. 5)? I am downcast, bad (v. 6). God has always delivered His people (v. 6). This is the worst trouble of my life—caught in a tornado at sea, and wave after wave from Yahweh goes over my head (v. 7). Yet God will deliver me (v. 8). I will say to God my rock, why have you forgotten me (v. 9)? My enemies say you have forgotten me—am I supposed to agree with them (v. 10)? Why am I disquieted (v. 11)? God will deliver.

All the Bible belongs to all of us, and we are particularly called to pray the psalms. This is not the same thing as cherry picking from the psalms to suit your personality type. If you like rolling around in despair, there are plenty of passages for you. If you are a happy happy joy joy type, there are also plenty of passages. But if you are a normal person experiencing the grace of God throughout the course of your life, the whole Bible is yours. And only the grace of God can equip you to appropriate all of it—as David does here. One of the great things the grace of God does is integrate and unify. But there is a certain kind of immature mind that simply asks if it is “in the Bible,” and not whether it is balanced with everything else in the Bible. We must long for Spirit-given balance. Why does the Bible have to say that no one can say Jesus is accursed by the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 12:3)? Well, perhaps because certain unstable types seized on the fact that Jesus became a curse for us when He was hanged on a tree (Gal. 3:13).

Public Worship, Real Truth

David thirsts after God. At the same time, he does not conceive of a privatized relationship with God—everything is geared to appearing before God. The way the mind turns after privation reveals a great deal about its true loves (v. 4). David wants to appear before God (v. 2), meaning that he wants to worship publicly at the appointed place. David remembers what it was like when he was with the multitude of worshippers, and praising God with the corporate voice that was like the sound of many waters (v. 4). David longed for a public holy-day.

Come to Particulars

When your enemies come against you and say, “Where is your God?” you must say that He is commanding His lovingkindness to be at your right hand during the day, and He has ordered His music to stand sentry around you tonight. That is what you say to your adversaries. In the meantime, to God your rock you say, “That was a good question. Have you forgotten me? That can’t be . . . You cannot let me down. If that happened I could not praise You in the public assembly, and I am going to praise You in the public assembly. Right?”

And when your enemies repeat—continually, daily—as they do here, “Where is your God?” then you may apply the words of Mr. Greatheart in Pilgrim’s Progress, right before he killed the giant Maul. “These are but generals, said Mr. Great-Heart; come to particulars, man.”

The Breakers of Jehovah

David here says that all God’s waves came over his head (v. 7). Strictly speaking, this has only been true of one man —the Lord Jesus. Remembering this will enable us to plead the words of this psalm, and others like it, without becoming whiners or moaners. The whiner complains his way through every other verse. The chirrupy one wants to put all his troubles into a great, big box, sit on the lid and grin. Instead of these two options, get a real life and serve a real God.

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Psalm 41: God Helps Those Who Help the Helpless

Christ Church on

Fifth Decade of Psalms

The Text

“Blessed is he that considereth the poor : the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble . . . ” (Ps. 41:1-13).

Outline and Summary of the Text

As with much Hebrew poetry, this psalm is structured as a chiasm.

a. didactic introduction and associated prayer of confidence (vv. 1-4);

b. petition of the psalmist (v. 5);
c. words and behavior of the adversary (vv. 6-8);
c’. words and behavior of the adversary (vv. 9-10);
b’. prayer of the psalmist (v. 11);
a’. didactic conclusion and associated Temple worship (v. 12).
The thirteenth verse here functions as the conclusion to the first book of the five books of psalms, probably divided up by Ezra. See also Psalms 72:18-19; 89:53; 106:48 and 150.
The man who considers and remembers the poor will be himself helped by the Lord (v. 1). The Lord will protect such a man, and not allow him to be taken by his enemies (v. 2). Although confined to bed, the Lord Himself will be the nurse (v. 3). The reason that David was confined to bed was because of sin, and so he sought mercy (v. 4). From that position, David was able to imagine what his enemies were saying—when will he die (v. 5)? And those with evil under their tongues like this are impudent enough to come and visit him on his sick bed, smooth words on the surface, but eagerly looking for trouble (v. 6). Those who hate David whisper against him (v. 7). They exult over the fact that he looks done for (v. 8). This is even done by one who had previously been close—perhaps Absalom or Ahithophel—and who had shared David’s bread (v. 9). This is clearly applied in the antitype to Judas betraying Jesus (John 13:18). But David prays to be raised, that He might dispense justice (v. 10). He knows that God is on his side because his enemy does not triumph (v. 11). God will establish David in His own presence forever (v. 12). And a blessing is declared with regard to the God of Israel, forever and ever, amen and amen (v. 13).

The Occasion

The serious illnesses of kings are always watched with interest. When a basketball player is about to shoot, there will be all kinds of posting up and positioning under the basket. When a king looks as though he is going to die, the same kind of ambitious scuffling is going on among the courtiers, plotters and heirs apparent. King David is the type, and the Lord Jesus is the antitype. There are some things that apply only to David (for example, his confession of sin in v. 4). But the apostle John clearly declares that v. 9 found its complete fulfillment in the treachery of Judas. The same kind of thing repeats over and over. We see this kind of treachery throughout the Old Testament (e.g. Jer. 12:6), we see it with Jesus, and with followers of Christ down to the present.

God Helps Those Who Help the Helpless

Our proverb says that God helps those who help themselves. And while there is an important but limited truth there, we want to pursue a deeper truth. God helps those who help the helpless. As we seek to understand this, we must take care not to treat it as though God in heaven were a celestial vending machine—as though I could put my good deeds in here, and get my product there. At the same time, sowing and reaping are woven into the way the world is structured. We simply must refuse to understand the sowing and the reaping in a superficial way. The seed is not sown on the surface of the ground, and the plant does not grow from a spot on the surface.

Those who when they are prosperous help the helpless are becoming the kind of people who can cry out to God for help when they are in dire straits. This is why it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35); this is why the man is blessed who considers the poor (v. 1). David asks for mercy, and his appeal has two arguments. First he pleads for mercy because he has sinned (v. 4). No spin control. But second he asks for mercy because he had previously made a point of extending it. Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy (Matt. 5:7). David is in trouble—he is sick, and he is dealing with the treachery of friends. When he writes a psalm in his trouble, he begins with this: “Blessed is he that considereth the poor.” In his current crisis, he remembers the times when the crises was someone else’s—and he was the benefactor.

Intelligent Mercy

Note that the blessing is for those who consider the poor. This is not limited to mental activity—obviously, the result is action that actually helps the poor. But it at least includes thoughtful consideration. The blessing is not for those who close their eyes and strew money about the place. Those who are hurting need different things and we won’t know what those things are unless we consider it. Do they need medicine? a job? training? education for their children? capitalization for a business? debt forgiveness? What do they need? Consider it, and to consider it biblically is to act on it.

Right and Left Hand

Jesus teaches us that when we give, our left hand should not know what the right hand is doing (Matt. 6:3). Remember that David is making a plea to the Lord to consider him in his poverty, just as he had considered others in theirs. He is doing this in the context of slander—close associates and former friends were slandering him and speaking evil concerning him. They knew better, and yet they snatch at anything that will weaken David or misrepresent his character or his prospects. This was the position that Judas was in with respect to Jesus. He shared His bread, and lifted up his heel—the way an animal in a stall kicks the one who feeds him.

But David was king, and a public person. There is no question about settling personal scores, but when God raised him again, he intended to require them (v. 10). Jesus did not strike down His persecutors when they taunted Him as He was on the cross. And He could have; He could have summoned legions of angels. But He did not refrain because this was the wrong thing to do; He refrained because it was the wrong time. When the Lord came to Jerusalem in judgment in 70 A.D. the time was fulfilled and the fullness of wrath fell on that generation. Who will be trusted to wield judgment? The merciful. Who will be trusted to receive mercy? The merciful.

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Loving Little Ones #4

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Introduction
Thus far, we have considered the context of all child-rearing, the attitude underneath all child nurture, and the mechanics of discipline. We will finish this short series on loving little ones by addressing a miscellaneous collection of remaining issues.

The Text
“Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. 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; To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them” (Ps. 103:13-18).

Overview
The Lord does not look down on us with contempt. Rather, He looks down on us with pity, the same way a human father pities his children (v. 13). He does this knowing our frame; He knows how we are constituted, and knows that we are but dust. He knows our frailty (v. 14). We are here for a brief time; our days are like the grass (v. 15). One brief summer, then we are done with it (v. 16). But in contrast to this feeble existence, the mercy of the Lord is not feeble (v. 17). His mercy is from everlasting to everlasting to those who fear him, and His righteousness is bestowed on grandchildren—to those who keep His covenant, to those who remember His commandments (v. 18). We see here the general outline of this series of messages: the context of all is God’s pity and compassion for us, and His realization of our frailty. For precisely this reason, His covenant (which includes means for forgiveness) and His law (which reveals His holy character) are not dispensible.

Be Encouraged
Think in terms of generations, and try to get your head and heart out of the day you are having, or the week you are having. Look past the dishes, look past the pile of laundry, look past the swats you have to give today for the same offense you gave swats for yesterday. Look past it all because child-rearing is a generational labor. God knows your work; it is not in vain.
There is such a thing as parental failure—we are not offering sentimental comfort here. But failure is not measured by discovering that today is very similar to yesterday. This is also true of all long-term successful enterprises. When you want godly feedback on how you are doing, take care to look in the right place. And if you are looking there— in Scripture—be encouraged.

Understand the Nature of the Process
Your children are being raised up to maturity, and one day they will occupy the same station in life which you currently occupy. This means that you must understand that you are dealing with a very different situation when your child is fifteen years away from leaving your home and two years away from leaving your home. Too many Christian parents get this part exactly backwards.
When children are little and sin is still (comparatively) cute, it is easy to go easy on the discipline. You relax a little bit too much and the roof doesn’t fall in completely. All the sins committed are at a toddler level. But when your child is old enough to seriously destroy his or her life, you panic and clamp down. This is backwards. Young children thrive in an environment of strict, loving, predictable, and enforced discipline. Teenagers thrive when they have been trained to be trustworthy and then are trusted. But if you are still doing “the same thing” fifteen years later, the central thing this should tell you is that the standards have not been internalized. If your sixteen-year-old still has training wheels in his bike, something is messed up. External rules are training wheels, and not a permanent part of the bike.

Education is Central
In many Christian circles, it is commonplace to speak this way: “We don’t want to emphasize academics so much—we want to focus on character issues.” The problem with this is that it presents a false dichotomy. Academics is a character issue. It is the work that children have been assigned to do—for good reason—and to set it aside for the sake of “character” is really misguided. Picture a number of men sweating away with pick-axes and shovels, digging a ditch. Off to the side we see one of them leaning on his shovel, and we look long enough to tell that this is not a well-earned break. We might go over and ask him what he is doing, and, if we did, we would probably not expect him to reply that he is “emphasizing character instead.” That is precisely the one thing he is not doing.
This said, it is cheerfully acknowledged that getting the academic work done is not the only character issue, but it is an indispensible character issue. “The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason” (Prov. 26:16). This can certainly apply to the parents or teachers as well.

Boys and Girls
Remember that we are created in the image of God, and this means we were created male and female. That is how we bear the image of God (Gen. 1:27). But you are not rearing generic human beings until adolescence, at which point differences make their first appearance. When Eve gives birth to Cain, she notices right away. “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Gen. 4:1). Bring up your children with stereotypes in mind, but carry them and apply them in all wisdom. Generalizations are true, but they are true as generalization. Use them to nurture your girls, not to insult them

Faith and Works
God has set a pattern of good works for us; He has established good works for us to walk in. Among these good works, we must certainly include the good works you are doing as parents (Eph. 2:10). But this means that all your parental efforts must be ground themselves in God’s grace, appropriated through faith. Your children will not “turn out” by works. Viewed from the side, your parental efforts will look like a lot of work to others. But viewed from within, everything proceeds from grace and to grace. This is why you can extend grace to your children—because you are a non-stop recipient of it (2:8-9).

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