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Psalm 134: Bless Thee Out of Zion

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INTRODUCTION

Our covenantal relationship with God is a relationship that is tied completely around with blessing. The servants of the Lord are called and summoned to bless the Lord, and in return the Lord blesses us out of Zion. One of the characteristic notes of this psalm is that it is filled with blessing.

THE TEXT

“A Song of degrees. Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord. The Lord that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion” (Psalm 134:1-3).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This very brief psalm appears to be a conversation, and there are different scenarios that could contain such a conversation. Perhaps the Levitical guards for the Temple are addressing the priests who serve there at night, and then the priests reply to them. From an extrabiblical source that there were 24 Levites, 3 priests, and the captain of the guard there. So that is a possible scenario.

But as this is the last psalm of ascents, I take it as something of a recessional. The pilgrims who have come to worship God at His Temple have risen early to return home (for many of them a long journey). So they have risen while it is still night, and as they are departing Jerusalem, they address those who still have the night duty at the Temple. As a farewell, they exhort the servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord, telling them to bless the Lord (v. 1). They urge them once again to lift up their hands in the sanctuary, and to bless the Lord there (v. 2). And in return, the Levitical guards and the priests extend their blessing to the departing pilgrims. Jehovah, the one who made heaven and earth, bless you out of Zion (v. 3).

WHEN NOTHING IS HAPPENING

This scene occurs at night at the Temple. This is not in the daytime, when the services are being conducted, or the sacrifices being offered. Everything is quiet. Nothing is happening. To which we might reply, “What do you mean nothing is happening?” Jehovah God is being blessed by His servants. He is being blessed by the night watch, and in a solemn and quiet hour.

This psalm is saturated with the presence of Yahweh. Only three verses, and yet Jehovah is mentioned five times. And where the covenant God of Israel is present, what else is present? Blessing is present—blessing is mentioned three times.

When we are tempted to think that nothing is happening, perhaps we ought to stop and remember in the quiet that God is being praised. Jehovah is being blessed.

LIFT UP YOUR HANDS

We are told at the conclusion of this psalm, that God made Heaven and earth. He made the material creation, and that means that He made us as creatures with bodies. We are beings who have the sun go down on us, which is why we must have night watchmen. And when we are in the house of the Lord, we have to stand there. According to the custom of the Jews, the high priest could sit in the Temple, but the other priests would stand. Who stand in the house of the Lord.

They watch with their bodies. They stand with their bodies. They lift up their hands because their bodies have hands. There is nothing inherently unspiritual about having a body. In fact, your body is the instrument that God wants you to use for offering up true spiritual worship to Him. Physical worship offered in obedience is spiritual worship.

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect”

Romans 12:1–2 (ESV)

“I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting” ).

(1 Timothy 2:8 (KJV)

Your body, a living sacrifice, is your spiritual worship. Your hands, hands which are holy, are the way you lift up your prayers.

This is why we have wanted to worship God together, collectively, as though we have bodies. And in our worship, we have wanted to conform to various biblical postures for the body in our services, doing it all together as a single liturgical movement. This is why we stand together for the reading of the Word, why we kneel together in confession. This is why we raise our hands all together in doxological praise at the conclusion of the service. This is a public service where God is being worshiped by the congregation. We believe that this is what Paul was referring to in his letter to the Colossians: “For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ” (Col. 2:5). The word for order there is a military term, and could be understood as something like regimentation. Paul rejoiced at their martial discipline in worship.

OUT OF ZION

We are not told that the God who made earth will bless us out of Heaven. Nor are we told that the God who made Heaven will bless us out of earth. We are told that the God of all things, the God who made Heaven and earth both, is going to bless us out of Zion. We lift up our hands in the sanctuary, blessing Him, and He blesses us out of His sanctuary, blessing us. He works through His church.

This psalm is likely by David, which means that he was composing a psalm for use at the Temple on Moriah by faith, and that he apparently felt free to use the name of Zion.

This is a very basic liturgical movement. We all assemble in God’s presence, at the heavenly Jerusalem, in the city of the living God, on the slopes of the heavenly Mount Zion (Heb. 12:22). We come to the house of God, and at the conclusion of the service, we all lift our hands, as this psalm says, and we bless the Lord. We sing a doxology of praise. We bless the Lord. And then I, as a designated minister, raise my hands a declare a benediction, a blessing, through which you receive the blessing of God.

This is not a trite verbal exercise, like saying bless you when someone sneezes. When you receive the benediction of God by faith, something substantial is being placed across your shoulders. You are supposed to carry the weight of that goodness with you throughout the week. And what is that goodness that is so weighty? What is it that God wants you to carry around until next Sunday? He wants you to carry around His favor. He wants you to take it with you everywhere you go.

We are a gathering of forgiven sinners, and as far as our sanctification goes, nothing much can be done with us unless we are making a pilgrimage to Heaven once a week. Never forget that you are worshiping the God of Heaven and earth in two places—in Heaven and on earth. When the call to worship pronounced, and we all stand, the Spirit gathers us up and the spiritual roof retracts, and we are brought to the heavenly Zion. “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels” (Hebrews 12:22).

GOD OF NATURE, GOD OF GRACE

The Creator God is certainly capable of blessing us. He made heaven and earth, after all. We therefore know that He can bless us. But we are in covenant with Him—He is Jehovah, Yahweh, the God of the covenant, which means that He is the God of grace. And as the God of grace, He has promised to bless us. Not only can He bless us, He will bless us.

And how has He done this stupendous thing? There is only one answer, only one possible answer. The great Puritan preacher, Richard Sibbes, once answered the question of whether preachers should preach anything but Christ. He replied, “Nothing but Christ, or that tends to Christ.” He is the entirety of our message, but this does not bind us up in a cramped space. This Christ we preach is Lord of Heaven and earth.

“For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises of God in him [in Christ] are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us”

2 Cor. 1:19–20 (KJV)

“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve [worship] God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.”

Hebrews 12:28–29 (KJV)

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Psalm 133: Together in Unity

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INTRODUCTION

Christian unity is a dangerous subject because, believe it or not, it is one of the ironic things we are divided over. What is the nature of true unity? Why should we care? Are denominations really a form of disobedience? Have we really torn apart the seamless robe of Christ?

THE TEXT

“A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: That went down to the skirts of his garments; As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: For there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore” (Psalm 133:1-3).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Again, this is another psalm of ascents—one of the psalms that would be sung as pilgrims approached the Temple. Something can be good without being pleasant, but when both good and pleasant come together, it is a true blessing (v. 1). That blessing comes when brethren can dwell together in unity (v. 1). In the economy of Israel, all priests were anointed, but only the high priest was anointed on the head. This unity is like that precious oil that is placed on Aaron’s head, runs down to his beard, and from there to the hem of his garments (v. 2). Clearly a large amount of oil was used—even if you follow the ESV reading, which has the oil running down to the collar. In a change of metaphor, we read that Mount Hermon is famous for dew, descending on the mountains of Zion (v. 3). As Zion proper is about 250 miles south of Hermon, we should note the plural mountains, and take Zion as a generic name for Israel. How will this blessing of unity come? It will be the result of a command from Jehovah Himself (v. 3)—that command summoning life forevermore. This dew waters the ground, and makes it truly fruitful. That is the command of God, the blessing of God. This is His purpose and intention.

“He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, And fill the face of the world with fruit” (Isaiah 27:6).

TWO KINDS OF UNITY

As this psalm has praised this particular grace from God in the strongest possible terms, we need to be careful not to distort our understanding of that grace. According to Scripture, there are two kinds of unity that God gives to us. We need to be careful not to muddle them up because if we do, the unfortunate result will be . . . disunity.

The first kind is given to all Christians everywhere in the Person of the Holy Spirit. “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).

Notice that we already have this unity, which is why we are told to preserve it. We need to be eager in this preservation, laboring at it. The word for unity is the same as that used a few verses down (henotes). The word for bond can mean fetter, or sinew, or that which binds. And the Holy Spirit is the one who ties of the knot of peace. Every Christian has this unity already, and the one charge we have is to pursue a way of life that does not disrupt it.

The second kind of unity is institutional unity. Paul is thinking eschatologically, and is looking forward to the time when the bride of Christ, the Church, is without any spot or wrinkle or any such blemish (Eph. 5:27). God will accomplish this through the governmental gifts that He has provided to the Church—apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor/teachers. “Till we all come in the unity [henotes] of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13).

This is the unity of maturity, and we are not supposed to have it yet.

And no end of trouble is caused by people who think that we are supposed to have it, and on the basis of this opinion disrupt their fellowship with saints who differ. It is like the old joke about two ministers who were talking, and one said to the other, “Well, we both serve God, I suppose—you in your way, and I in His.” Because we try to seize an institutional unity we are not supposed to enjoy yet, we wind up disrupting the bond of peace that we really do have.

SIN AS BARRIER

Sin means we are falling short of a standard that we ought not to be falling short of. Sin means we are not doing what we were instructed to do, and obedience is always something that should be in our hands in the present.

Remember that the basic building block of this broader church unity is the family, and the husband and the father is responsible to set the tone for his family. Fathers, you do not have the luxury of being distant, or angry, or sullen, or quiet, or disengaged, or surly. You do not get to flop, or otherwise disrupt a unity that has already been given to you.

The household is a wonderful place for learning the basic steps of this particular dance. In fact, there is no better place. And when you learn that wisdom in the home, you will be equipped to navigate the challenges that will arise with regard to extended family, or neighbors, or companions in business, or fellow church members.

IMMATURITY AS BARRIER

Immaturity means that we are right where we are supposed to be. A three-year-old is not in sin being three-years-old. Now if a ten-year-old started acting like a three-year-old this would actually not be immaturity—it would be sin. Remember that God is very easy to please, but very hard to satisfy. When it comes to the unity of the Church today, God is very easy to please, and hard to satisfy.

And the reason this is true—the only reason, remember—is because the Father was pleased with Christ. Not only so, but the Father is satisfied in Christ. And Christ is our unity. One Lord, one faith, one baptism (Eph. 4:5).

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Psalm 132: The Tabernacle of David at Zion

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INTRODUCTION

The overall tone of this psalm is unambiguously jubilant, but a number of the details are ambiguous. This is said because my reconstruction of the players is certainly not the only possible one, but I do think it reasonable.

THE TEXT

“Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions: How he sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob; Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob . . .” (Psalm 132:1–18)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This is another song of ascents, given for pilgrims approaching the Temple. We are not told who the author is, but given the subject matter, my operating assumption is that it was written by Solomon. The plea to Jehovah is that He would remember David, and all his afflictions (v. 1). The affliction was related to his intense desire to fulfill his vow to build a dwelling place for the “Mighty One of Jacob” (vv. 2-5). David had heard of the ark of the covenant growing up at Ephrathah, how it was located in the fields of Jaar—and had an intense desire to worship at His footstool (the ark), which had been at Kiriath-jearim for twenty years (1 Sam. 7:2), and then briefly for a few months at the house of Obed-edom (2 Sam. 6:10-11). David and Solomon both wanted the ark of God’s strength to come into a place of “rest.” David brought it to the tabernacle of David on Zion (2 Chron. 1:4), and then Solomon later brought it up into the Temple on Moriah (1 Kings 8:1), after the Temple was built. In both cases, it was a matter of righteous jubilation (v. 9). Solomon links this placement of the ark as related to the promise made to David (v. 10). Solomon relates the fact that God had made an astounding promise to David concerning the future of his dynasty (vv. 11-12; dlkgj). The Lord has chosen Zion as His resting place forever (vv. 13-14). From that place in Zion, Jehovah will bless the poor with bread (v. 15), the priests with salvation (v. 16), the saints with shouts of joy (v. 16). The horn (of authority) will sprout for David (v. 17), such that his enemies will be humiliated, and his crown with shine (v. 18).

THE MERCIES OF DAVID

David was a dazzling figure in the history of Israel, but we make a great mistake if we overlook how important he was to the Gentiles, how fascinating he was to them. His adultery with Bathsheba, and murder of Uriah, were the two great twin sins of his life, but one of the things that made the murder of Uriah so grotesque was the fact that Uriah was a Hittite, doggedly loyal to David. Even when David got him drunk to help cover up his sin, Uriah stayed true—in that moment, better to be Uriah drunk than David sober.

David rubbed shoulders with Gentiles easily (1 Sam. 27:6). He commanded their respect. Consider the behavior of Ittai the Gittite, a man from Gath (2 Sam. 15:18). who showed up to serve David on the very eve of Absalom’s rebellion, and who then willingly went into exile with him (2 Sam. 15:21) And when David attempted to bring the ark up from Kiriath-jearim on a cart, God struck Uzzah when he touched the ark, and so David stored the ark at the house of Obed-edom, another Gittite. And when the ark was finally safe in the tabernacle, Obed-edom became one of the porters there (1 Chron. 16:38).

At the dedication of the Temple, Solomon prayed that God would remember “the mercies of David” (2 Chron. 6:42). And what did Jesus receive upon His resurrection from the dead? He received the sure mercies of David (Acts 13:34), applying to Jesus the promise of Is. 55:3.

WE ARE THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID

 The tabernacle of David on Zion was dedicated with sacrifices (2 Sam. 6:17), but it was not a place constructed for the offering up of blood sacrifices. Rather, it was a tabernacle of music. David was a great musician, and it is not surprising that he built a place for the sacrifices of praise (Heb. 13:15).

“And they ministered before the dwelling place of the tabernacle of the congregation with singing, until Solomon had built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem: and then they waited on their office according to their order” (1 Chronicles 6:32).

These were musical priests, not blood priests. And it is striking that centuries later, the prophet Amos predicted a great restoration of the fortunes of God’s people. He uses the imagery of this tabernacle on Zion.

“In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; And I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old” (Amos 9:11).

And then, centuries later again, the Lord’s brother James was presiding at the Council of Jerusalem, where the central point of discussion was how the Gentiles were to be brought into the covenant. And James sums up all their discussion with an appeal to Amos. On the day when the Gentiles are brought into Christ, that glorious day will be a restoration of the tabernacle of David. Just as Zion had migrated up to Moriah, when the times of refreshing came, there would be a return to Zion.

“After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up” (Acts 15:16).

And this is why we gather as a congregation weekly in order offer up to God the sacrifice of praise. This is why we sing so much. We are the restoration of that tabernacle. Because of the great Son of David, we are all sons and daughters of David.

“And in mercy shall the throne be established: And he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness” (Isaiah 16:5).

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Psalm 131: Like a Weaned Child

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INTRODUCTION

The writer of Proverbs says that out of many daughters, the virtuous wife excels them all. Something analogous also may also be said of pride, the devil’s oldest daughter. Many sins are indeed ugly, but you surpass them all.

THE TEXT

“Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: Neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: My soul is even as a weaned child. Let Israel hope in the Lord From henceforth and for ever” (Psalm 131:1-3).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

In this place, David describes the place he occupies as one of great humility. But he does not say this as some kind of humblebrag because in this psalm he describes for us how he was brought to that place, most reluctantly. But first, let him describe where he is now. He tells the Lord that his heart is not haughty, and that his eyes are not lofty or exalted (v. 1). He has decided not to meddle in “great matters,” or in things that are above his head, his pay grade, or his responsibility (v. 1). He has let go of everything. But notice that he has let go of these things. It is not that he was naturally so humble. He has behaved and quieted himself (v. 2), and the process that brought him to this place was like the process of weaning a child. But weaning a child is frequently a rodeo, like it apparently was in this instance. The place David occupies now is a place of exhausted acquiescence. The mother won, and the child lost. His soul is like that weaned child (v. 2). The lesson he has learned is a lesson of hope for all of Israel (v. 3). It is a lesson of hope for all time, for all of God’s people (v. 3). We are to trust in God from this position, having abandoned our own sense of importance, knowing that God is in control.

CLOTHED WITH HUMILITY

Because God opposes the proud, and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5), this is the place where we must start. All grumbling, all discontent, all complaining, is basically murmuring against God. The great things that the psalmist has abandoned would be the great questions about God’s sovereignty, which often is inscrutable to us. This is stark and obvious when we are complaining about the weather, or a mysterious disease or ailment, or our height, or the comparative poverty of the family we were born into. All discontent is ultimately vertical, directed against God, but with such things as these it is most obvious—because these are all acts of God. And God takes a dim view of it when He can hear all the Israelites grumbling in their tents (Ex. 16:7-8).

But sometimes, when our complaints are directed against other people, who are sinners (as Scripture teacheth), we think that we are simply being orthodox. The Bible teaches that all men sin in many ways (Eccl. 7:20), does it not, and are we not just pointing out this obvious and most scriptural fact? No, because the Scriptures include you in that number.

“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” (Matthew 7:1–3)

“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).

But horizontal pride is aimed at God also, just not as obviously. In the passage from Peter cited earlier, Peter says that we are to be subject to one another, and to be clothed with humility (1 Pet. 5:5), and this is precisely how we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God (1 Pet. 5:6). Just as a visit to a prisoner is reckoned as visiting Christ (Matt. 25:44), so also is the proud dismissal of a fool counted as a proud dismissal of Christ (Matt. 5:22).

THE PROUD ARE CURSED

“Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments” (Psalm 119:21). God opposes the proud, and curses the proud. But we must remember that pride is a versatile sin, and can show up virtually anywhere. There are many sins that are not welcome here in the sanctuary—porn, drunkenness, blasphemy, and the like. But pride cleans up real nice. Pride specializes in cleaning up real nice. Paul instructs Timothy not to ordain a novice to the ministry “lest he be lifted up with pride [and] fall into the condemnation of the devil” (1 Tim. 3:6). We need to remember that the birthplace of sin was in Heaven, in the heart of an exalted celestial being—who wanted to be more exalted (Is. 14:13). And so pride naturally appears in the places that we hold in honor.

Pride can work with any material. We can be proud of how underlined our Bibles are. We can be proud of how beautifully we sing Psalm 131. We can be proud of the fact that we understand the Reformed doctrine that we cannot be proud of anything—as opposed to those semi-Pelagian morons.

THE ONLY PLACE THAT PRIDE CAN DIE

The Lord Jesus was the only perfect man who ever lived. And He came to live and die among a race of diseased and corrupted lepers. And how was He treated in this leper colony of ours—the only healthy man who ever lived here. We stole from him (John 12:6), we got in the way of His mission (Matt. 16:23), we refused to listen to Him (Matt. 13:15), we betrayed Him (Matt. 20:18), we ran Him through a railroaded trial (John 18:12ff), we had Him flogged (Matt. 20:19), we pulled out His beard (Is. 50:6), we spit in His face (Matt. 26:67), we nailed Him to a cross of wood (Acts 2:23), and we taunted Him there (Matt. 27:42).

All our sins were nailed to the cross of Jesus Christ (Col. 2:14). But the sin that was mostly visibly nailed there was the sin of pride, because when we look straight on at the cross, we see nothing, absolutely nothing but divine humility. And that is a humility that can be yours. All you must do is look on it and live. Look in faith, and the gift is yours.

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Psalm 130: That He May Be Feared

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INTRODUCTION

There is no trouble like homebrewed trouble. Whenever we are learning how to eat our own cooking, how to sleep in the beds we made, or how to get along in the troubled relationships that we troubled, the difficulty is learning how to get our arms completely around our own responsibility. That is, how to do it without despair, or rather without despairing finally and completely.

THE TEXT

“A Song of degrees. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice: Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the Lord: For with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities” (Psalm 130:1-8).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This psalm progresses through four stages. The first is raw desire (vv. 1-2), the second confession(vv. 3-4), the third watchfulness (vv 5-6), and the last expectant hope (vv. 7-8).

The psalmist begins in the depths, and from the following context, it appears to be the result of his own sin (v. 1). He cries out to the Lord from the depths (v. 1). He pleads with the Lord to hear him (v. 2), to be attentive to his voice. He then acknowledges that he is a sinful member of a sinful race. If God (Yah) were to catch at our faults and failings, who could stand before Him (v. 3)? But there is forgiveness with God, so that He might then be feared (v. 4). The third section is the time of waiting. He waits for the Lord, his soul waits (v. 5). He waits on the basis of the word of promise. He looks forward to seeing the Lord the same way a night watchman yearn for the morning (v. 6). The last section is an invitation for all Israel to hope in the Lord (v. 7). The reason for this is that with the Lord there is mercy, and there is abundant redemption (v. 7). This God will redeem Israel from all his iniquities (v. 8).

INIQUITIES MARKED

Just imagine a large bowl by the right side of the throne of God. Imagine further how it would fare with you if every time you sinned—in thought, word, or deed—God dropped a small black stone into the bowl. How would it fare with you?

But for some reason there is a conditional here. The psalmist sets this up with an if. If God were to mark iniquities, who could stand? But doesn’t He mark them? No.

“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30–31, NKJV).

One of God’s attributes is His tender mercy (hesed, v. 7).

This command to repent is a command that is based on the completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Notice that in our psalm, the forgiveness is based on something. It is based on redemption. In v. 8, it says He shall “redeem Israel.” And in the previous verse (v. 7), it says that in Him there is plenteous redemption. There is an abundance of this redemption—more than enough for you—but redemption remains a purchase. More on this shortly. Suffice it to say for now that redemption is notthe same thing as saying “let bygones be bygones.”

FORGIVEN FEAR

Before looking more closely at the nature of this redemption, let us first consider the result of it.

Notice that this prayer assumes that the result of this forgiveness is fear (v. 4). “There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” This is curious, because the psalm began with desperate fear, calling out to God from the depths.

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” (1 John 4:18, ESV).

There are two kinds of fear, one ungodly and the result of prior ungodliness. The other kind of fear is clean, enduring forever. It is actually a grace of God. Let us have grace (Heb. 12:28) so that we may worship God acceptably in reverence and godly fear.

Lack of forgiveness drives one kind of crawling fear, a craven fear. Complete forgiveness drives the other kind of fear, the fear of God that is a clean and wholesome grace.

A GLAD FEAR, BUT FEAR

Glad redemption and clean fear go well together.

“But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God” (1 Peter 1:15–21).

We were all of us locked up in the dungeons of sin. If only we could get ourselves out of there, we would have been content to live in a grass hut somewhere. That would have been relief enough. But not only did the redemption of God liberate us from that dungeon, it also purchased for us a heavenly mansion (John 14:2), with Christ Himself the architect.

Peter outlines for us the fact that we should spend our lives in fear precisely because of the greatness of the purchase price. If we were just the devil’s cast-offs, discovered at Hell’s great yard sale, say a box of battered twenty-five cent junkers, and God bought us for a quarter, that would have been nice enough. But think. We have been transferred out of a filthy dungeon and into a palace, and then someone takes you aside and whispers in your ear. And you say, “He paid what??!!” The blood of His Son? The only sane response would be to go weak at the knees in fear. A glad fear, but fear.

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