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Three Chains I: Fear

Joe Harby on

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Introduction

Over the course of the next few weeks, we are going to be considering three chains that the enemy of our souls wants to use in order to keep us in bondage. But in Christ, we have been set free, and set free means set free from each of these chains, and from all of them. The three chains are fear, guilt, and shame. All three are common to the human frame, but different cultures can develop different emphases. The Western world is concerned with righteousness, and is therefore afflicted with guilt. The Eastern world is very concerned about honor, and is therefore afflicted with shame. The Southern world is concerned about survival and safety, and is afflicted with fear. The North generally does okay because it is cold and no one lives up there.

The Text

“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt.10:28).

Summary of the Text

In this part of Matthew, Jesus is telling His disciples that He is sending them out as sheep among wolves. We need to be shrewd therefore (Matt. 10:16). We need to beware of men, because they will in fact persecute (Matt. 10:17-18). Even when we are delivered up, we need to trust God for the words we must use (Matt. 10:19). The persecutions will be both intensive and extensive, and if they treated Jesus this way, we cannot be surprised when they treat us in the same way (Matt. 10:20-25). Do not fear them, the Lord says, because everything is going to be revealed (Matt. 10:26). The entire story will eventually be told. Be bold (Matt. 10:27). Do not fear men, who can only kill the body and not the soul. Rather, fear the one who can wreck both body and soul in Gehenna (Matt. 10:28). We are told not to fear for two reasons. The first is that God will tell the whole story one day, and the second is that they can only kill the body, which means that all they can do is help you escape from them.

The Basic Issue

The devil is always a counterfeiter. He cannot create anything ex nihilo, not even sins. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, which means the fear of man is the beginning of folly. This means that the point of biblical wisdom is not to say that fear is bad so we should stop fearing. No, the ethical choice is always between fear of this and fear of that. If you are paralyzed by fear, this means that you do not fear someone else enough. What is the whole duty of man? It is to fear God (Ecc. 12:13).

The First Chain

Death is an enemy. It is natural to fear it. Death has been given dominion and power over a guilty world—and the sting of death is found in the law. It is not that we are subject to death. The problem is that we deserve to be subject to death.

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:14–15).

Notice that this fear of death is a lifetime fear. As Augustine noted, in this world the dead are replaced by the dying. Death brings in a bondage that extends throughout our lives. Jesus struck off that chain by dying for us. He destroyed the devil through His death, and the devil was the one who had the power of death. With him removed from that position of authority, we are released from our fear of death. If we have received the Spirit of adoption, this means that we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear (Rom. 8:15).

Now it follows from this that we are in principle liberated from lesser fears as well. To reverse Jeremiah’s image, if we can run with horses, we can run with men also. Women, you become daughters of Sarah if you honor your husbands and do not give way to fear (1 Pet. 3:6). In particular you women should remember that anxiety is the wrong kind of fear in seed form. It is by fear of God that we are enabled to turn from evil (Prov. 16:6). Knowing the fear of God is what enables us to persuade men to turn to the Lord (2 Cor. 5:11).

Being Careful with the Word

We are supposed to fear God, which is not the same thing as being afraid of God. There is a kind of fear that is craven, crawling . . . and we are not to have that kind of fear, not even in the presence of God. So we are not to have a particular kind of fear toward God because perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment (1 John 4:18). We need not fear this punishment from God, not because it is not fearful, but because it is not ours (Rom. 8:1). We are supposed to approach the throne of grace with boldness, it says, and we are to come boldly looking for mercy(Heb. 4:16). This is not possible apart from a robust doctrine of justification, where God declares us to be righteous in the righteousness of His Son (2 Cor. 5:20-21).

We are not supposed to “fear man” in any way that puts man in the place of God, and we are not to fear God in any way that puts Him in the place of executioner. We must fear Him as Judge, but if we do this rightly, we repent before we come before Him as executioner. When the Lord Jesus, the same one who bled and died for sinners, says “Depart from me, I never knew you” (Matt. 7:23), this will be a moment of absolute and abject terror in one sense, but a final and defiant refusal to fearin another. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Ps. 111:10). Terror is not the beginning of anything other than an everlasting and hellish downward spiral. Terror does not fear Godenough.

Jesus and True Fear

A story is told in Acts of some itinerant exorcists, some sons of Sceva, who tried to cast out demons in the name of the “Jesus that Paul preaches.” The demon replied appropriately by beating them up. And then Luke says this: “And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified” (Acts 19:17). There is a kind of fear that is attracted to holiness, to the glory of God, to the numinous, to the wonderful. It is a fear that is filled to the top with an exquisite ache. “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1).

“Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, That the everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding” (Is. 40:28).

“Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; And let him be your fear, and let him be your dread” (Isaiah 8:13).

But how are we to do this? Remember that we are Christians, and what we need to learn how to do we may learn by imitating Jesus. Jesus was a God-fearing man—He had to be. He was a true man, the ultimate man, a wise man. But the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This was no less true in the case of Jesus.

But we do not need to rely on an inference. The Bible tells us explicitly in several places that Jesus feared God.
“And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and might, The spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” (Is. 11:2).

And the New Testament tells us the same thing:

“Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered” (Heb. 5:7–8).

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Bedrock Discipleship III: Assurance

Joe Harby on

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Introduction

We wanted to begin this series of messages on bedrock discipleship by grounding everything we believe on the teaching of Scripture. We want everything we hold on this to be established by the Bible, and to ensure that this is so, we need to be biblically literate people. When we come to the Scriptures this way, we encounterGod’s testimony—which is the ground of any testimony we might be able to offer. But when we give our testimony, we will be cross-examined by somebody, and we will be asked, “How can you be sure . . .?” And so we come to the matter of assurance.

The Text

“He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:10–13).

Summary of the Text

We saw last week in John 3:32 that the Son of God has the testimony (marturia). When we believe His testimony, we are acknowledging that He speaks the truth (v. 10). And so what is the testimony that He gives? It is both objective and subjective. This is the record (marturia)—God has given us eternal life, and has done so through His Son. Note that God’s testimony lands in our inner life. The objective side of it is that all life is in His Son (v. 12). If you have the Son, you therefore have life. If you do not have the Son, you do not have life. These things were written, not so that we might be tormented with uncertainty, but rather so that we might know (assurance) that we have eternal life, and that we might know this because we believe on the name of the Son of God (v. 13).

Two Extremes

Now if it is true that not every person baptized into the visible church is saved, and that is true, then the obvious question becomes “how can we tell the difference between those who truly have the testimony, and those who simply say that they do?” It is a reasonable question, but that has not kept many people from doing many unreasonable things with it. There are two extremes to avoid—one is to assume that if your baptismal papers are in order, then you are automatically in, as though the kingdom of God were like a purebred line of golden retrievers. The other extreme is to flinch whenever sin is mentioned and question your salvation at every little thing. Oftentimes, ecclesiastical professionals will manipulate both tendencies for their own profit. Don’t.

That You May Know

Going back to 1 John 5:13, if we have the Son, if we have eternal life, God wants us to know that we do.

Doubts and Questions

There is a vast difference between doubts and questions. Doubts can never be answered in principle because they are phrased like this: “What if . . .?” Questions have answers. They can be posed, you follow it out, and you learn something. Here is the difference. Suppose a happily married woman suddenly has a panic attack out of nowhere. “What if my husband is cheating on me?” The only appropriate answer to this is “what if he isn’t?” That is quite different from a wife asking “who is the blonde in the red convertible out front, the one who is honking for you, who is that?” That’s a question.

Biblical Marks of Rejection

We are not to over-engineer this. In the context of a biblical community, the burden of proof is on the one who insists upon excluding himself. Note two things about a particular way of living “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these . . . they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:19, 21). It is manifest who will not inherit the kingdom.

Biblical Marks of Adoption

We are supposed to make our calling and election sure (2 Pet. 1:10). We are supposed to examine ourselves to see if we are truly in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5). This can be done without morbid introspection. But how? Keep in mind that in all that follows, it is not so much what you look to as the way you look to it. Baptism, Bible, etc.

    • We saw in 1 John 5:13 that we are to believe on the name of Jesus. We are to hold fast to Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:9). This is the foundation of everything else. Do you trust in Jesus?
    • “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit” (1 John 4:13). The Spirit is given as a guarantee (Eph. 1:13-14; 2 Cor. 5:5-6). The Spirit is given to us as an assurance. How do we know we have the Spirit? He grows things (Gal. 5:22-23; Eph. 5:9). He killsthings (Rom. 8:13).
    • “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death” (1 John 3:14). What is your attitude toward those you know love God? Do you want to be with them, or are you repelled by them?
    • “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3). Jesus says that a mark of true conversion is humility of mind, becoming like a little child.
    • “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious” (1 Pet. 2:2–3). A marked characteristic of life is hunger—in this case, hunger for the Word.
    • “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). There are two kinds of people in the world—those who are perishing and to whom the cross makes no sense, and those who are saved, to whom it does.
    • “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3). Here is another explicit statement of how we know. We know because we obey Him.
    • “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” (Heb. 12:6). But the previous mark should not be clutched in a false perfectionism. We do still sin. But what happens then is another mark of true conversion.

The Conclusion of the Matter

What is the conclusion of the matter? We are saved by the grace of God in Christ, plus nothing (Eph. 2:8-9). We are not saved by good works. But we are saved to good works (Eph. 2:10).

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Wisdom from Above II

Joe Harby on

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Introduction

The central issue for evangelical faith is always the presence or absence of life. Recall that in the previous chapter, God Himself is the one who brought us to life of His own will (1:18), and He is the one who sustains and nurtures us in that life. The issue is not rule-keeping, but life. It is not moralism, but life. It is not doing good works while earning your salvation, it is doing good works while alive.

The Text

“My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? . . .” (Jas. 2:1- 26).

Summary of the Text

James tells us that we must not be class snobs in our faith (v. 1). Suppose a rich man comes swanking in, and a poor man also does (v. 2). Suppose further you give the prospective big tither a seat of honor and put the poor guy in the corner on the floor (v. 3). Isn’t this partiality (v. 4)? Hasn’t God shown more honor to the poor than that (v. 5)? But the Christians James is addressing have despised the poor (v. 6), even though it is the rich who tend to hassle believers. Rich folks are the ones who blaspheme the name by which we are called, right (v. 7)? The rule we should follow is the royal law of Scripture—love your neighbor as yourself (v. 8), which is to do well. But if you play favorites, you are committing sin, and are convicted as transgressors (v. 9).

The law of God is a plate glass window, and it doesn’t much matter where you put the hole (v. 10). All the different commandments come from the same God, and so to break His Word is to break His Word (v. 11). So speak and act as those who will be judged by the law of liberty (v. 12). If you don’t show mercy, you will have judgment and no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment (v. 13).

Where is the profit if a man says that he has faith, but he has no works? Can a naked profession of faith save him (v. 14)? Suppose someone is lacking clothes or food (v. 15). Suppose someone else pats him on the head patronizingly, and says that he should go off and get a job (v. 16). What good is it? A faith that does not move around (as is seen in works) is solitary, stationary, and therefore dead (v. 17). A man may reasonably say to the professor of naked faith that he cannot see that invisible faith which is apart from works, and that whenever he sees genuine works, he sees the faith behind it (v. 18). You believe there is one God in the sky? Good for you and the devil both (v. 19). Does the vain man really need to have it explained to him that faith without works is dead (v. 20)? Wasn’t Abraham justified at the altar of Isaac (v. 21)? His faith took him there (v. 22). That was the point where Scripture was fulfilled (v. 23). A man is justified by works over against naked faith, dead faith (v. 24). We can say the same thing about Rahab the harlot (v. 25). As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also (v. 26).

Royal Liberty

James is speaking throughout of a response to the Word. We are to receive the engrafted Word with meekness, that Word being what can save our souls (1:21). We are to be doers of this Word, not hearers only (1:22-23). He then uses, as a synonym with the Word, the phrase “the perfect law of liberty” (1:25). This continues in chapter 2—when he refers to the royal law of Scripture (2:8) and again to the “law of liberty” (2:12). Rightly understood, since he is talking about the engendering of life, we are talking about the gospel.

Rahab

God loves to mess up our pious hair-dos for us. Not only was Rahab justified by works, but it appears to us that she was justified by the work of telling some people a lie (v. 25). She was justified by works when she sent the messengers out by another way than she said she did. Whatever shall we do with that? Well, we should start by remembering that Scripture is the mirror we should use to examine ourselves, and it should be a mirror that is not covered over with the post-it notes of our pious traditions. We should know more about the Hebrew midwives and Gideon in the wine-vat than we do.

The Friend of God

Abraham is called the friend of God by Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 20:7), and by Isaiah (Is. 41:8). Scripture tells us in Gen. 15:6 that Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him as righteousness, and James quotes this verse. The incident that James references in v. 21, the sacrifice of Isaac, occurred 15-20 years later. Abraham was living by faith that entire intervening time, but the reality of his faith was fulfilled in a climatic way at the sacrifice of Isaac. Fulfilled means many things, but it does not mean “come into existence.” And notice how faith is growing up, taking shape, becoming mature, being made perfect (v. 22).

Living Faith

As classical Protestants, we exult in the doctrine of sola fide, justification through faith alone. So what do we do with the fact that the only place in the Bible where the phrase “faith alone” occurs is in order to condemn it (2:24)? Well, fortunately, we also believe in sola Scriptura, which means we are allowed to read the verses before and after this. James is condemning dead faith. Dead faith is not alone—being dead, it isn’t at all.

Remember the gospel brings life. The gospel quickens. The gospel is received by the instrumentality of faith alone, and because faith alone (in the Protestant sense) is the gift of God, we must recall that there is only one kind of faith that God gives—living faith. Living faith grows up into living, breathing works, and all of glorifies the exhaustive grace of God.

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Psalm 70: On Telling God to Hurry Up

Joe Harby on

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Introduction

There are two fundamental approaches to God, as far apart as Heaven and Hell. One sees the Lord God Almighty, high and lifted up. The other is the domestic animal approach to God, where the ostensible worshipper keeps a god on hand, the way you might keep a cow, for the milk. We know the former is the way to go. But then we don’t know what to do when the Lord, high and lifted up, tells us to ask for anything. We act like Ahaz, and in the name of a high view of God, refuse to obey Him (Is. 7:12).

The Text

“Make haste, O God, to deliver me; Make haste to help me, O LORD. . .” (Ps. 70:1-5).

Summary of the Text

This psalm is a shorter version of Psalm 40, with some changes—YHWH for Elohim, for example. The psalmist is in trouble, as he frequently is, and he cries out to God. He beseeches God to get a move on (v. 1). Not only does he want God to come quickly, he knows what he wants God to do when He arrives. He wants Him to shame and confound the adversaries of his soul (v. 2). Those who desire his hurt he wants to be turned all around and put to confusion (v. 2). Those who taunt the godly, saying aha, aha, need to be turned around as recompense (v. 3). By way of contrast, those who seek God should be blessed—let them rejoice and be glad in the Lord (v. 4). Let those who love the salvation of the Lord be continuous in magnifying the God of Heaven (v. 4). The psalmist is poor and needy, and this is the argument he uses to plead for God’s need to make haste (v. 5), God is his help and deliverer, and so he urges God again—do not tarry (v. 5).

Hurry Up, O Lord

The psalmist urges divine haste four times in this psalm. He begins with it, repeating himself, and he repeats this twice at the end as well. But this is not the command of a superior, commanding a servant to get the lead out. He knows his condition—he is poor and needy— and that is the basis for the urgent plea. Praying this way magnifies the Lord. When He delivers us, we boast in His mighty works.

It is not a high view of God to magnify a pristine definition of a God of the philosophers. The triune God of Scriptures sent His Son down to earth in order that He might have His diapers changed. You think this irreverent? If that is irreverent, who is less reverent of His majesty than God? Who redefined reverence forever when that same boy grew up to be a man, a teacher of upside down things, who offended the religious elite (the reverent), had His skin shredded in a brutal flogging, and who was then nailed to a cross of wood? Reflect again. What sort of religion is this?

It does not reflect a high view of God to refuse to do what He says, or to refuse to think about Him in the categories He gives us. To throw yourself upon His mercies in urgent desperation does not dishonor Him. When we are concerned to magnify the Lord in accordance with His Word, that is what we will do.

To Plead in Faith

Be that as it may, how can we know if we are out of line? Can this teaching not be abused? Of course it can! But why should that even slow us down?

What kind of prayer honors God, and what kind of prayer dishonors Him? The answer of the Bible is constant from beginning to end—without faith it is impossible to please Him. Urgent faith pleases Him. Urgent unbelief just sins faster. Urgent unbelief that wants to be something else pleases Him (Mark 9:24).

“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever you desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark11:24).

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Faith arises in response to what God has said. Are you doing what He invites you to do? Are you running ahead with the health-and-wealthers, or lagging behind with the Reformed? Do all your prayers meet the building code requirements for emergency egress? “O God, if it be thy will, which we all know it isn’t”? We often want deliverance from the burden of asking God for things more than we want deliverance from our troubles.

Note the context of the promise. On one side of it we have prayers of imprecation—the fig tree of Israel was cursed. And if you say to this mountain, be cast into the sea, it will be. What mountain? The one they were standing on at the time, this mountain. On the other side of the promise, there is the requirement to forgive all of the slights and sins committed against you. So there it is—pray for God’s judgments first, forgive all your enemies second, and then shoot the moon.

Aha, Aha

The petty and vindictive spirit that the psalmist complains about reaches its zenith in the account of the crucifixion.

“And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, Save thyself, and come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe” (Mk 15:29-32).

When Christ was condemned by the Sanhedrin, the motion was made, seconded, and entered in the minutes. The rules were scrupulously followed, down to what account the blood money went into when Judas returned it. But the whole thing was a sham, a farce. When the nails went in, the malice could not be contained, and out it came like hot lava.

The veneer of hypocrisy is not thick enough to cover everything it needs to cover. Dogs will bark, roosters will crow, and haters will hate. In our day, the haters of righteousness have tried preemptively to seize the high ground, so that they could be the peace and love faction —but the realities remain what they are. They wanted to define what hatred was (differing with them), but it has not come close to working. It is striking how the slightest provocation is sufficient to bring out the vitriol. So for us, believing the propaganda the enemy produces would be a bad move. In Proverbs, Wisdom declares that all who hate her love death (Prov. 8: 36). This is a reality that cannot be undone; God has fixed it in stone. However much they strive to redefine righteousness, the secularists are just polishing turds.

So when we come to the crux of the matter, which is of course the cross, there are only two ways to go. There are only two options. You either trust in Him for the salvation of your everlasting soul . . . Or you mock Him. Which is it? Which will it be?

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Psalm 63: The Marrow and the Fat

Joe Harby on

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Introduction

John Donne says of this psalm that it is one of the imperial psalms—suitable for every occasion, and one with universal applications. Christians can resort to it under all kinds of circumstances, and according to Chrysostom, a portion of the ancient church would not let a day pass without singing it. All the various challenges of modern life have made even more suitable for regular use.

The Text

“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is . . .” (Psalm 63:1-11).

Summary of the Text

The heading says that David wrote this while in the wilderness of Judah. He appears to have been king (v. 11), but in some danger, which would likely place this turning his brief exile during the revolt by his son Absalom. As such, it is a prayer of dedication and faith, with the object of that faith not yet realized. He will seek God early because of an intense desire to do so (v. 1). What he yearns for is to see God’s power and glory as he has previously seen it in the sanctuary (v. 2). He states that God’s loving-kindness is better than life (v. 3), and as a result David will worship the Lord, lifting up his hands (v. 4). He praises God in faith now, but will praise Him from a position of satisfaction later (v. 5). He will remember the Lord during the night watches, while he lies upon his bed (v. 6), remembering all the ways God has helped him (v. 7). David “follows hard” after the Lord, and the Lord helps him (v. 8). Those who seek David’s life will descend to Sheol (v. 9), falling by the sword (v. 10), only to be consumed by jackals (v. 10). But the king will rejoice and his followers will glory. Those who oppose him will have their mouths stopped (v. 11).

Lovingkindness Exalted

David exalts the loving-kindness of God, exalting it highly. Having placed it on the throne, saying that it is better than life itself, he then appoints seven retainers for that court, seven faculties of his body and mind. These are his lips (v. 3), his tongue (v. 4), his hands (v. 4), his will (v. 5), his mouth (v. 5), his memory (v. 6), and his mind (v. 6). The greatest commandment is to love God with all that you are and have and this is a good example of someone doing just that. David says that God’s loving-kindness is better than his life, and by way of showing this, he throws all the faculties of his life into praising God’s loving-kindness.

Marrow and Fatness

The Christian life is not a lo-fat business (v. 5). Godliness is clotted cream, not skim. Isaiah speaks of the new covenant era this way: “And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined” (Is. 25:6). If you lived in a society which thought milk was a poison and honey was toxic—and you very nearly do—then you would be living in a society at odds with God’s descriptions in Scripture

of how He made the world. The promised land, famously, was flowing with milk and honey (Deut. 6:3). When Isaac blessed Jacob (unwittingly), he blessed him with fatness of the earth, and with plenty of

corn and wine (Gen. 27:28). Do not let those in high rebellion against the blessing of God become the arbiters and definers of what blessing is. The Christian life is a potato with melted butter all over it. The soul of the diligent is made fat (Prov. 13:4).

God in the Sanctuary

David is parched in the wilderness, and he wants to pursue God in order to see His power and glory, the way he has seen it before in the sanctuary. The ordinances of God are precious to Him, and ought to be precious to us. Remember that David was out in the wilderness, which meant that he could go out and look at a spectacular array of stars in the sky—but he wanted to see God’s power and glory in the sanctuary. It is better to be in the wilderness with God than to be in the sanctuary without Him, obviously. And the ordinances and sacraments of God without Him present for blessing are nothing but dry breasts and barren wombs. While we can rejoice in natural revelation (Ps. 19), and we can rejoice in private devotions in the houses of Judah (Ps. 87:2), the worship of God in the gates of Zion is greatly to be preferred.

Following Hard After Him

David says here that God is not always easy to find, and so he pursues hard after Him. There are two ways in which a chasm exists between God and ourselves, and true evangelical faith (given by grace) bridges it both ways. The first is the ethical divide, created by our sins, and by the fact that we live in a fallen world. We must seek God diligently, aware that moral traps are set for us on every side. We sin, when we sin, downhill. Isaiah is undone when he sees the Lord “high and lifted up,” but he is undone because of how aware of his sinfulness he has become. His lament should remind us of our spiritual leprosy (Is. 6:5; Lev. 13:45). We put a cover on our lip, and we cry “unclean.” But God cleanses with a coal from the altar.

But there is another aspect to it—which is the infinite gulf between the Creator and the created. This is not a transcendence that severs us from Him, for in Him we live and move and have our being. God does not have to overcome His “transcendence” in order to be near to us. But the Bible teaches us that we have to overcome it to be near to Him—this is another way of “following hard after Him.” God dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen (1 Tim. 6:16). We are to praise His great and terrible name, for it is holy (Ps. 99:3). The voice of the Lord is full of majesty (Ps. 29:4). He sits on the circle of the earth, and we are invited to view ourselves as little grasshoppers of the field (Is. 40:22). The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind (Job 38:1). But in another gospel irony, we overcome this chasm by embracing it—again, by faith.

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