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The David Chronicles 3: The Song of Hannah

Joe Harby on March 6, 2011

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Introduction

God heard the prayer of Hannah, and He gave her a son. She understood what was at stake, and utters a glorious psalm of triumph, a prayer that served as a model for our Lord’s mother, Mary, when she triumphed in much the same way. The horn of Hannah was exalted—and this is a striking image of masculine authority and power. But in order to do this, God would have to bring about a great reversal.

The Text

“And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. . . .” (1 Sam. 2:1-36).

Summary of the Text

Recall that the first chiasm in this book ends with v. 11 here in chapter 2, when Elkanah and family return to Ramah without Samuel. This chapter also includes another chiasm (vv. 12-26) that is worth noting.

a The sons of Eli are worthless and do not know God (2:12)
b The wickedness of Eli’s sons is described (2:13-17)
c Samuel ministers before YHWH (2:18)
d Hannah is given more children (2:19-21b)
c’ Samuel grows up before YHWH (2:21c)
b’ The wickedness of Eli’s sons described(2:22-25)
a’ Samuel grows in favor with YHWH (2:26)

Hannah prays in exaltation; her horn is exalted (v. 1). No one else is a rock like our God (v. 2). God is a God of knowledge, and so human boasting and arrogance must cease (v. 3). Mighty men are brought low, and the lowly are raised (v. 4). The full are empty, and the empty full. The barren are fruitful, and the fruitful come to nothing (v. 5). The Lord kills and raises to life (v. 6). He makes poor and rich, and brings low and raises up (v. 7). He brings the poor from the dust and the beggar from the dunghill, and sets them among princes, on thrones of glory (v. 8). He keeps His saints, and the wicked are silenced (v. 9). He brings His enemies low, and sustains His king (v. 10).

Elkanah returns home (v. 11). The sons of Eli were sons of Belial, who did not know God (v. 12). Their custom with the sacrificial meat was to take the first for themselves (vv. 13-14). In addition, they took the fat (which was the Lord’s) for themselves by threat of force (vv. 15-16). Their sin was very great, and they brought the worship of God into disrepute (v. 17). But Samuel ministered before the Lord (v. 18). His mother would visit him annually, and bring a coat she had made (v. 19). Eli blessed her, and she had five more children (vv. 20-21). And Samuel grew before the Lord (v. 21b). Eli was old, and heard about all his sons were doing, including their adulteries. He didn’t stop them, but just admonished them (vv. 22-25). Samuel grew in favor with God and man (v. 26).

An unnamed prophet then came to Eli and delivered the word of God to him (v. 27). Didn’t God choose Eli’s line to minister in the first place (vv. 27-28). The prophet charges Eli with honoring his sons above the Lord, and with making himself fat with the offerings (v. 29). But God will honor those who honor Him, and will light esteem those who despise Him (v. 30). Eli’s priestly line will therefore be cut off (vv. 31-33). The sign that this will happen will be the death of his two sons on the same day (v. 34). God will then raise up a faithful priest who will serve forever (v. 35). The house of Eli will then serve this new house (v. 36).

What Reversal Means

Hannah’s song is filled with reversals. This is not a song that exalts a leveling spirit, but rather points to a series of reversals. The poor become rich, and the rich become poor. The mighty fall, and the powerless are raised to life. The lowly are exalted, and the exalted are humbled. Because this happens in time and in history, each group that is raised must remember that God must be honored before, during and after His action of exaltation.

Eli’s house was chosen, and was promised that it would remain forever (v. 30). But because God was dishonored by him, God then selected Samuel, and promised him that he would walk before God “forever” as well (v. 35). But Samuel’s sons took bribes, and a king replaced him. Later in this book Saul rises, then stumbles and falls. Then David does the same. Men love to think that their mojo, once it gets going, is the kind of thing that must last forever. Haman was really excited about getting a dinner invitation from Queen Esther. He thought he was headed for high places, which a gallows is, I suppose. Watching men try to be faithful over generations is like watching the tide go in and out. It will not come in completely until the Christ comes, and the earth is as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. The prophecy given to Eli is typified by Samuel, but is fulfilled in Christ alone.

A Model Psalm

Hannah’s description of “raising and lowering” is enacted immediately afterward. It is not just a model of history, but is also a model for the remainder of this chapter. Eli’s sons are set up for a humiliation, and the humble boy Samuel is set up for exaltation. They are brought low, and Samuel is promoted. At the center of the chiasm, Hannah is given a quiver full of children—she is given a seat of great honor in the Scriptures. She had the privilege of providing a model psalm to our Lord’s mother.

Eli’s Failure, Our Failure, and Gospel Promise

Eli admonishes his sons, but he does not stop them. The prophet who brings the charge against Eli says that he honored his sons over the Lord, even though Eli “agreed with” the Lord and not with his sons. It appears that Eli was in some manner dependent on his sons’ methods of getting the choicest meat—and had gotten fat through their impudence. Eli was in fact fat (1 Sam. 4:18).

Ironically, Eli’s warning to his sons actually applied to him. If a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him? Here is Eli’s failure, and if we are honest, we will see our own problem with sin as well. And here is where we must grasp the gospel promise.

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Psalm 54: According To His Truth

Joe Harby on September 26, 2010

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Introduction

The background to this psalm is found in 1 Samuel 23, and it is a testimony to David’s faithfulness to God in the midst of much unfaithfulness to him. David had delivered Keilah from the Philistines, but the Lord told David that they would turn him over to Saul. He then went to the wilderness of Kiph, but the Kiphim went to Saul the tyrant and promised to turn David over to him. Saul, true to form, felt like he’s the one who needed compassion (1 Sam. 23:21). The one exception to all this treachery was Jonathan. In this background chapter, he makes a wonderful covenant with David—Saul, the tyrant, fathered one of the noblest sons in all of Scripture (1 Sam. 23:16). But when most men are treacherous, and when many men are flakes, God remains God.

The Text

“To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?

Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength. Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah. Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul. He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth. I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good. For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies” (Ps. 54:1-7).

Summary of the Text

When the Kiphim volunteered to turn David over to Saul, David cries out to God, asking for salvation by the name of God (v. 1), and he requests that he be judged by the strength of God (v. 1). He then urges God to listen (v. 2). David says that his problem is two-fold—strangers have volunteered to take up the conflict with David (v. 3), and oppressors are trying to get him (v. 3). The Ziphim are the strangers, who should have had no problem with David, and the oppressors are Saul and his forces. Both are motivated by a functional atheism—they have not set God before them (v. 3). We then find a selah—Spurgeon says that David is out of breath with indignation. David then says that God is with him; the Lord is also with those who encourage David (v. 4), which would have to include Jonathan. David knows the shape that this help will take—God will reward evil to David’s enemies, and will cut them off in His truth (v. 5). David knows this will happen, and he promises to pay his sacrificial vows when it does (v. 6). He will praise God’s name (v. 6), the name by which he was saved (v. 1). David claims his deliverance by faith (v. 7), and he foresees his God-given victory over his enemies (v. 7).

More on Atheism

We considered the realities of functional atheism in the previous psalm, but we see that same kind of atheism at work here. David says that strangers have risen up, and oppressors have pursued, because “they have not set God before them.” But what does Saul say when the Ziphim come to him? He puts a pious varnish over it. “And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the LORD; for ye have compassion on me” (1 Sam. 23:21). Saul pronounces this blessing in the name of Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel.

We have noted this characteristic of Saul before—trying to murder others while expecting everybody to feel sorry for him. But this kind of thing is often a function of retroactive justification. If one man wrongs another, he is frequently not of a mind to say to himself, “Yes, I did a vile thing without any good reason.” The human heart is a self-justification factory, manufacturing reasons by the quarter ton.

Most of those reasons are of a very poor quality indeed, and have a very tenuous relationship to any kind of orderly chronology. So one man wrongs another, and then goes hunting around in the past (anything earlier than his sin) for retroactively perceived grievances, things that were perfectly fine with him at the time. This is the way the world works, but it must not be the way that you work.

Judgment Is Real

Now David is not being petty or vindictive. As with the imprecatory psalms, the whole point is to turn a grotesque situation over to God, who is the one who sees all things perfectly. We can know the main outlines, but we still turn it over to God. While the bulk of this psalm is David asking to receive help, in one place he makes a direct statement about what God will do to those who are persecuting him. So it is not turned over to God in a spirit of agnosticism; the situation is turned over to God with particular requests attached. David here says that God will “reward evil” to David’s enemies. David has a particular request that God “cut them off.” He wants God to do this in God’s truth, and according to God’s judgments, but he nonetheless wants God to do it. Someone has ably defined a liberal as someone who won’t take up his own side in a fight. If that is the case, the spirit of liberalism is pervasive in the modern church—even including ostensibly conservative churches.

The Troublesome Issue of Works

God will not not judge the world in the aggregate. He will not judge by the gross ton. His judgments will involve glasses of cold water that some people gave and other people didn’t (Mark 9:41). His judgments will include every idle word that some people spoke and some people didn’t (Matt. 12:36). God will render to every man according to his deeds (Rom. 2:6). The apostle Paul also says of false teachers that their “end shall be according to their works” (2 Cor. 11:15). He also asked that Alexander be rewarded “according to his works” (2 Tim. 4:14). “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” (1 Pet. 1:17).

Now in line with all the Reformation, we hold that the dividing line between the sheep and goats is a line drawn by the electing good pleasure of God, and is not according to works. But once the Lord’s infinite wisdom has drawn that line, the punishments and the rewards that are apportioned to the reprobate and the elect respectively most certainly are in line with how we have lived our lives. The scriptural testimony to this reality is abundant. And so it is crucial that we turn to Christ, knowing that His mercies endure forever.

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Psalm 53: Functional Atheism

Joe Harby on September 19, 2010

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Introduction

This psalm is a variation of the fourteenth psalm, and makes a point important enough to be repeated. And that point is that this psalm applies to the whole human race, and not just to the tiny minority willing to claim their atheism openly. This is a psalm, not about atheism proper, but about the true nature of sin.

The Text

“To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David.

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: There is none that doeth good. God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there wereany that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back, they are altogether become filthy; There is none that doeth good, no, not one. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? Who eat up my people as they eat bread: They have not called upon God. There were they in great fear, where no fear was: For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: Thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them. O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad” (Ps. 53:1-6).

Summary of the Text

Like Ps. 14, the ascription is given to David. The psalms are almost identical, and the chief thing that appears to separate them is the context. The name of God is used seven times in each, but in Ps. 14, it is three times Elohim and four times Yahweh. In the psalm before us it is seven times Elohim, the Creator God. The Nabal, the blockhead, has said in his heart that there is no God (v. 1). They are corrupt, all of them, and pursue iniquity. Omniscience can’t know certain things, and one of them is where a righteous man might live (vv. 2-3). All are filthy; all are rancid (v. 3). Hatred of God translates to hatred of God’s people, and these corruptions eat the saints like they were a morsel of bread. As Thomas Watson put it, this is a Christ-hating and saint-eating world. They have not called upon God (v. 4). But judgment approaches, and those who had no fear of God will suddenly find themselves seized by fear. God scatters their bones (v. 5), and puts them to shame. The psalm concludes with a longing cry: O that the salvation of the Lord would appear out of Zion, and that the captivity of the Lord’s people would end (v. 6).

Apostolic Application

The apostle Paul quotes this passage in his indictment of the whole human race. Before he quotes it in Romans 3:10-12, he introduces the citation with his application. What does he say? “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one . . .” What does this mean? Paul is saying that the indictment applies to all men, Gentiles and Jews both, and this makes it plain that we are talking about archbishops, seminary profs, and faith- based soup kitchen volunteers as much as about the chairmen of atheist leagues, and the writers of best-selling screeds against God. No one is righteous. Apart from the grace of God, no one does what is right—not the village atheist and not the village priest.

At the same time, God does reserve a people for Himself. They are seen in this psalm — God says the corrupt devour “my people” as though they were bread. God has a people. But He does not have them because of any righteousness they came up with on their own. Atheists devour only those who used to be atheists. No, the gospel indictment is universal, including every last man, woman, and child, Christ only excepted.

Functional Atheism

What is sin? It is, in the moment, an action that rests upon the idea that God does not see. But of course, God, if He exists, does see. This means that every deliberate sin presupposes a functional atheism. One of the reasons so many professed believers are rattled and upset by open atheism is that they are envious of the man who dares to say openly what so many nourish in their hearts. Our text says, “the fool says in his heart,” not “the fool says in his book . . .” Regardless of what intellectual workarounds may be in place, the result is a functional atheism. “He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it” (Ps. 10:11). “Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it” (Ps. 94:7).

Sin Is Never Solitary

But there is more. It gets worse. Sinners, when they sin, must do so in the presence of God. This is why the unconverted heart hates God, and would kill Him if that were possible. The fourteenth psalm has them turning aside, while here they are described as turning back, running in the opposite direction. But when they do, God is there, and this is obviously intolerable. What David found, to his comfort, was that God was everywhere (Ps. 139:8), and the sinner finds this to be a standing insult. If there were a blow that he could strike that would kill God, he would do so. And the only deliverance from this settled disposition is when God in His mercy strikes the blow that slays the dragon in every heart. That is what we call being crucified with Christ, and when that happens, we are born again.

If you doubt this, consider what happened when it became possible to kill God, when God took on human flesh as Immanuel, as God with us? He was crucified, not by pirates, but by the leading theologians of His day. You will never understand grace until you understand the nature of this pervasive atheism.

Moral Cowardice

The one who did not fear God, fears Him now (v. 5). The one who flees from God successfully must be the one who does it by fleeing to God, in Christ. And when he does this, perfect love casts out fear.

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Psalm 51: When Crushed Bones Rejoice

Joe Harby on September 5, 2010

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Introduction

If forgiveness of sin is one of the glories of the new covenant, and it is (Heb. 8: 8-12; cf. Heb. 10: 17), then this psalm is one of the glories of the entire Bible. In this psalm, we learn the greatness of forgiveness, and in the course of learning this, we learn the true nature of that forgiveness.

The Text

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me . . .” (Ps. 51:1-19).

Summary of the Text

David begins with a cry for mercy, in accordance with the multitude of God’s tender mercies (v. 1), and not according to David’s just deserts. He asks for a thorough washing, a complete cleansing (v. 2). He is not trying to hide or cover up his sin (v. 3)—this psalm is for the chief musician, meaning that his confession is public. God’s law was the law that was broken, and so the sin, while it affected others, was sin against God alone (v. 4). David says that the sin extends down to his very nature (v. 5). Where the sin originated (in the inward parts), that is the place where God desires truth and wisdom (v. 6). He prays again for cleansing (v. 7)—hyssop was a plant used for sprinkling in ritual purifications (Lev. 14:4, 7; Num. 19:18-22). David prays that his crushed bones would be able to rejoice again (v. 8). He prays that God would turn His face away from his sins, and blot out his iniquities (v. 9). He then prays for a new creation, a complete renewal (v. 10). David then asks God not to hurl him away, and not to remove His Spirit from him (v. 11). He does not pray for his salvation back, but he does pray for the joy of it to come back (v. 12). When the cleansing is complete, then David can be used in the restoration of others (v. 13). The king cries out for deliverance from bloodguilt (v. 14), and then he will be able to sing. If God opens David’s mouth, then David will be able to praise Him (v. 15). There was no appointed sacrifice for the things which David had done (v. 16). But God delights in repentance in the inner man, and not just with regard to heinous sins like this one (vv. 16-17). God does not despise a broken spirit (v. 17). David’s sin had not just affected him alone; he was a king. And so David prays for mercy for his people (v. 18). True worship will then be offered to God (v. 19).

An Appalling Sin

We begin by noting that David really was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:4), and so this should make every last one of us mindful of our step (1 Cor. 10:12). David was around the age of fifty when this happened, and had no business staying home from the war. Uriah’s rejection of David’s temptation highlights David’s initial failure (2 Sam. 11:1, 11). The breech of one duty had begun with the neglect of another. Bathsheba’s father, Eliam, was one of David’s cohort of thirty mighty men (2 Sam. 11:3; 23:34). If her father was one of David’s peers, then she was a lot younger than David, less than half his age. Without removing her possible culpability in this (no protest like Tamar’s is recorded), consider the circumstances. Nathan’s metaphor for this indicates something closer to rape than anything else. He says that the ewe lamb was killed (2 Sam. 12:4). Her grandfather, Ahithophel, was a counselor of David’s who later joined Absalom in his rebellion (2 Sam. 15:12)—and it is not hard to figure out why. The sin was appalling, and had its cascading effects. Amnon’s rape of Tamar happened shortly after this— why may a prince not do what a king may do? But it is when we get to Uriah that the horror really begins. He was a Hittite, meaning that he was a convert, and David had been a spiritual father to him. He also was one of David’s thirty great men (2 Sam. 23:39), and was a faithful convert. What Saul tried unsuccessfully to do to David, David “successfully” did to Uriah. The inscription of the psalm puns on David’s coming in to Bathsheba, and Nathan coming in to confront David about it.

The text is silent on the point, so we don’t know if Bathsheba was being a seductress, or as is more common in covenant circles, just a dope. It was not likely to have been simple voyeurism on David’s part. So in either case, we see from the subsequent history that her restoration was also genuine. We don’t need to dwell on the point—the point here is David’s sin—but as Christian women remember their responsibilities in modesty, they need to consider the basic alternatives. If a woman can’t leave the house without assuming that she is taking “the girls” for an outing, then she is either being really bad, or being really dumb. If others think they are going to the worship of God, but she is going to the heavenly Zion in order to headlight the saints, then the same alternatives are there. You can tell the difference if the subject is ever broached with her. If she is nonchalant, and knew all about it already, then she is the kind of woman that the book of Proverbs, your mom, and numerous blues songs warn you to stay away from. If she is offended and distraught, and can’t believe you would ever bring up such a thing, then she is just a dope. Either way, the sin should be dealt with before the kingdom is ruined, not after.

Take Not Thy Holy Spirit from Me

Once he received the rebuke from Nathan, David knew that he had become another Saul. And just as Saul’s house, Saul’s dynasty, had collapsed because of his lesser sin, David knew that his house, his throne, was forfeit because of his greater sin. Saul’s ability to govern had collapsed when the Spirit removed from Saul (1 Sam. 16:14), and David knew that he deserved exactly the same thing. So he is not praying for his personal salvation here (v. 12), but rather praying for the preservation of the messianic line (vv. 18-19). Ultimately, this prayer of David’s includes us.

Three Things

This does not mean that David does not pray for himself also. In the context of his plea for cleansing, David asks for three things for himself. The first is the creation of a new heart, a renewed spirit. The second is fellowship with God, and the third is a restored joy. But he is not just checklisting his way through this. He has asked for a thorough washing. The word for wash in v. 7 does not mean anything like rinsing a plate, but rather a washing of a deep stain that had gotten down into the texture of the cloth. He is asking that his crushed bones might be able to rejoice. The multitude of God’s mercies is greater than the multitude of our sins—but the potency of His grace is such that it crushes us in repentance first. It is crushed bones that learn to rejoice.

Then I Will Teach

Drunkards in taverns don’t understand the grace of God, and so it will be easy for them to continue to mock David in their songs. Uriah’s life could not be given back to him, nor Bathsheba’s purity. So now David says he’s sorry, and has the unmitigated gall to set up shop to teach people on the basis of his experience? God has to do it. If God opens a forgiven sinner’s lips (v. 15), then the testimony can be compelling. Otherwise it is just another sob story on Oprah.

Fellow Transgressors

This puts everything in perspective. The blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin, but it does not do so in light and trivial ways. And when we see others who need to be converted (v. 13), and they really do need to be converted, we can speak to them with real compassion, and not with any air of superiority or self-righteousness. This psalm teaches us in profound ways, and the message is thoroughly evangelical. This is good news for a sinful race.

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Romans 54: Time For The World To Get Up (13:11-14)

Joe Harby on May 9, 2010

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Introduction

The Incarnation of the Word, and the resurrection of that Word from the dead, has entirely remade the world. We fail to recognize this because we don’t understand history—and the way the world actually was before Christ came into it. But humanity lived through a long night indeed, and when Christ came, the sun rose. Men still sin, but the sun is up. We can still have cloudy days, and even storms, but the sun is up—and cannot be made to ever go down.

The Text

“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom.13:11-14).

Summary of the Text

We have seen how the believers are to submit themselves to the old authorities. They were true authorities, but their rough governance of humanity was in the process of being replaced. We have also seen how believers are to treat one another lawfully from the heart, which is what love is. And so now we come to some very interesting applications. The apostle Paul takes the Decalogue, the meaning of love, and pushes it into some interesting corners. Paul says that the Roman Christians should know the time (v. 11). What time was it? Time to wake up, because salvation was nearer than when the first Christians first believed (v. 11). What is this approaching salvation? It is the cataclysm that Paul has been preparing the Roman Christians for—the final conclusion of the Judaic aeon and the formal, unfettered commencement of the Christian aeon. Note that the night is far spent (v. 12), and that the day is “at hand” (v. 12). Paul is not talking about the second coming, many thousands of years in the future. The response to this immediate eschatological reality is to cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light (v. 12). Once up, with the panoply on, what are these believers to do? They were to walk honestly, because it is day time (v. 13). This honest walk excludes six things—riotous partying, drunkenness, fornication, wantonness, strife, and envying. Put off the old man, and instead put on the Lord Jesus (v. 14), making no provision for the flesh or its lusts (v. 14).

Armor of Light

How should someone act if they are dressed out in the armor of light? What should their behavior be? Right away, it excludes certain things. Orgies or riotous parties are out. So also is drunkenness. The next sin is translated chambering, but the word means sexual immortality. After that is a rejection of sensuality, lasciviousness, or filthiness. Then comes strife or quarreling, and after that is envy. We are dressed in the armor of light, and we are to walk as the children of light (Eph.5:8). We are to do this in a way that produces the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of light—that which is good, right, and true (Eph. 5:9). Set your minds on heavenly things (Col. 3:2). Whatever is pure, (Phil. 4:8), think about that.

Put Off, Put On

These instructions are given to Christians. When you were first converted, you put off the old man, and you put on the new man, Jesus. That was a fundamental action. But it is not the kind of action that never needs to be repeated. We repeat this motion throughout the course of our lives. We put off, and we put on. We put off the old, corrupt way of being a human being, and we put on the new and glorious way of being a human being—the Lord Jesus.

No Provision

An important part of what it means to put off the old man concerns the way we speak. “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Eph. 4:29). “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret” (Eph. 5:11-12). Right after this, Paul uses the same image he used in our passage here, that of waking up from sleep so that Christ the sun could shine on us. One of the disgraceful things in the modern church is slack entertainment standards, being willing to be entertained in our homes by people that we wouldn’t have in our homes. But digitizing a dirty joke doesn’t clean it up any. And then Christians begin speaking and joking that way themselves—although the Bible plainly says not to. Wake up, sleepers.

Eschatological Ethics

The Bible calls us to holiness because of who we are—we are named as Christians in our baptism. But the Scriptures also summon us to purity because of where we are in the story. That is what is happening here.

The Roman Christians were told not to behave in a certain way because it was morning. Christ is the sun, and this is why this contextualization does not make it inapplicable to us in our situation. The first Christians were staggering down for coffee at 5:30 am. We are busy at work, mid-morning. Does this reasoning apply to us, less or more? We are engaged in the work of the Great Commission, which consists of racking people out of their beds. As the morning progresses, this becomes even more of a necessity. As the day progresses, we have to stay with it. Some lazy men have trouble getting up, which is what Paul was addressing. Other lazy men have trouble working through the day, which is what we are addressing—but the point is the same. Don’t be like the archbishop who once joked that he didn’t get up early because it made him proud all morning, and sleepy all afternoon.

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