READING PSALMICALLY

Credit goes to Justin Buzzard for this great idea:

I’ve been changing things up.

Weeks ago I began to notice that my conversations with God had a “stuckness” to them. My prayer life had grown stale and stuck–always saying the same old things in the same old way. So, I decided to change my method.

For the past few weeks I’ve been praying through the Psalms.

This is how I do it:

Most mornings I use my Moleskine in praying through a psalm. Right now, the discipline of writing out my prayers is proving deeply helpful. I began with Psalm 1. Today I prayed through Psalm 20. I use black ink to write out the words of the psalm. As I write the words I pray them to God. When a certain stanza, verse, sentence, or word of the psalm especially grips me and triggers further prayer, I take my red pen and use it to write out/pour out further prayer to God in my own language. When I’m done, I move back to the black pen/psalm.

That’s it. That’s what I do.

It’s just a simple change of method in my prayer life, but this simple change of method is slowly changing how I live and relate to God. I’m living more psalmically than before.

 

To Inundate the World

Another great post from Douglas Wilson:

To Inundate the World
Topic: From the River to the Ends of the Earth
As Scripture instructs, we must be adult in our understanding. But we must also cultivate what Luke records in the books of Acts when he says that the early Christians ate their bread with gladness and simplicity of heart. We may be refreshed with both when we come to understand how much of the water of life there actually is.

“Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet 3:10-13).

What God gives to His people, He gives according to promise. We should know enough about scriptural language that we do not think the dissolution of the old heavens and the old earth in this passage consists of a meltdown of the periodic table. What we mean by elements is not what they meant by elements. Peter’s word is stoicheia, which I would submit should be referred to the elementary gods, water, earth, wind and fire. Before redemption, mankind was in bondage to these elementals as Paul puts it in Gal 4:3-8. There is perhaps a reference to two of them in Eph 2:2 and Rev 14:18. We have now been set free from them – their power and authority has melted away.

But what does this passage mean positively? The interpretive key is found in Peter’s phrase “according to His promise.” Where were we promised a new heavens and a new earth? Where does the Old Testament talk about this? The answer to this question is Isaiah’s glory. At the great conclusion of the book of Isaiah, the prophet tells how reprobate Israelites would be rejected, and the Gentiles brought in. “I was sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ To a nation that was not called by My name. I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people (Is 65:1-2a). God promises to call His elect by another name – Christian, as it turns out – and the basis of this change is His promise. “For behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind” (Is 65:15-17). This is where the promise was made, the one which Peter claimed (Is 66:22). But do not look for a simplistic fulfillment. “Thus says the Lord: ‘Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?’” (Is 66:1. We are the temple (1 Cor 3:16, 6:19), we are the living stones (1 Pet 2:4-5); we are the new Jerusalem (Rev 21:2,9).

When Jesus teaches us about living water, we should all have learned enough scriptural truth not to look in the bucket. This “water” is everlasting life (John 4:13-15); this “water” is the Holy Spirit of God (John 7:37-39). “But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” Most notably, Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But where does Scripture talk about rivers of living water?

“Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east . . . and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed . . . When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed . . . And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live . . . Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine” (Ezek 47:1-12).

This river of Ezekiel is the Spirit; it is everlasting life, and it flows out from underneath the threshold of the Christian Church. We see a great bridal city. The parallels between Ezekiel’s temple and the New Jerusalem make it clear they are a vision of the same thing – the holy Christian church. But how does John introduce his discussion of it? “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Rev 21:1). The last two chapters of the Revelation are a glorious description of a justified and perfect Church, with healing for the nations. “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev 22:17). This water of life was not given to individuals so they could keep a thimbleful in their hearts. This is water that is meant to inundate the world.

Dropping Our Stones

This is a great observation by Dan Edelen 

One of the goals I have for Cerulean Sanctum is to carve out a godly middle ground on the issues that face the American Church while at the same time never backing down from what needs to be said. Despite the fact that I work hard to find a more godly response to those issues, I’ve had a few people label me an angry young man. We Americans have always held the angry young man in esteem, especially when that angry young man dispenses his brand of angry young man justice on despicable villains. On the other hand, there’s something about being an angry old man that unnerves us. We have an equation worked out in our heads that looks something like this: Young + Angry = Hero Old + Angry = Crank Watch this play out in public and you soon learn that you’re given a pass till about age 35, then you start sliding into crankhood. That age didn’t escape the notice of the founders of this country, either. No one can occupy the highest office in the land until 35. I believe the founders understood a deep truth that plays out in the eighth chapter of John: The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” ???John 8:3-11 My revelation in understanding this passage came when I understood the second half of this snippet: …they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones… To me, that’s one of the greatest strings of 11 words ever committed to print. Do we understand the profundity of John’s Spirit-inspired words here? When you’re an angry young man, your blood boils at the thought of a good stoning. Finding the perfect rock, heavy, jagged even. You feel the adrenaline enliven your muscles, engorging them with blood. The smell of sweat. Loud roars from angry men shouting for justice. The adultress’s vile perfume stinging your nose. The thought that you can get in the first throw. Wham!?? A head shot! That perfect throw that smashes her skull and caves in her head. Your throw. Your death strike against sin. Can you see it? Can you taste how bad you want it to play out in life as it does in your mind’s eye? But when you’re an older man, it should be different. Should be. You look around and see an old friend standing off to the side, his grip on his stone not so tight. The light had been dim, but you thought you saw him come out of her place a month ago, though you told yourself otherwise. He casts a downturned glance your way because you know, and he knows, too. And what of your own struggles? Who knows about your private sin, your little dalliance from years ago, and how you thanked God every day that you weren’t found out? Though in the end, who can hide anything from God? It should be you in that circle with that woman, shouldn’t it? In fact, it could be every man standing around that woman, stone in hand. All of you, ready to have your teeth shattered, your bones broken. Every last one of you. Buried under a pile of well-deserved stones. Because you had it coming as much as that woman before you now. One of the greatest self-deceptions the devil throws at us is that our sin is somehow not as bad as their sin, no matter who “they” might be. I wonder how many of us who should know better still cling to that angry young man we should’ve put to death a long, long time ago as part of our maturity in Christ. As much as we talk about grace, too few of us actually dispense it. There is nothing sadder under the sun than an old man, stone still in hand, ready to throw it at whomever he classifies as deserving of it’s granite sting. It amazes and saddens me that so many Christians out there who should know better can’t drop their stone. They’ve got to hurl it at all cost. And they do so because they have no concept of grace or of their own sin. They live an unexamined life that focuses on everyone else’s failures and none of their own. Tim Keller and David Powlison wrote eloquently on one way in which we can learn to drop the stone. I would encourage everyone to read it here,?? bloggers especially. The old adage goes “There’s no fool like an old fool.” God help us if Christian maturity doesn’t lead us beyond the angry young man stage and into the wisdom of dropping our stones.

Music, Creation, and the Love of God

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements-surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” Job 38:4-7According to the Book of Job, God’s work of creation was done to musical accompaniment…. John Dryden carried the idea a bit further than this, but not, perhaps, too far to be true:

From harmony, from heavenly harmony, this universal frame began;

When nature underneath a heap of jarring atoms lay, and could not heave her head,

The tuneful voice was heard from high, “Arise, ye more than dead!”

Then cold, and hot, and moist, and dry, in order to their stations leap, and Music’s power obey.

From harmony, from heavenly harmony, this universal frame began:

From harmony to harmony through all the compass of the notes it ran,

The diapason closing full in Man.

From

“A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day”

Music is both an expression and a source of pleasure, and the pleasure that is purest and nearest to God is the pleasure of love. Hell is a place of no pleasure because there is no love there. Heaven is full of music because it is the place where the pleasures of holy love abound…

From The Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer

Do You Really Use Your Bible As Much As You Ought?

from Between Two Worlds:

Excellent exhortation here from Bishop J.C. Ryle, over a century ago:

You live in a world where your soul is in constant danger. Enemies are round you on every side. Your own heart is deceitful. Bad examples are numerous. Satan is always laboring to lead you astray. Above all false doctrine and false teachers of every kind abound. This is your great danger.

To be safe you must be well armed. You must provide yourself with the weapons which God has given you for your help. You must store your mind with Holy Scripture. This is to be well armed.

Arm yourself with a thorough knowledge of the written word of God. Read your Bible regularly. Become familiar with your Bible. . . . Neglect your Bible and nothing that I know of can prevent you from error if a plausible advocate of false teaching shall happen to meet you. Make it a rule to believe nothing except it can be proved from Scripture. The Bible alone is infallible. . . . Do you really use your Bible as much as you ought?

There are many today, who believe the Bible, yet read it very little. Does your conscience tell you that you are one of these persons?

If so, you are the man that is likely to get little help from the Bible in time of need. Trial is a sifting experience. . . . Your store of Bible consolations may one day run very low.

If so, you are the man that is unlikely to become established in the truth. I shall not be surprised to hear that you are troubled with doubts and questions about assurance, grace, faith, perseverance, etc. The devil is an old and cunning enemy. He can quote Scripture readily enough when he pleases. Now you are not sufficiently ready with your weapons to fight a good fight with him. . . . Your sword is held loosely in your hand.

If so, you are the man that is likely to make mistakes in life. I shall not wonder if I am told that you have problems in your marriage, problems with your children, problems about the conduct of your family and about the company you keep. The world you steer through is full of rocks, shoals and sandbanks. You are not sufficiently familiar either with lighthouses or charts.

If so, you are the man who is likely to be carried away by some false teacher for a time. It will not surprise me if I hear that one of these clever eloquent men who can make a convincing presentation is leading you into error. You are in need of ballast (truth); no wonder if you are tossed to and fro like a cork on the waves.

All these are uncomfortable situations. I want you to escape them all. Take the advice I offer you today. Do not merely read your Bible a little—but read it a great deal. . . . Remember your many enemies. Be armed!

Cited in J. I. Packer, 18 Words: The Most Important Words You Will Ever Know, pp. 40-41

How to Hear the Word of God

from Desiring God

By: John Piper 

What does Jesus mean when he says,

Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away (Luke 8:18)?

He is applying the parable of the four soils (Luke 8:12-15). Notice the connection between “take care how you hear,” and the focus in hearing in the parable.

1. “The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word.”
2. “And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it  with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing  fall away.”
3. “And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but  as they go on their way they are choked by the  cares and riches and pleasures of life.”
4. “As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit  with patience.”

The point of that parable is that three out of four ways to “hear” result in the word being “taken away.” So Jesus says, “Take care how you hear.” It is infinitely important whether we hear like the three soils and lose what we heard, or hear like the fourth soil and bear fruit with what we heard.

Jesus motivates us to “take care how you hear” by saying two things, the first relating to the fourth soil, the second relating to the first three soils.

1. “. . . for to the one who has, more will be given. . .”When we hear and “hold it fast in a honest and good heart,” we bear fruit. That is, more [fruit] is given to those already have [the word held fast by an honest and good heart].
2. “. . . and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”The first three ways of hearing are deceived. They “think” they have the word, but they don’t. And even this illusion will be destroyed some day: “What he thinks that he has will be taken away.”

When you hear preaching or read your Bible take hold of it like a miser taking hold of gold and silver. Take hold of it like a pearl of great price and a treasure in a field. Take hold of it like a drowning man seizes a float. Fight off every word-destroying demonic bird and burning affliction and deceitful desire. Then you will “have” and “more will be given.” You will bear fruit with patience.

Every Word of God

Any “thought-for-thought” translation inevitably will involve an element of interpretation. The following post cites the ESV as a literal, or word-for-word, translation. The NASB is as well. -JB

from Challies

Imagine, for a moment. You wake up one morning and, as you stumble downstairs to grope for the coffee maker, you notice that the front door of your house is wide open, the brisk morning air blowing into the room and clearing your mind just a little bit. You stare at the door for a moment to process the fact that it is open. Your first thought, of course, is for your family. You race upstairs and throw open the door of your son’s room. He is lying peacefully asleep. Breathing a prayer of thanks you cross the hall, opening the door to your daughter’s room. Her blankets are in a heap beside the bed, her nightlight on, but she is nowhere to be seen. Frantically you search the house, calling for her, begging her to answer you. But she is gone.

Before you can pick up the phone to dial 911, it rings. You answer it before the second ring and discover that it is a reporter from a local newspaper. He awoke this morning to find a strange package on his front doorstep. Opening it, he found that it contained a warning that someone had taken your daughter. A letter detailed a series of steps you would have to take if you ever hoped to see her alive again.

The reporter begins to read the letter, but you shout, “I don’t have time for this! Just give me a summary!” Or do you? Of course not! It would be ludicrous for you to do anything but ask him to read the letter slowly and with dead accuracy. You would not want the summary but would want to hear and understand and ponder the kidnapper’s every word. You would not want his understanding of the kidnapper’s demands, but would want to hear the words yourself so you could come to your own understanding. Only then might you ask for his understanding of it. You would want to know, study, understand and follow every detail of that letter.

Words, it seems, are important. This applies not only to series of words, but to individual words. We see the importance of words all the time in legal documents, recipes, love letters, interviews and quotations. Think of a courtroom. Even if you have never been involved in a court case, you may have seen cases tried on some of the court shows like People’s Court or Judge Judy. Maybe you took time off work to watch the O.J. Simpson trial. When a lawyer or judge asks a person to recount the details of a case, does he allow the person to provide a summary, or does he dig deeper and demand the exact words and phrases that were used? It is not enough for a person to testify that “the defendant threatened my life.” The judge will demand to know the exact words the defendant used. Did he say, “Give me your purse or I’ll kill you?” or did he say, “Give me your purse or else…?” In either case there was a threat, but only one can be accurately shown to be a threat against the person’s life. The other was merely interpreted to be so. In this instance it may or may not be the case.

Whether following instructions to find one’s daughter or standing before a court in an attempt to put an assailant in prison, individual words play an important and even crucial role. It strikes me as odd, then, that though we place such importance on individual words in so many areas of life, we are so willing to read translations of the Bible that, in many ways, are mere summaries of the actual words. If we agree, and I’m sure most of us do, that there are no words more important than those written in Scripture, why do we read versions of it that make a mockery of the words that were breathed out by God?

Consider just a couple of quick examples. Romans 13:4 discusses the role of civil government. The authorities, says Paul, have the right to “bear the sword.”

“But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” (ESV) The word translated as “sword” is machaira and means “sword.”

But consider this passage in some less-literal translations:

“But if you are doing something wrong, of course you should be afraid, for you will be punished. The authorities are established by God for that very purpose, to punish those who do wrong.” (NLT)

“If you do something wrong, you ought to be afraid, because these rulers have the right to punish you. They are God’s servants who punish criminals to show how angry God is.” (CEV)

“But if you’re breaking the rules right and left, watch out. The police aren’t there just to be admired in their uniforms. God also has an interest in keeping order, and he uses them to do it.” (The Message)

Noticeably absent from these three translations is the word “sword.” The translators have seen fit to provide what they feel is the main idea of the passage, that the civil authorities have the right to punish those who do wrong. But this is a verse that has long been used to discuss the Christian view on capital punishment. It is an important verse in this context and in others. But in these three translations there is nothing to discuss, for the “sword” has been removed and punishment, which may be imprisonment, fines or community service, among other things, has been substituted. This same word is used in Acts 12:2 where we read of the murder of James the brother of John. In this passage the NLT speaks explicitly of a sword, while the CEV suggests one with the words “cut his head off” and The Message speaks of “murder.” In either case, the translators have, in this second passage, translated a word in a way that is inconsistent with how they have translated it in another passage. They have done so in order to interpret and not to make a more clear translation.

Let’s look at a second example. A standard translation of Psalm 32:1 might read as follows: “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” (ESV) This translation is not a transliteration, or direct translation of word position, punctuation, and so on, but is a readable translation that attempts to translate each word that is in the original language. Now let’s look at a few translations from less-literal versions of the Bible.

“Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be-you get a fresh start, your slate’s wiped clean.” (The Message)

“Oh, what joy for those whose rebellion is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!” (NLT)

“Our God, you bless everyone whose sins you forgive and wipe away.” (CEV)

What has become of the word “covered?” It has been replaced by “wiped clean,” “put out of site,” or “wipe away.” But is “covered” not one of the words God breathed out and wrote in His book? Should we, as the reader, not have access to that word? Conversely, “fresh start” is foreign to the text and is provided as an addition to the passage without alerting the reader that these are not God’s words, but the translator’s.

Consider even the words of Solomon, written to his lover, describing her unsurpassed beauty. “Your hair is like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead.” (ESV) The Message renders this, “…like a flock of goats in the distance streaming down a hillside in the sunshine.” Note that addition of “sunshine.” The author may claim poetic license, but the fact is that he has added a word that is foreign to the text. The New Living Translation adds a small amount of interpretation, suggesting that her hair falls in waves. “Your hair falls in waves, like a flock of goats frisking down the slopes of Gilead.” If I were to write a love letter to my wife, do you think she would want it word-for-word, or does she merely desire access to the content of my thoughts? Again, translators have interpreted rather than translated.

What I mean to show in these examples is that anything other than an essentially literal translation of the Bible may work to subtly undermine the Christian’s confidence in the Scriptures. This is a topic that I cannot adequately cover in only a small article and I do realize there are complexities I have not considered. But on the basis of these examples I would urge you to consider this matter on your own. As Christians, people of the Book, we need to have confidence in our text. What basis do we have for our faith if we cannot have confidence in the Bible? We cannot overestimate the importance of ensuring that what we study is the clearest, best, most accurate translation of God’s Words that we can possibly find.

Foundation of Faith

 

“Since true faith rests upon what God is, it is of utmost importance that, to the limit of our comprehension, we know what He is…. The character of God is the Christian’s final ground of assurance…. By cultivating the knowledge of God we at the same time cultivate our faith.”

A. W. Tozer, That Incredible Christian (Harrisburg, PA: Christian Publications, 1964), pp. 27-28.