Wait Upon the Lord

In Psalm 27, we see David writing about coming through trials by the grace of God. Remember David spends much of his young life fleeing a murderous King Saul. His wife is taken from him to be given to another man. Priests who help David are murdered by Saul. A city David delivers from possible enslavement betrays him to Saul. He lived in what shelter he could find in woods and in caves. Later, David would have to flee from Absalom, usurping the throne. Time and again, David faced distress, trials, and discouragement.

Among all of this, we have Psalm 27, where David calls God his light and salvation. David asks, in verse 1, who he should fear. He expresses confidence in God’s deliverance and ultimate salvation. He trusts in God’s protection, and he sings praises to the God in whom he trusts. David calls on God to never hide from him or forsake him. Where all others may turn from David, he trusts in the God of his salvation. He concludes by admonishing any reading this psalm to wait on the Lord and take courage in Him.

David’s Patient Trust

In the first six verses, David declares his trust in God. His focus is on God’s house, His temple, His tabernacle. David expresses a desire to be where God is, and, in faith, he looks forward to that reunion with his Lord. Verses 7-12 then expresses the difficulties David faces in his faith. He pleads for God’s continual presence, knowing difficulties surround him at every turn.

Finally, verses 13-14 conclude with ultimate confidence. Wait on the Lord. This is the difficult part, for we are creatures that like instant gratification. We are a culture of instant rice, same-day delivery, and ten-minute oil changes. We do not like to wait, but, when it comes to God, we must be patient, for He is patient with us.

A Fellowship with God

Waiting on the Lord requires continued fellowship with God. In I John 1:6-7, we have fellowship with God, one to another, when we walk in the light, when we follow His ways, the path He set out before us. This is built upon a life of prayer. I Thessalonians 5:17-18 calls on us to pray continually. We see this in David’s life, in thanksgiving, in praise, in petition, in repentance. In all things, David would turn to God. For us to have fellowship with Him, we must continually turn to Him.

Maintaining our fellowship with God takes continuous effort. Hebrews 2:1, Hebrews 4:6, Hebrews 6:1 – these verses and more highlight the effort it takes to maintain our relationship with God. We have to stay in the fight. Remember Elijah, in I Kings 19, when Jezebel puts a price on the prophet’s head. Elijah flees to Mount Horeb where God appears in a quiet voice, pushing Elijah to continue his work and to prepare others to participate in that work. Elijah’s work lasted his whole life and extended beyond it. His relationship with God was a continual effort, and ours is as well.

Waiting on the Lord

Once we’ve established that relationship, we have to work with God on His timeline and on His terms. There are some things He simply does not promise us. He never promised to remove our trials. See those under persecution in Acts 4. They do not pray for God to remove all obstacles. Rather, in verse 29, they pray for strength and boldness. Also, God never promised us to make life easy. In fact, we know the Christian life brings trials and difficulties.

The most difficult thing is that God does not have to explain Himself. Remember Job. He asked God for that very thing before being humbled in God’s presence. He has promised, however, to strengthen our hearts and hold us up. James 1:2-3 tells us our trials will make us stronger, and James 5:15-16 shows us those trials equip us to then help others through theirs. Finally, James 4:6-8 promises us that the nearer we draw to God, the nearer He will come to us. Like David, we can turn to God in all things, growing closer to God while facing our trials, looking to a future with Him. As David writes in Psalm 28:6, we can trust in Him, bless Him, and pray Him. He is the Rock of our salvation.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Value of a Soul

We value things like our health, our jobs, our friends and families, but, when we experience something that shakes our foundation, sometimes circumstances force us to step back and look at what matters beyond the things of this life. While jobs, relationships, and even health are important in life, it is not these things God values the most. For a snapshot of what God views as important, look no further than Luke 12:13 where one comes to Jesus, demanding that his brother rightfully split their inheritance. Jesus responds by telling a parable of one who laid his trust in the things of this world while making no provisions for his soul. In verse 21, Jesus admonishes that people should strive to be rich toward God.

What God treasures the most for and about us is our souls. In the parable, the wealthy man seems to think he has provided for his soul by amassing sustenance for many years, but God then uses that same term to demonstrate his spiritual unhealthiness. While this man had provided for himself for a time, only God can make provisions for eternity.

The Worth of a Soul

Why does God place so much emphasis on our souls? For one thing, it is something singularly unique. We can change jobs; relationships come and go; health fluctuates; but we only get one soul, and no one else can affect our souls. He has invested a great deal in providing for and saving our souls, and God has paid an incredible price for our souls. When it came to our creation, God granted us a part of Him, making us in His image, giving us eternal souls. In Matthew 16:24, Jesus is speaking to the worth of our souls, and verses 26-27 asks what could possibly be more valuable than our souls. We are quick to chastise Esau for selling out his physical birthright, but are we any better when we sell out our spiritual birthright for the things of this world? We have, within us, a part of God that He values immensely. We should value it as much.

God is patient regarding our souls. In II Peter 2:5, Peter calls Noah a preacher of righteousness, and that is exactly what he was during the century in which he built the ark. II Peter 3:8, then, reminds us that God counts time differently than us, that He is patient, waiting for all to come to repentance. In the days of Noah, God waited 120 years for a small number to respond to His salvation. Every soul that is saved matters greatly to our God.

This soul salvation comes at a great price. John 3:16 beautifully sums up the love it took for God to provide for the saving of our souls. Romans 3:23 reminds us that we have all hurt our souls with sin, but the following verses assure that Christ took those injuries for our sake, rising up as a propitiation for our sins. The beginning of Romans 5 tells us we can, in no way, be worthy of that sacrifice, but God’s great love provided it anyway. What does it take to save our souls? It takes the ultimate sacrifice of one spotless and pure from sin.

The Value of One

In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables in a row, each illustrating the value God places in saving one soul. Likewise, do we value the souls of those we know and love? Are we making sure we are providing for their eternal needs while we strive to provide for the physical? Are we teaching what is truly valuable to God?

Isaiah 52, one of the four servant psalms written by this prophet, records God calling on His people to come out of sin, looking to that suffering servant for guidance and salvation. Rather than looking to ourselves, our relationships, our health, and our possessions in measuring our fulfillment in this life, we should be looking to the needs of our souls. Only in God can we find provision for our eternal needs and rely on Him to save our souls where we cannot.

lesson by Tim Smelser

My Redeemer Lives

We sometimes sing a song called I Know That My Redeemer Lives, and it may come as some surprise that the words from that song are inspired by an Old Testament passage. In Job 19:25, Job states:

For I know that my Redeemer lives,

and at the last he will stand upon the earth.

The term redeemer comes up some twenty-five times in the Bible, and, with just a couple notable exceptions, the term almost always refers to the Messiah. In this context, Job has lost everything, but he expresses confidence that His Lord will be a mediator, and advocate, a messenger, and a redeemer. Two thousand years before the birth of Christ, Job shows understanding that God will not leave His creation without access to Him.

Job’s Redeemer

In Job 9:33, Job longs for an arbiter, or a mediator, between him and God, so that one might argue his case. In I Timothy 2:5, Paul explains that we do have a Mediator between God and man who is both man and God – Jesus Christ. Then, in Job 16:18-19, Job expresses confidence in a witness in Heaven. He understands he has an Advocate before the father, one who will serve to represent those who cannot represent themselves. Job knows he has divine representation before the Father, and I John 2:1 reminds us that we also have an Advocate in Jesus Christ.

Returning to Job 19:23-25, Job expresses a desire to have his words recorded that others may know as he does that his Redeemer lives. Despite his deteriorating health and morale, he seems to be growing spiritually, expressing confidence in a Redeemer and a Savior who would appear before God with him. I Peter 1:18 reminds us we were delivered and redeemed by Christ’s sacrifice. Christ is our final Redeemer who delivers us from the chains of this life.

Finally, in Job 33:23-24, as Elihu is reminding Job not to be so self righteous, he speaks of a messenger without equal who lifts us from the pit. Isaiah speaks of such a one in Isaiah 61:1-3 who lifts His own out of darkness, cleansing them, and delivering them. Jesus, when speaking in His hometown, applies this passage to Himself. He is the messenger who soars above the thousands.

Conclusion

Throughout Job, a picture begins to form, and that picture finds clarity and resolution in the personage of Christ. Whether or not he understood the full import of his words, job looked beyond the things of this live, looking for reconciliation with His God. He had faith that such a Redeemer lives, and we can have that same hope. Jesus is our Advocate, our Mediator, and our Redeemer. He is what we need most, and He will cleanse us and lift us up when we turn to Him.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Humility & Peace

There is one vital ingredient if we are to have unity and peace: humility. We desperately need humility in our lives and in our congregations if we are to work for peace, and, if there is one congregation we can point to as needing humility above all else, that is the congregation at Corinth in the New Testament.

Here is a congregation where factions split behind various leaders and figureheads. Some promote celibacy while others live in sexual sin, calling it freedom in Christ. Some abuse the Lord’s Memorial. Those with spiritual gifts seem to vie for prominence and attention during worship, behaving disruptively to gain attention. There are even those who deny the resurrection.

Five times in his first letter to this book, Paul calls for humility: I Corinthians 4:6, chapter 4:18, chapter 4:19, chapter 5:2, and I Corinthians 13 then explains Christian love, a love that is not boastful but humble. The heart of Corinth’s problem is one of pride or arrogance. These are dangers Paul would reinforce with Timothy in I Timothy 3:6 and 6:4 as well as in II Timothy 3:1. Paul obviously sees humility as an essential ingredient in our Christian lives, especially if we are to live peacefully with one another and our God.

Pride and Separation

Pride and arrogance keeps us from our true selves. Proverbs 16:18 warns that pride leads to a fall. Why? Because we blind ourselves to our own limitations. Proverbs 14:16 warns against arrogant recklessness born of overconfidence. Galatians 6:3 tells us we deceive ourselves when we think we are better than we are. In short, we fail to see ourselves the way God sees us, and the way we measure ourselves differs from the way God measures us.

Pride also keeps us from one another. Galatians 6:2 calls on us to bear each other's burdens. How can I do that if I’m too full of myself? Romans 12:3, after telling us to avoid conformity with this world and encouraging us to live sacrificially, begins an entire passage about service through humility. We should not esteem ourselves above our brethren. Verse 16 calls for harmony, asking us to put others first without conceit. I Peter 5:5 tells us to clothe ourselves in humility, and in Matthew 18:2-4, after the apostles had been arguing over who was the greatest, Jesus calls on His followers to have childlike humility if they would be great in God’s kingdom.

Finally, a lack of humility keeps us away from God. Proverbs 8:13 tells us God hates pride and arrogance. Chapter 21:4 calls haughtiness sin. James 4:10 tells us God lifts up the humble, and I Peter 5:5-6 says much the same thing, reminding us that God resists the proud. Think about the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5; in verse 3, Jesus blesses the poor in spirit, those who have been emptied of self. Once we empty ourselves of pride, we make room for God in our lives.

Conclusion

In Job 1:1, we are told Job was a perfect, upright man, and, in verse 8, God calls Job His servant. Chapter 2:3 repeats this assertion that Job is God’s humble servant, fearing God and turning from evil. Can God say the same about any of us? After chapter upon chapter of Job’s friends tearing him down, we come to Job 31:35 where Job declares His innocence before God. He becomes proud in God’s eyes, and God responds in chapter 38-39, putting Job in his place. Chapter 40:3-5 then records Job’s humbled response. Now, if righteous Job could not be prideful before God, how can we lift ourselves up in arrogance?

In humility, we can see ourselves as God sees us. Humility allows us to serve one another, and it is humility that will draw us nearer to God. As little children, we need to empty ourselves of self-interest and all arrogance, coming to him in meekness and humility so He will draw nearer to us.

lesson by Tim Smelser