The LORD With Us

After David was anointed king over Israel, the Holy Spirit came upon him and the Spirit departed from king Saul.  God sent a distressing, tormenting spirit to afflict king Saul and his advisors were discerning to know exactly what was happening.  Rather than urging Saul to repent of his pride and rejection of God, they suggested Saul find a man who could skillfully play soothing music on the harp when he was troubled.  Saul agreed with their advice and amazingly David was the candidate immediately suggested.

1 Samuel 16:18 states, "Then one of the servants answered and said, "Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valour, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and the LORD is with him."  One could say David had a lot going for him:  he was a skillful musician, a brave and mighty champion, a fit soldier, well-spoken and good looking.  I expect most people would be happy for others to ascribe only one or two of these qualities to them and speak well of them to those in authority.  But the final flourish of David's description is the most important of all that we can overlook and undervalue:  "...and the LORD is with him."  All those other desirable qualities in David flowed on from God being with Him, his Creator Who fashioned him in the womb of his mother.

The LORD being with David meant he was always near the living God Who helps, strengthens and upholds His people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and Joshua.  By God being with him, David was assured of wisdom, provision, protection and guidance to successfully do what God called him to do and be all God created him to be.  God was with David whether he was shepherd over his father's flocks in a field or summoned to play the harp in the court of king Saul.  The power of God to deliver and save remained constant when he faced the Philistine champion on a field of battle or his own son Absalom who usurped the throne through political intrigue.

We find this immortal phrase used by Balaam when he looked at the camp of the Hebrews and blessed them in Numbers 23:21-23:  "He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. The LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a King is among them. ²² God brings them out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox. ²³ "For there is no sorcery against Jacob, nor any divination against Israel. It now must be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'Oh, what God has done!'"  The LORD God was with Israel, and the shout of a king pointed to the Son of David, the Messiah Jesus Christ who would deliver people from their sins even as God saved people out of the iron furnace of Egypt.  No evil spirit, curse or weapon fashioned against God's people will prosper while God stands guard over our souls and delivers us from evil.  It is fitting the name of the Messiah and KING OF KINGS would be called Immanuel, for Jesus is God with us (Is. 7:14).

We may not be skilled musicians, mighty warriors, well-spoken or have dashing looks, but what the king's advisors said of David is true of us by faith in Jesus:  the LORD is with us.  Of all the blessings God provides His people, there is none greater than our LORD being with us.  All praise and thanks to God for His gracious and unspeakable gift, truly too wonderful for words!

Integrity of the Heart

A passage I read this morning affirmed it is possible we can take credit for things we ought to primarily credit God for doing.  While God has given mankind the freedom to choose what we will believe, think, say and do, He always is personally involved when we do what is right.  He helped Abimelech to walk in integrity when he had been deceived by Abraham and Sarah during a visit to his land.

When Abraham visited Gerar, he and Sarai both lied and claimed to be siblings when they were husband and wife.  As was customary in those days, if a beautiful woman came into a king's territory he had the authority to bring her into his home--which he did, for Sarah was beautiful.  God appeared to Abimelech in a dream and rebuked him for taking a married woman into his house, and Abimelech protested he had done nothing wrong.  Genesis 20:5-6 reads, "Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she, even she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this." ⁶ And God said to him in a dream, "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her."  God commanded Abimelech return Sarah to Abraham, and he immediately complied the following day.

Abimelech had walked with integrity, yet he was not alone in doing so:  God helped him to do so and kept him from touching Sarah.  From God's perspective, it was only by God's gracious intervention Abimelech could do what he knew was right and prevented him from transgression.  If we walk in integrity before God and man, we cannot claim this goodness or ability arises naturally from us.  We are able to be upright because God has provided a solid foundation for our feet and strength to stand.  Should we fall into sin and do wickedly, it was our own choice God sovereignly allowed, for He is even able to redeem evil for good to those who love God.

The hope Christians have is never in our ability to exonerate ourselves or successfully protest our innocence but in admitting our sinfulness and placing our faith in God who imputes His righteousness to us by His grace.  Abimelech was deceived in this passage by Abraham and Sarah, and we can be deceived by ourselves to think we can walk in integrity without constant help from God who supplies strength, wisdom and grace.  When our hearts are marked by integrity and innocence, should we do righteously and what is godly, let us thank and praise God for His sustaining, guiding hand in our lives to help us live in the way that pleases Him and how God keeps us from doing evil.

Words and Worlds of Difference

I heard something great in a sermon yesterday when the pastor made a distinction between "devotions" and "devotion."  Many Christians call a regular time of Bible reading or prayer "devotions," a spiritual discipline embraced to be in the Word of God, personal growth and to commune with God.  Without devotion to God, however, reading verses or muttering prayers can be an empty exercise.  The Pharisees were big on reading the Scriptures, public prayer and worship, yet they were not even forgiven of sin or saved because they had not placed their faith in Jesus.  This distinction prompted me to consider others that can plague the walks of genuine believers.  Different words make a world of difference.

King Saul believed in the existence of God and was given a new heart, yet he attempted to substitute sacrifice for obedience.  God told him to destroy all the Amalekites and all their animals because the time of judgment had come.  Instead of obeying the LORD, Saul saved the best of the animals under the pretense of bringing them as a sacrifice to God--as if He could be bought off.  The prophet Samuel rebuked Saul for his folly, and it is good we realise the tendency seen in Saul still continues to this day.

During the Bible study last week, we briefly discussed the difference between being broken by sin or broken for sin--a big distinction.  The reality is all human beings are born under the curse of sin that brings death.  We are dead in sins and incapable of doing good or being righteous by our efforts, spiritually broken beyond repair.  This puts all humanity on the same level before God, sinners who need a Saviour.  It is a small thing to admit we are broken people if we remain proud and self-sufficient:  it is the ones who are broken for their own sin--humbled and contrite before the LORD for our guilt, knowing we deserve death--who desperately come to Jesus Christ for salvation.

In addition to this, we can try in vain to substitute penance for repentance.  "Penance" is defined as punishment inflicted upon oneself or submitted to when imposed by others to show sorrow for sin.  In one regard it is doing a good thing to make up for doing a sinful thing.  Judas sorrowed over his sin and punished himself with death, yet he remained condemned before God without repentance.  While penance is often a work of the flesh, repentance is an inner work that begins with a changed mind that admits and confesses sin before God, takes action to cease from of sin, and seeks to do what pleases God instead.  Repentance is guided by the fear of God and the Holy Spirit which leads to a transformed life, knowing forgiveness is by grace through faith in Jesus.

While there may be no end to these important distinctions, the final one I admit I also have encountered by personal experience is to seek to be liked rather than being loving.  In a desire we would be accepted by others, we put ourselves before Jesus by trying to be likeable.  Jesus has provided us an example of what love looks like by His care and service of others, how He spoke the truth graciously, and even gave His own life as a sacrifice for sinners who hated Him.  It was the love of Jesus that led Him in His dealings with others--not the oppressive desire to be liked and accepted.  Seeking to be liked looks to receive from others, while choosing to love means giving to others with no strings attached.

Friends, we do well to follow Christ's example and commands by our devotion to Him shown in obedience, brokenness for sin, repentance, and to love one another as Jesus loves us.  As born-again believers, we are called to present ourselves as living sacrifices unto God which is our reasonable service.  Let us take heart God will do the heavy lifting we cannot do ourselves as we willingly take Christ's yoke upon us.  God is faithful to do His part, and let us examine our hearts and lives so we do ours in His strength.

The Power of Grace

Our study of Romans at Calvary Chapel Sydney has thrown us into the deep end of God's grace, and we are blessed for it.  "Grace" is one of the many words in Scripture that we often sell short by stunted or cliche definitions that are true but inadequate to convey the immense importance and impact of truth.  Have you ever had the situation where you are trying to take a picture of a breathtaking landscape or scene but the hi-tech camera you hold in your hands cannot contain or translate the beauty right before your eyes even in landscape mode?  Language, being limited, can sometimes be inadequate to explain all the wonder and impact of a small word that means more than the world to us.

God's grace is like that.  Our struggle to comprehend God's grace springs from the reality it is of God Whose ways and thoughts are higher than ours and is not of this world.  I have heard grace described as unmerited favour, and this is true--yet it only begins to scratch the surface of what grace is.  It is love that stoops, the glorious God out of His goodness choosing to reveal Himself to people dead in sins and dying in our place because He would have us saved to live with Him forever.  Grace is also God's power and influence that saves, strengthens and helps us in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).  God's grace is also the good standing we have before God, for by faith in Jesus "we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand" (Romans 5:2).  The most basic description of grace I can conceive of that conveys these three points (at this moment) is undeserved favour from God, God's power and strength that helps us, and good standing before God given out of His goodness alone.

All God's dealings with us are all of grace, for we cannot deserve or do anything to rightly earn His attention, affection or assistance.  We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus, and even when He points out our sin it is by His grace.  As born-again receivers of God's grace, we are enabled and called to extend grace to one another.  Today I had a lovely (and no so lovely!) object lesson of God's grace in an unexpected way.  At some point, I coughed or blew my nose, and somehow missed the tissue and left a deposit of phelgm on my shirt.  Gross, right?  I washed my hands and thought I was all clean and sanitised--but I wasn't.  A loving brother discreetly pointed out my defilement, and I was glad to be able to address the issue and could clean up before continuing in conversation with people.  Instead of distancing us from one another, knowing someone cares enough to inform us of our faults for our benefit draws us closer and frees us from shame because we realise we need grace.

When God points out our sin, it is not to humiliate or ridicule us:  it is all of His grace.  Because God is gracious, He genuinely cares about us and involves Himself in our lives.  He is not embarrassed to be around us though we fail and have countless faults.  We are a source of sin that is disgusting even to us, yet He continues to be gracious toward us and declares us righteous by the power of the Gospel.  There is not one thing we need to do or try to change about ourselves for Him to freely extend His love and grace to us.  All His instruction, correction and revelation about Him and ourselves is all of grace:  freely given out of His goodness and freely received by totally undeserving people.  Oh, the wonder of God's grace!  May God open our eyes to see the depths of His amazing grace and follow His lead to walk in holiness always.