Song of the Drunkards

JESUS FACED A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF OPPOSITION FOR HIS HARD WORDS AND UNFLINCHING DEVOTION TO YAHWEH. NO SURPRISE THEN IF WE FIND OUR NAME FESTOONED IN BARROOM BALLADS (CF. PS 69:12).

Palm Sunday

April 2, 2023 in Church Calendar, Meditations

Revelation 7:9–12 (NKJV) 

9After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying: “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” 

Today is Palm Sunday, the day on which our Lord Jesus entered into Jerusalem and was acclaimed the long-awaited Messiah by the people of Israel. To celebrate Jesus’ entrance into the city, they gathered the branches of palms, laid some upon the road and waved others in the air, rejoicing in His arrival. In Christian history, we have called this event Jesus’ Triumphal Entry and celebrated it on Psalm Sunday.

In Revelation 7, John recounts a vision of peoples praising God with the waving of palm branches. John beholds an immense multitude standing before the throne of God and before the Lamb of God. They are clothed in white robes which point to the forgiveness of sins through the shed blood of Jesus (cf. 7:14). And in their hands are palm branches. So why palms? Why have we distributed palms in worship today so that your children can disturb you with them during the service?

The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery notes that throughout the OT, “the palm tree was associated with the oasis, a place of fertility in the midst of the wilderness. It provided food in the form of the date, and its sap could be used as a sweetener or for making wine… the palm frequently connoted fertility and blessing” (622). Consequently, the palm tree made its way into the construction of the temple. Palms were carved into the walls and doors of Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 6:29, 32, 36). And later, in Ezekiel’s vision of God’s renewed temple, he describes the palms that decorated each of the gateways and gateposts of the temple. The use of palms was God’s way of likening the temple to a fruitful garden, like the Garden of Eden, a place where His blessing dwells. 

As we continue reading the OT, however, it is evident that the palms in the Temple were meant to point God’s people to their own calling and identity as well. For the righteous, Psalm 1 tells us, are like trees planted by streams of living water. And Psalm 92 promises, “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish in the courts of our God” (Ps 92:12-13). God’s people are meant to be fertile in good works and a source of blessing to the world. The Church is called to be an oasis in a dry land, a place of fertility in the midst of the wilderness.

So when John beholds the disciples of Christ, clothed in white robes and carrying branches of palm in their hands, it is this vision of fruitfulness, delight, and blessing that he wishes to communicate to us. We are palm trees adorning the temple of the Living God. So the righteous cry out, while waving their palms, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And the angels join in the praise, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

Then the angels explain the significance of the palms with these words, “They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters [in other words, He will lead them to oases where palm trees grow]. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Rev 7:16-17). Our gracious Lord Jesus Christ who entered intoJerusalem today is the water of life who gives life to His people that we might be conduits of life and blessing to the world.

So as we enter into worship this Palm Sunday, waving our branches of palm, let us rejoice that our Lord Jesus has given Himself for us, He has shed His blood that we might stand before our God clothed in garments of white and that we might be fruitful palm trees, reflecting the fruitfulness of our God. The only way that we can be here in such joy is by confessing our sin, our need for the cleansing blood of Christ, and our need for His empowering grace. So let us confess our sins to the Lord and rejoice in His goodness. And let us kneel as we are able.

Diligence & Laziness

March 19, 2023 in Bible - OT - Proverbs, Meditations

Proverbs 12:27 (NKJV) 

27 The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence is man’s precious possession. 

Paul writes in Romans 8:29 that God has predestined His people to be conformed to the image of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The Proverbs assist us in that process, directing us in the way of wisdom and teaching us what it is to imitate our Lord’s character. Today we are instructed once again to be diligent not lazy.

A few weeks ago we considered Solomon’s adage, “The hand of the diligent will rule, But the lazy man will be put to forced labor” (12:24). So important is diligence that Solomon reiterates it in our text today, “The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, But diligence is a man’s precious possession.” So let us expand what we learned last time about diligence.

Webster defines “diligent” as “steady in application to business; constant in effort or exertion to accomplish what is undertaken; assiduous; attentive; industrious; not idle or negligent…” The man of diligence is not afraid of hard work and exertion. He remembers that God created man to work. We were designed to fill the earth and subdue it and to exercise dominion over it (Gen 1:28). God did not put mankind in the garden so that he would sit back and eat grapes all week; God put mankind in the garden to work. Adam was to take the order of the garden and extend it to the rest of creation. And though the Fall introduced toil into the world, often causing our work to be frustrating or foiled, work itself remains good and noble and right, a holy calling. Consequently, the righteous man is diligent. Such diligence is his precious possession, more valuable than wealth itself because diligence is the pathway to wealth.

The lazy man, on the other hand, does not roast what he took in hunting. He fails to complete his tasks. Oh, he sets out industriously. He grabs his gun, heads out in the woods, and takes a deer. But having done all this work, having pushed himself this far, he gives up. He can’t bring himself to roast the deer for dinner. The result? He starves or steals from others.

Solomon’s words remind us that diligence is characterized by perseverance. We all grow tired in our work. We set out with great ambitions and desires and goals. We are going to change the world. But we didn’t think that changing the world entailed changing quite that many diapers or correcting quite that many papers or writing quite that many reports or stocking quite that many shelves or plumbing quite that many buildings or forgiving quite that many sins. You get the idea. We grow tired. The grass looks greener on the other side of the fence. So we scrap our work and set out for something new – not because that new opportunity is truly better; rather because we are lazy and don’t want to finish the work that God has given us to do.

So what of you? Are you diligent or lazy? When you are given a task, do you complete it? Or do you regularly leave things half done? Do you start jobs and rarely finish them? Start reading your Bible but rarely follow through with your plan? Start cleaning your room but leave that mess in the closet? Start praying with your family but cease after a week? Start your homework but give excuses to your teacher for why it’s not finished? Are you diligent or are you lazy?

Reminded that we are called to be diligent men and women and children who are “steady in application to business, constant in effort or exertion,” let us acknowledge that we are often lazy, that we often leave jobs half done and make excuses for our laziness. And as we confess our sin to the Lord and seek His forgiveness through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, let us kneel as we are able.

Choose Your Friends Carefully

March 12, 2023 in Bible - OT - Proverbs, Friendship, Meditations

Proverbs 12:26 

26The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray. 

Paul writes in Romans 8:29 that God has predestined His people to be conformed to the image of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The Proverbs assist us in that process, directing us in the way of wisdom and teaching us what it is to imitate our Lord’s character. Today we are instructed to choose our friends carefully.

Friendship is one of God’s good gifts to us as human beings. C.S. Lewis writes in his book The Four Loves, “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art…. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” Friendship reveals that we humans are more than just material beings; we were created in the very image of the Triune God and, therefore, we were made to befriend others and to be befriended in turn. Such friendships provide comfort, stimulate good character, and inspire self-sacrifice. So our Lord Jesus proclaimed to the disciples: “13Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends… 15No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you” (Jn 15:13,15). Friendship is a gift; and friendship with God in Christ is the greatest gift of all.

Like all other aspects of creation, however, friendship has been tainted by the Fall. At times, we find ourselves lonely, longing for a friend; at other times, we harbor sinful desires, looking for friends who will justify our bad choices. Such loneliness and sinfulness tempt us to befriend those who draw us away from God, from truth, and from virtue. And it is this temptation to which our Proverb points us today, “The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray.” Choose your friends carefully. For, as the Apostle Paul reminds us, “Bad company corrupts good morals” (1 Cor 15:33).

So Proverbs is filled with warnings about befriending certain types of people:

  • 2:12, 16 – Promises us that if we will but treasure wisdom, then she will guard us from befriending violent men and immoral women.
  • 20:19 – Warns us lest we befriend a flatterer, a gossip, a talebearer. “He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets; Therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips.”
  • 22:24–25 – Warns us lest we befriend a man who lacks self-control. “Make no friendship with an angry man, And with a furious man do not go, Lest you learn his ways And set a snare for your soul.”
  • 29:24 – Warns us lest we befriend a thief. “Whoever is a partner with a thief hates his own life; He swears to tell the truth, but reveals nothing.”

So what of you? Teens, are you choosing your friends carefully? Or are you permitting your loneliness or your sinfulness to tempt you to befriend those who are drawing you away from God, from truth, and from goodness? And these friends can be “in the flesh” friends but they can also be online friends, movie characters, and even books. Whom are you choosing to let shape your longings and loves? Adults, are you choosing your friends carefully? Or are you permitting your loneliness or your sinfulness to tempt you to befriend those who would draw you away from God, from truth, and from goodness? “For friendship with the world”, James warns us, “is enmity with God. Therefore, he who desires to be a friend with the world makes himself an enemy of God” (Jas 4:4).

Reminded of God’s call to choose our friends carefully lest we be led astray from God, from truth, and from goodness, let us confess that we often choose friends foolishly; that we are tempted by our loneliness and sinfulness to befriend those we should not. And, as we confess, let kneel as we are able.