=========================================================== Scripture Studies: Vol. VIII, No. 5 - June/July 2001 ===================================================== In this issue: Old Testament Study - Zechariah 11 Patience in Affliction, pt. 1, by Richard Baxter New Testament Study - Matthew 10:32-42 A Topical Study - Loving God vs. Loving the World, pt. 19 A Study in Psalms - Psalms 42 and 43 Masthead -------- "Scripture Studies" is edited by Scott Sperling and published ten times a year by Scripture Studies, Inc., a non-profit organization. It is distributed all over the world by postal mail and via the internet, free of charge. If you would like to financially support the publication and distribution of "Scripture Studies", send contributions to: Scripture Studies Inc. 20 Pastora Foothill Ranch, CA 92610 USA Contributions are tax deductible in the United States. If you do not live in the United States, and would like to support "Scripture Studies", please send international postal coupons. Please feel free to upload "Scripture Studies" to any BBS or online service. If you or anyone that you know would like to be added to the subscription list send your request to the above address, or, via email to Scott Sperling at: ssper@aol.com Unless noted otherwise, scripture references are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers =========================================================== Old Testament Study - Zechariah 11 ================================== The Good Shepherd Rejected - II ------------------------------- 1Open your doors, O Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars! 2Wail, O pine tree, for the cedar has fallen; the stately trees are ruined! Wail, oaks of Bashan; the dense forest has been cut down! 3Listen to the wail of the shepherds; their rich pastures are destroyed! Listen to the roar of the lions; the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined! 4This is what the LORD my God says: "Pasture the flock marked for slaughter. 5Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, 'Praise the LORD, I am rich!' Their own shepherds do not spare them. 6For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land," declares the LORD. "I will hand everyone over to his neighbor and his king. They will oppress the land, and I will not rescue them from their hands." 7So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock. 8In one month I got rid of the three shepherds. The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them 9and said, "I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another's flesh." 10Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. 11It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the LORD. 12I told them, "If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. 13And the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter"-the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD to the potter. 14Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. 15Then the LORD said to me, "Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 16For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hoofs. 17Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded!" ------------------------------------------- In the previous issue's study, we looked at verses 1 through 6 of this chapter. We saw that verses 1 through 3 are a poetic overview of the devastation spoken of in the rest of the chapter. Then, in verses 4 through 6, the Lord Himself gives a straightforward summary of the prophecy that is related in the form of a parable in the rest of the chapter. It seemed to us that the fulfillment of the prophecies in this chapter occurred primarily when the Romans devastated Israel from A.D. 68 to A.D. 70. Now, we come to the parable, which describes in symbolic and picturesque language, the choices that the people of Israel made concerning whom they would follow. It was these choices that led to the devastation. In short, they chose to reject the Shepherd sent to them by God, that is, Jesus Christ. In the parable, Zechariah (presumably in a vision) acts out the role of, first, the Good Shepherd whom they reject, and then a foolish shepherd, whom they choose to follow. "So I pastured the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock" (vs. 7). One thing that is striking about the prophecy in this chapter is the accuracy of the picture portrayed of Jesus. For instance, the Good Shepherd in the parable particularly pastured the "oppressed of the flock." Jesus, of course, went out of His way to reach out to the oppressed of Israel. The two staffs described here, "Favor" and "Union", are symbolic of the goals of the mission of the Messiah towards the nation of Israel. Had the nation of Israel accepted the Messiah at His first coming, He would have shown "Favor" towards the nation, especially through special protection from other nations. He would have also brought "Union" by ridding the land of internal strife. In verses 8 and 9, Zechariah describes the rejection of the Good Shepherd: "In one month I got rid of the three shepherds. The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them and said, 'I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another's flesh'" (vss. 8-9). The reference to the Messiah getting rid of "three shepherds" is one of the most enigmatic sentences in the whole Bible. As such, no one seems to agree on whom it refers to. There are literally dozens of interpretations of it by commentators. In my opinion, its placement within the parable seems to indicate that it was something that Jesus did, during His time on earth, that caused the people to reject Him. Therefore, I believe that this prophecy is in some way referring to Jesus' undermining the power of the existing religious leaders of the time. Jesus was not timid in telling the people about the shortcomings of their religious leaders. And many people, recognizing the true Messiah, turned from their leaders and followed Jesus. In turn, the religious leaders set in motion the events that led to the crucifixion of Jesus, which was the culmination of the rejection of the Good Shepherd by the nation of Israel. When the people turned against Jesus, and allowed Him to be crucified, they thought that they were punishing Jesus. In reality, they were punishing themselves. This is underscored by the words of the Shepherd here: "I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another's flesh" (vs. 9). Jesus came to cause the "dying" to live, and the "perishing" to be saved. They rejected Him, and so, since He will force Himself on no man, He chose to "let the dying die, and the perishing perish." They rejected Him, and so, He broke the first staff: "Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the LORD" (vs. 10). As stated above, the staff called "Favor" gave the nation of Israel special protection against her enemies. By breaking it, the Shepherd was, in essence, freeing hostile nations to attack Israel. This is what is being referred to when the Shepherd says He revoked "the covenant [He] had made with all the nations." As we have been saying, Rome fulfilled this prophecy by devastating Israel. The Shepherd speaks again of their rejection of Him: "I told them, 'If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.' So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, 'Throw it to the potter'-the handsome price at which they priced me!" (vs. 12-13). In the parable, the Shepherd asks for His wages, in order to determine the people's valuation of the Good Shepherd. "The wage He expected, we know, was their love, their obedience, and their devotion to God and His Shepherd" [Feinberg, 328]. Instead, they showed how much they valued Him by selling Him for "thirty pieces of silver." This valuation was symbolic. In the law, it was the compensation that one was required to pay a slave owner if a bull gored his slave (see Ex. 21:32). So, by paying that price, "they placed the Messiah on the level of a worthless slave" [Feinberg, 328]. This payment for the Shepherd was fulfilled by Judas' betrayal of Jesus for the exact price of "thirty pieces of silver." In his shame, Judas returned the money to the chief priests by throwing it down in the Temple (see Matt. 27:5). The priests then used the money to buy a potter's field (see Matt. 27:7). This act of rejection of the Shepherd caused Him to break the second staff: "Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the brotherhood between Judah and Israel" (vs. 14). The breaking of this staff would bring internal strife to the nation of Israel. "This was surely fulfilled in the sad scenes during the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus. There was a breaking up of the social fabric of the Jewish nation. Internal strife and divisions were prevalent and contributed largely to the downfall of Judea" [Feinberg, 329]. "How terribly this prediction was fulfilled can be seen in the pages of Josephus. The most terrible factions that have ever torn out the vitals of a commonwealth appeared in Judea, and amidst the terrors of invasion without and the horrors of fratricide within, this prophecy was fulfilled" [Moore, 183]. The children of Israel, by and large, were to reject the Good Shepherd, and there will come a time when they will, by and large, choose to follow the "foolish shepherd." This is acted out in the next part of the parable: "Then the LORD said to me, 'Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hoofs. Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded!'" (vss. 15-17). The "foolish shepherd" described here is the one we often call "the Antichrist." He is prophesied in a number of places in the Bible (see Dan. 7:25-27; Dan. 11:36-39; John 5:43; II Thess. 2:1-12; Rev. 13:1-18). The amazing thing is that the people reject the Good Shepherd, who comes to serve them, and accept the "foolish shepherd", who comes to exploit them. "It is often assumed that if a country were to find a ruler totally dedicated to the good of his people, who would rid the land of injustice and encourage all that makes for harmony, peace and happiness would prevail. One insight of [Zechariah] is that such a ruler would not only not be welcomed, but he would be positively hated and rejected" [Baldwin, 179]. =========================================================== Patience in Affliction, pt. 1, by Richard Baxter ================================================ A Classic Study by Richard Baxter (1615-1691) [Here, we begin a reprint of excerpts from Richard Baxter's work entitled Obedient Patience. In each article, Mr. Baxter gives advice on how to be patient through a specific type of affliction.]-Ed. In Pains and Sicknesses of the Body ----------------------------------- Consider these things: 1. Sinful souls! Look back upon the folly which is the cause of all thy pains. As Adam and Eve's sin brought sufferings into the world upon our natures, so my own sin is the cause of my own particular suffering. A sinful pleasing of my appetite with raw apples, pears, and plums, when I was young, did lay the foundation of all my uncurable diseases: and my many offences have since deserved God's chastisements! While conscience so justly accuseth thyself, dare not to mutter discontents and accusations against God. "I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him" (Micah 7:9). My pain is to me as the distress of Joseph's brethren was to them: "We were verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear: therefore is this distress come upon us" (Gen. 42:21). "What shall we say unto my Lord? What shall we speak, or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants," (Gen. 44:16). So may I say, "How oft hath God checked my vain and wandering imaginations, and carnal thoughts, and I did not sufficiently regard Him! And if God find out my sin, and my sin find out me, why should I blame any but myself and sin?" 2. I can see the necessity of justice towards others; and why should I not see it towards myself? What is a kingdom without it, but a wilderness of wild beasts, or a land of tories? What is a school without it, but a masterless house of rebellious folly? What is a family without it, but a pernicious equalling good and bad? If God made no laws to rule mankind, He were not their moral governor, but only a cause of physical motion. If He made no laws, then there are no laws in the world but man's; and then there is no sin against God, and law-makers themselves are lawless, and can do nothing for which they need to fear the displeasure of God. But if God has made laws, and will not by execution correct disobedience, His laws are contemptible, and no laws, because no rules of judgment. And should I alone expect to be free from fatherly justice, and that my sin should gave no correction and rebukes? 3. It is but the same vile flesh that suffers, which must shortly rot and turn to earth, and if I can submit to that, why should I not submit to present pain? 4. As sin made its entrance by the senses into the soul, God wisely driveth it out the same way, and maketh the same passage the entrance of repentance. It is pleasure that tempteth and destroyeth the sinner. It is smart and sorrow which contradicteth that deceitful pleasure, and powerfully undeceiveth brutish sinners. And when repentance is necessary to pardon and salvation, and if it be not deep, and true, and effectual, it will not serve; why should I be impatient with so suitable a remedy and help, as my bodily pains and weakness are? Had I been in this pain when I was tempted to any youthful folly, how easily should I have resisted the temptations which overcame me! 5. The great benefit that I have found in former afflictions, assureth me that they came from fatherly love; yea, have been so merciful a work of Providence, as I can never be sufficiently thankful for. What have they done but keep me awake, and call me to repentance, and to improve my short and precious time, and to bid me work while it is day? What have they done but keep me from covetousness pride, and idleness, and tell me where I must place all my hope, and how little the world and all its vanities do signify? And shall I think that the same God, who intended me good by all the rest of the afflictions of my life, doth now intend my hurt at last? Experience condemneth my impatience. 6. As deliverances have eased many a pain already, and turned all into thankfulness to God, so heaven will quickly end the rest, and turn all into greater thanks and joy. And can I be impatient if I firmly believe so good an end of all? 7. What! Did Christ suffer for my sin, and shall not I patiently bear a gentle rod? 8. What do the animals that never sinned, endure by man and for his sins? They labour, they are beaten, and hurt, and killed for us, and eaten by us. What then do sinners deserve of God? 9. How much sorer punishment in hell hath God forgiven me, through Christ! And how much sorer must the unpardoned endure forever! And cannot I bear these rebukes for pardoned sin, when they are intended to prevent far worse? 10. How do I forsake all, and how could I suffer martyrdom for Christ, if I cannot bear His own chastisement? Are these sharper than the flames? 11. God hath from my youth been training me up in the school of affliction, and calling on me, and teaching me to prepare for suffering, and am I yet unprepared? 12. Impatience is no remedy, but a great addition to my suffering; both by adding to my sin, and by a foolish vexation of myself. If God afflict my body, shall I therefore foolishly vex my soul? Lord! All these reasons do convince me of my interest and duty: I am fully satisfied of Thy dominion, wisdom, and perfect goodness, and that all that Thou doest is well done, and should not be accused. I am fully satisfied, that I ought with an obedient will to accept of this chastisement, and not to murmur against thy hand. But the grace and strength to do this must come all from Thee. O strengthen Thy servant that he faint not, nor lay by his faith and hove, or sin against Thee. Question. But is there no means but such reasoning with ourselves to be used, to help us to be obedient in our sicknesses and pain? Answer. What means but intellectual can be fit to quiet souls? Opiate medicines, that quiet the body, cannot cause the submission of the mind. But: 1. Preparatorily, it is of great advantage not to use the body too tenderly in our health: pamper it not, and use it not with too great indulgence, as to its appetite, ease, and pleasure. Be as careful of its health as you can, but not of its sensual desires. As they that fondly indulge their children, and let them have what they will in health, cannot rule them in sickness; so it is with our bodies; use them to temperance, and seasonable fasting, and daily labour, and a diet and garb not over-pleasant: as Paul teacheth Timothy, "Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ," (II Tim. 2:3). They that live in sensual pleasure are dead while they live. They that must have sport, and meat, and drink, and ease, because the flesh desireth it, and must take nothing that appetite, or sloth, or fancy is against, do cherish the flesh in each a state of self-pleasing, as will hardly be brought to patient suffering. 2. Read the sufferings of Christ with due consideration. 3. Read oft the histories of the martyrs' sufferings. 4. Go oft to the hospitals, or sick that lie in pain, that you may see what is to be expected. 5. Look on the graves, and bones, and dust, and you will perceive, that it is no wonder if such an end must have a painful way. 6. Get deep repentance for sin, and holy self-displeasure and revenge will make you consent to God's correction. 7. Get but a sense of the danger of prosperity, and bodily delights, and ease, and how many millions are tempted by it into the broad way of damnation, and what those door souls must suffer forever, and you will the easier bear your pains; and choose to be Lazarus rather than Dives, and a Job rather than a Nero. 8. But there is no effectual cure till faith and hope have such fast apprehensions of the glory, where all your pains will end, as may teach you to take them but as physic for your everlasting health. Therefore prayer for grace, depending on Christ, obedience to the Spirit, and a fruitful, heavenly life, are the true preparations for patient sufferings. =========================================================== New Testament Study - Matthew 10:32-42 ====================================== Instructions for Apostles - V ----------------------------- 32"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. 34"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to turn 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law- 36a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.' 37"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 40"He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. 41Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. 42And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." 11:1After Jesus had finished instructing His twelve disciples, He went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee. Jesus continues the instructions to His disciples. He had been telling them about the persecution that they would face as they preached the Good News. Here, He speaks in general about the effects that the Gospel would have on the world. Essentially, the Gospel divides the world into two camps: those who follow Christ, and those who do not. Jesus summarizes this fact: "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven" (vss. 32-33). Jesus makes it clear here that He does not want any secret agents. Our faith in Christ should be known by those around us: by our fellow-workers, by our friends, by our neighbors, by our relatives. "Can a non-confessing faith save? To live and die without confessing Christ before men is to run an awful risk" [Spurgeon, 129]. The division of the world into two camps as a result of the Gospel would have its ramifications. Jesus describes these ramifications: "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword" (vs. 34). This statement by Jesus may seem surprising. Did not the angels herald at His birth: "Peace on earth, good will toward men"? (See Luke 2:14). Is not Jesus "the Prince of Peace"? (See Isa. 9:6). So, how can He say, "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword"? The resolution of this difficulty lies in the fact that there are different sorts of "peace", as well as a pre-ordained time (which was not to be immediate) for total peace to come. Jesus was immediately to bring spiritual peace, to make accessible peace between God and man. Jesus, in His first coming, was not to bring world peace between men, for not all men were to accept the spiritual peace that He was bringing. And in fact, in many ways, as Jesus is here pointing out, the spiritual peace He was bringing would actually be a cause of strife between men. "There is, of course, a most important sense in which he came to bring peace. But the peace he came to bring is not simply the absence of strife; it is a peace that means the overcoming of sin and the bringing in of the salvation of God. And that means war with evil and accordingly hostility against those who support the ways of wrong" [Morris, 266]. There would have been total peace "if all the world were to subscribe with one accord to the teaching of the Gospel. But as the majority is not only opposed, but actually in bitter conflict, we are not able to profess Christ without strife and the hatred of many" [Calvin, 310]. And as it is, "the gospel does tend to bring men into peace with each other, but only in proportion as they are brought into peace with God" [Broadus, 232]. Indeed, it is sadly ironic, that the Gospel, which is Good News for absolutely everyone, does not bring peace, but brings a "sword". "When Christianity divides families and produces wars, this is not the fault of Christianity, but of human nature" [Broadus, 234]. The "sword" is a result of people rejecting God's Good News, and turning upon the bearers of His Good News. "Truth provokes opposition, purity excites enmity, and righteousness arouses all the forces of wrong" [Spurgeon, 129]. The cause of the strife is not the Gospel itself, but the rejection of the Gospel. Men reject the truth of the Gospel because they desire to continue in their ways of sin. As Jesus summarized elsewhere: "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). The extent of the divisions that Christianity would cause is illustrated by Jesus through the divisions that would develop, in many cases, within the same family: "For I have come to turn 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law-a man's enemies will be the members of his own household'" (vss. 35-36). In many circumstances, our faith in Jesus Christ will adversely affect even our dearest family ties. "Wherever the gospel is received by some, it is sure to be rejected by others, even of one's own household" [Ryle, 147]. Our spouses, parents, brothers or sisters will urge us to give up that "Christian nonsense." Jesus makes it clear as to how we should react to such urgings: "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me" (vss. 37). "Even if our house becomes a den of lions to us, we must stand up for our Lord. The peace-at-any-price people have no portion in this kingdom" [Spurgeon, 130]. Our love for Christ must be greater than our love for anything on this earth. "So let the husband love his wife, the father his child, and in turn the child the father, as long as human love does not overwhelm the attention that is owed to Christ" [Calvin, 312]. This claim that Jesus makes on our affections is, if you think about it, astounding. Such a claim is an outright claim of divinity by Jesus. Who but God could demand that we love Him more than our own mother? "When Jesus here demands of His followers a love beyond all that is found in the tenderest relations of life, and pronounces all who withhold this to be unworthy of Him, He makes a claim which, on the part of any mere creature, would be wicked and intolerable, and in Him who honoured the Father as no other on earth ever did, is not to be imagined, if He had not been 'the Fellow of the Lord of Hosts'" [JFB, 65]. Given that Jesus is God, to love any person more than Jesus is akin to making an idol of them. Beware of this. The irony, though, in all this, and the great blessing, is that the more we love Christ, the more effectively and genuinely we love others. Given the division and strife that Christianity brings, to follow Christ requires that a price be paid: "[A]nyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (vss. 38-39). The first statement here is a foreshadowing of Jesus' sacrifice. The apostles must certainly have wondered what Jesus meant when Jesus spoke of the unworthiness of someone who does not "take his cross and follow" Jesus. They could not have understood the full import of this statement until Jesus gave His life on the cross. And indeed, many of us do not understand the meaning of taking one's cross and following Jesus. I have heard often people speak of some relatively minor annoyance (such as a hangnail, or some such thing) as a cross that they bear in life. To say such a thing is a gross trivialization of what Jesus is saying here. "'Taking one's cross' does not mean putting up with some awkward or tragic situation in one's life but painfully dying to self" [Carson, 257]. Jesus means nothing short of giving one's whole life for Him, as He explains in the next statement: "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (vs. 39). This statement sounds like philosophical double-talk, but the truth of this statement can be testified to by all those who have lost their lives for Christ's sake. All I can say to expand upon it is that, if you have not experienced the truth of this statement, pray that Holy Spirit would bring you to a place where this statement rings true. Pray to lose your life for Christ's sake, so that you may be able to find true life, in this world and the next. Jesus concludes His remarks to the apostles concerning their first missionary journey with a blessing on those who show hospitality toward them: "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward" (vss. 40-42). These blessings show us how much our Lord values the work of His apostles, those who are sent out to preach the Gospel, "in allowing all the services accorded them to be imputed to Himself" [Calvin, 315]. These blessings, of course, are meant to be heeded not so much by the apostles, as by us, who would be in the position to aid those whom Jesus sends out. Any and all help we give the apostles of Jesus will have its reward. "Notice that Jesus is speaking of the smallest conceivable gift to the most insignificant of people [sent in His name]. The gift is that of no more than a cup of cold water; no smaller gift can easily be conceived. Even the smallest gift, given with the right motive, does not go unnoticed. And the gift is made to one of these little ones; to one only, and that one from the class of little ones" [Morris, 271]. While we cannot all be evangelists who are sent out into a hostile world to preach the Gospel, we can all help those who are sent out, through hospitality, through prayer, through gifts of aid, etc. "Much loyalty to the King may be expressed by little kindnesses to His servants, and perhaps more by kindness to the little ones among them than by friendship with the greater sort" [Spurgeon, 132]. By the way, some would condemn doing any good work with an eye on a reward. However, our Lord often, as here, specifically refers to rewards in order to spur us on to good works. So, it is wrong "to condemn all reference to our own future safety and blessedness as a motive of action. For what have we here,... but an encouragement to entertain His servants, and welcome His people, and do offices of kindness, however small, to the humblest of His disciples, by the emphatic assurance that not the lowest of such offices shall go unrewarded?" [JFB, 65]. Rather than pretend that there are no rewards for service, we should praise the Lord that our God is a loving God who does reward us for good works. Jesus did not send the apostles out in order to take a rest Himself. On the contrary: "After Jesus had finished instructing His twelve disciples, He went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee" (vs. 11:1). So, He gave them instructions, and then immediately followed up their evangelism with His own. This is symbolic of the greatest wish any minister of the Gospel could have: "We are to do our best for men, and then to hope that our Lord will deign to certify and confirm our teaching by His own coming to men's hearts" [Spurgeon, 132]. =========================================================== A Topical Study - Loving God vs. Loving the World, pt. 19 ========================================================= [Here we continue our series that has the goal of increasing our love for God and the things of God, while decreasing our love for the world and the things of the world. This resumes a multi-part study by Samuel Annesley, in which he examines, in detail, the greatest commandment. In this study, Mr. Annesley lists some effects of love to God.]-Ed. How May We Attain to Love God by Samuel Annesley (1620 -1696) ------------------------------- "Jesus said unto him, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment'" (Matt. 22:37-38, AV). (II.) EFFECTS of love to God,-they relate either to God Himself, or to ourselves, or they are mutual. I will speak briefly of each. 1. Effects that relate to God, are such as these; I do not say only these, but these, and such as these: (1.) Hatred of and flight from all that is evil.-Joseph may be our instance. His mistress would have inveigled him into sin; but though "she spake to him day by day," yet he "hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her" (Gen. 39:10). He that fears sin will get as far as he can out of the reach of a temptation. Hatred of sin always holds proportion with our love to God; our inward hatred of sin, with our inward love of God; our return to sin, with the decay of our love to God. The renewing of our repentance answers the reviving of our love to God. Every one that doth not love God, loves sin, plain, down-right sin, sin without any excuse; for instance, either some moral wickedness, or a resting in their own righteousness. (2.) The fear of God.-A reverential tenderness of conscience, lest we sin against God. It is not only fear of hell, but fear of God's goodness. "They shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days" (Hosea 3:5). The soul that loves God is troubled that he either does or omits anything for fear of hell, and that he is no more affected with love-arguments. Though, pray take notice, by the way, that all fear of hell doth not presently argue a spirit of bondage: hopes and fears poise the soul while in this world. I would therefore leave this charge upon you; namely, be sure that you love God better than the blessed apostle loved Him, before you censure any for want of love who are diligent in duty upon this motive, lest they be at last cast-aways (see I Cor. 9:27). But, to return: though God's gracious condescension be so great as to allow those that love Him a non-such familiarity, yet that never breeds the least contempt. Sense of distance between God and the soul, between the holy God and a sinful soul, between the faithful God and the fickle soul,-O this causeth holy tremblings, and humble apologies in our most familiar pleadings with God. The father of the faithful, whom God honoured with the title of his "friend," (of whose love to God you have already heard)-when he pleaded with Christ face to face in so familiar a way (never any like Him!), see how He then prefaced His prayer: "Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes." Again: "O let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak" (Gen. 18:27,30). "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him" (Psalm 89:7). Methinks that passage of Christ to His disciples, with the circumstance of time when He spake it, just upon the most servile action of His life, may forever keep an awe upon our hearts: "Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am" (John 13:12,13). When God deals most familiarly with us as with friends, let us carry it reverently as becomes servants. (3.) Obedience to the commands of God, and to those commands which would never be obeyed but out of love to God.-"For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous" (I John 5:3); that is, to obey those commands that are unpleasing and troublesome, those commands that thwart our carnal reason, and so part with things present for the hopes of that we never saw, nor any man living that told us of them. "Whoso keepeth His word, in Him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him" (I John 2:5). Once more: hear what Christ saith: "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." And again: "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (John 14:21,23). (4.) Resignation of ourselves to God.-Whereby we devote ourselves wholly to God, to be wholly His, to be every way disposed of as He pleaseth. "The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them," &c. (II Cor. 5:14, 15). This resignation is like that in the conjugal relation: it debars so much as treating with any other; it, as it were, proclaims an irreconcilable hatred to any that would partake of any such love. God doth not deal with us as with slaves, but takes us into that relation which speaks most delight and happiness; and we are never more our own than when we are most absolutely His. (5.) Adhesion and cleaving unto God, in every case, and in every condition.-"In the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee" (Psalm 63:7,8). Methinks we may say of the law concerning birds (see Deut. 22:6), what the apostle saith of the law concerning oxen: "Doth God take care for birds? For our sakes, no doubt, it is written," to instruct us against cruelty; but may we not learn a further lesson? The bird was safe while on her nest: our only safety is with God. Now, to cleave to God in all conditions, not only when we fly to Him as our only refuge in our pressures, but, in our highest prosperity and outward happiness, when we have many things to take-to whence the world expects happiness; this is a fruit of great and humble love, this demonstrates an undervaluing of the world, and a voluntary choosing of God; this is somewhat like heavenly love. (6.) Tears and sighs through desires and joys.-When the spiritual, love-sick soul would, in some such, but an unexpressible, manner, breathe out its sorrows and joys into the bosom of God: "Lord, why thus loving to me, and why is my heart no more overcome with Divine Love? Those that never received so much from Thee, love Thee more. O I am weary of my want of love! O I am weary of my distance from God! O I am weary of my unspiritual frame!" "We that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life" (II Cor. 5:4). Here, when the heart is ready to die away through excess of love, it is passionately complaining of defects: "Dear Lord! What shall I say? What shall I do? What shall I render? O for more endearing communications of Divine Love! O for more answerable returns of love to God!" Thus much of effects as to God. 2. The only effect I shall name as to us, is a seeking of heaven and things above, with contempt of the world, and all worldly excellencies. One that loves God thinks he can never do enough in heavenly employments. A person that abounds in love to God is too apt to neglect secondary duties, which are in their places necessary: they are apt to justle out one duty with another. For example: those duties wherein they have most sensible communion with God bear down lesser duties before them; whereas, could we keep within scripture-bounds, and mind every duty according to its moment, then this is an excellent effect of Divine Love. For instance, to be afraid of worldly enjoyments, lest they should steal the heart from God; yet, at the same time, not to dare to omit any worldly duty, lest I should prove partial in the work of Christianity: to make conscience of the least duties, because no sin is little; but to be proportionably careful of the greatest duties, lest I should prove an hypocrite: such a carriage is an excellent effect of Divine Love. This is fruit that none who are not planted near the tree of life can bear. =========================================================== A Study in Psalms - Psalms 42 and 43 ==================================== Why So Downcast? ---------------- For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah. 42:1As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. 2My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? 3My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" 4These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, Leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. 5Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise H im, my Savior and 6my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you From the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon-from Mount Mizar. 7Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and breakers have swept over me. 8By day the LORD directs His love, at night His song is with me- a prayer to the God of my life. 9I say to God my Rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?" 10My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, Saying to me all day long, "Where is your God?" 11Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. 43:1Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; rescue me from deceitful and wicked men. 2You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy? 3Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; Let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. 4Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God. 5Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God. We will look at these two psalms together, because Psalm 43 is a continuation of Psalm 42. In fact, these two psalms may have been, at one time, just one psalm. These two psalms depict David's distress at being away from fellowship with the true worshippers of God during his banishment from Jerusalem. "This is the song of an exile, and moreover, of an exile among enemies who have no sympathy with his religious convictions" [Morgan, 82]. "It is the cry of a man far removed from the outward ordinances and worship of God, sighing for the long-loved house of his God" [Spurgeon, 270]. The inscription calls the psalm "A maskil of the Sons of Korah." The "Sons of Korah" were a Levitical family of musicians and singers. Though this psalm is not explicitly attributed to David, most commentators believe that David wrote these psalms for the "Sons of Korah" to perform in the worship of God. David seems to be the author because the style and themes of the psalms are similar to many psalms explicitly attributed to David. Also, these psalms depict a worshiper of God in banishment, as David was on two occasions. Commentators are divided on whether the psalms depict the banishment when David was fleeing from Saul, or when he was fleeing from Absalom. David begins by expressing the depth of his longing to worship God: "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul pants for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?" (vss. 1-2). David compares his desire to worship God with the thirst of a deer for water. Thirst is the second strongest bodily desire (behind the need for air). For David, the need for the worship of God for his soul is as essential as the need for water for his body. Can we say the same thing? Such a desire does not come instantaneously, for the asking. It must be cultivated, just as our love for God must be cultivated. Meditate on the goodness of God. Commune with Him through prayer. Worship Him at every opportunity. Pray that the Holy Spirit would increase your love for God. We take for granted the fact that we can worship God anytime, anyplace. We can do this because we have the gift of the Holy Spirit within us. In David's time, the Holy Spirit dwelt in the tabernacle in Jerusalem, and so, the worship of God was physically centered at the tabernacle. And so, though David, in his banishment, could pray to God, and sing praises, he did not feel that he was able to worship God, because he was physically separated from the Holy Spirit's presence. Let us not forget how great a gift by Jesus the gift of the Holy Spirit was for His people: to be able to worship the Lord anytime and anyplace, at will. In his sorrow, David was not consoled very well by those around him: "My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, 'Where is your God?'" (vs. 3). Rather than consoling David in his longing for God, those around him were trying to engender doubt about the goodness of God, by asking David in his time of trouble, "Where is your God?" This is the way of the world. Those of the world jump at the chance to denigrate the true and living God, and to stumble His worshipers. David ignores the mocking questions of those around him, and brings to mind the joy of worship: "These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng" (vs. 4). Though we can worship in spirit and truth anytime and anywhere, yet it is a grand thing, even for us, to worship together with God's people. There is nothing that touches the heart of a believer more than hundreds of voices raised in worship to our beloved Lord, to be in the midst of "shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng." This remembrance rallies David's mind, but the consolation has not yet reached his soul. And so, David rebukes his soul: "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God" (vs. 5). "His faith reasons with his fears, his hope argues with his sorrows" [Spurgeon, 272]. David tries to convince his soul to look to the hope of the future: "Put your hope in God." David trusts that the Lord will bring him to a place of joy: "...for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God." "The only means of remedying discouragements and unquietness of mind, is to set faith on work to go to God and take hold of Him, and to cast anchor within the veil, hoping for, and expecting, relief from Him" [Dickson, 237]. Unfortunately for David, his rebuke of his soul does not immediately take effect: "My soul is downcast within me" (vs. 6). So, as a further remedy, David remembers the work of God in his life: "Therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon-from Mount Mizar" (vs. 6). At first, David sees the trials that God has sent: "Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and breakers have swept over me" (vs. 7). But, then, David feels acutely the loving presence of his Lord, even in the midst of these troubles: "By day the Lord directs His love, at night His song is with me-a prayer to the God of my life" (vs. 8). And yet, the next moment, David doubts once again: "I say to God my Rock, 'Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?'" (vs. 9). Again, in David's mind, he realizes that God is his "Rock", the steady, unchanging foundation of his life. And yet, his soul cries out: "Why have you forgotten me?" His enemies contribute to his lapse of faith, instilling doubt: "My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, 'Where is your God?'" (vs. 10). Psalm 42 ends with David, once again, rebuking his soul, trying to pull it out of desperation: "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God" (vs. 11). Psalm 43 picks up where Psalm 42 left off. David pleads his case before God, expressing his righteousness in the situation: "Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; rescue me from deceitful and wicked men" (vs. 1). This is an appeal to God's righteousness. David is, in effect, saying to God: "You are a just God. I am right in this situation. So protect me!" To appeal to attributes of God's nature is a very effective prayer technique . David continues to appeal to God's nature: "You are God my stronghold. Why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?" Then again, as in Psalm 42, David expresses his goal, that is, to return to his worship of God at the tabernacle: "Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God" (vss. 3-4). David ends the psalm, as he did in Psalm 42, with an appeal from his mind to his soul, trying to revive his soul and pull it out of dejection: "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God" (vs. 5). We can learn from this that even the strongest of believers is subject to long periods of affliction and dejection.