=========================================================== Scripture Studies: Vol. VIII, No. 10 - Dec. 2001/Jan. 2002 =========================================================== In this issue: Old Testament Study - Malachi 1:1-5 Patience in Affliction, pt. 6, by Richard Baxter New Testament Study - Matthew 12:1-14 A Topical Study - The Shortness of Life, pt. 1, by Samuel Davies A Study in Psalms - Psalms 47 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 - Malachi 1:1-5 =================================== The Book of Malachi ------------------- 1An oracle: The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi. 2"I have loved you," says the LORD. "But you ask, 'How have you loved us?' "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" the LORD says. "Yet I have loved Jacob, 3but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals." 4Edom may say, "Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins." But this is what the LORD Almighty says: "They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the LORD. 5You will see it with your own eyes and say, 'Great is the LORD-even beyond the borders of Israel!'" Here we continue our studies of the books written by the post-exilic prophets, by beginning a study in the book of Malachi. Three prophetic books of the Bible were written after the children of Israel returned from their exile in Babylon. Haggai was written to encourage the children of Israel to resume the rebuilding of the Temple, which had lapsed. Zechariah was written to encourage the children of Israel while they were rebuilding the Temple. Malachi was written some years after the Temple had been rebuilt, to encourage the children of Israel to worship God in truth and obedience. After the Temple was rebuilt, the children of Israel, it seems, had fallen into a spiritual decline. They were going through the motions of worshipping God, but were not truly being obedient to God's Word. "These people are not in open rebellion against God, nor do they deny His right to offerings, but they are laboring under the delusion that because they have brought offerings, they have been true to Him all along" [Morgan, in Boice, 233]. "The sum and substance of the Book is-that though the Jews had but lately returned to their own country, they yet soon returned to their own nature, became unmindful of God's favour, and so gave themselves up to many corruptions; that their state was nothing better than that of their fathers before them, so that God had as it were lost all His labour in chastising them" [Calvin, 460]. The book of Malachi, being the last book of the Old Testament, is a transition book from the Old to the New Testament. In it, the children of Israel are rebuked for many of the same things for which the Pharisees and Sadducees are rebuked by Jesus in the Gospels. In addition, the chastisement of the Lord upon the children of Israel in Malachi applies to many professing Christians today. Like the children of Israel in those times, many professing Christians today believe that going through ritualistic motions-such as attending church every Sunday, and bowing one's head in grace at dinnertime-is enough to please God. As the children of Israel are being chastened by the Lord, rather than accept and act on His rebukes, they challenge the rebukes of the Lord. For instance, in verse 2, the Lord says, "I have loved you", and the children of Israel challenge this assertion by asking, "How have you loved us?" It is as if they consider themselves to be spiritual, moral and intellectual equals to God. "The eightfold controversy of the Lord with His people is stated in 1:2,6,7; 2:14,17; 3:7,8,13. In each instance when they are accused of sin, they contradict the Lord and ask for evidences of these charges" [Feinberg, 250]. Each of these instances "expresses a state of mind that challenges God's statements, demanding that He give an accounting of Himself in human terms... Perhaps more than any other Old Testament book, Malachi describes that modern attitude of mind that considers man superior to God and which has the audacity to attempt to bring God down to earth and measure Him by the yardstick of human morality" [Boice, 231]. The book of Malachi is introduced: "An oracle: The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi" (vs. 1). The word "oracle" can also be translated "burden". This designation for the prophecy "indicates that the message is one of rebuke rather than comfort or encouragement" [Feinberg, 250]. The Lord begins with what should be a convicting statement for any of God's people who hear it: "'I have loved you,' says the LORD" (vs. 2). We are blessed with a loving God. Even if God did not love us, we would owe Him our reverence and obedience because He is our creator. But God does love us, and He demonstrates His love for us in a myriad of ways. How much more, then, do we owe Him reverence and obedience? Rather than being convicted by the Lord's statement, the children of Israel challenged it: "'But you ask, "How have you loved us?"'" (vs. 2). This challenge, the unawareness of God's love, was the root of their sin. If the children of Israel were acutely aware of God's love for them, they would have repented from their sins and turned to Him in obedience. Sadly, "God's love is often least acknowledged where it is most manifested" [JFB, 712]. This is also the case today. If unbelievers would realize that God loves them and only works for their good, they would repent. Yet, many unbelievers close their eyes to His love, and see God as some sort of pesky guardian who wants to restrict their behavior. The Lord goes on to give, as proof of His love, a comparison between His treatment of the children of Israel, as a specially chosen people, with His treatment of the children of Esau (Israel's brother): "'Was not Esau Jacob's brother?' the Lord says. 'Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals'" (vs. 2-3). This comparison shows that the love shown for the children of Israel was a special love that was not bestowed upon other nations. "This love was not that general love wherewith He loved all mankind, but His special love where-with He loved Israel; whom He chose to be His peculiar people above all other people; and entered into a gracious Covenant with them" [Westminster Divines]. Given that the children of Israel have received, throughout their history, the special blessing of God, their questioning of God's love for them was especially a slap in the face. "They have had the audacity to demand that God show how He has loved them, utterly disregarding their unique status as His elect people" [Boice, 234]. "When therefore God says that He loved the Jews, we see that His object was to convict them of ingratitude for having despised the singular favour bestowed on them alone, rather than to press that authority which He possesses over all mankind in common" [Calvin, 463]. As further proof of His love, God reveals, not only that He has blessed the children of Israel, but that He has worked against other nations: "Edom may say, 'Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.' But this is what the Lord Almighty says: 'They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord. You will see it with your own eyes and say, "Great is the Lord-even beyond the borders of Israel!"'" (vss. 4-5). The Edomites are typical of those who reject God. They think that because they do not believe in God, God has no effect on their lives. They say, "Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins." But God is in control, even over those who choose not to follow Him. He says: "They may build, but I will demolish." God is not indifferent to those who are indifferent to Him. Trust me in this: it is much better to be on God's side, than to work against Him. =========================================================== Patience in Affliction, pt. 6, by Richard Baxter ================================================ A Classic Study by Richard Baxter (1615-1691) [Here, we continue 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. Injuries from Malicious Enemies - I ----------------------------------- Another trial which requireth patience is injuries from malicious enemies: either personal enemies, or those who hate and persecute us for our duty. As to the former sort, personal enemies, consider: 1. We have the greater reason to be patient, when we consider what poor and worthless worms we are; and that enmity and injury against such low and little creatures is a smaller fault than if it were against nobler or more excellent beings. We make no great matter of beating a horse or dog. Though this must not diminish their repentance, it must diminish our impatience. 2. And we are so bad that we give occasion of hatred and hard thoughts of us to our enemies; and though this justify not their mistakes, who take us to be worse than we are, yet it commandeth us who tempt them to it, the more patiently to bear it. They mistake us mostly by thinking that the same sins that are in us are predominant, and in a greater measure than they are. They call us erroneous, proud, hypocrites, covetous, unpeaceable, etc. And when we know there is in us some error, some price, hypocrisy, and the rest, the conscience of this must make us the easier bear with and forgive the false accusers that charge us with more than we are guilty of. 3. And when we consider we were enemies to God, and have far more wronged Him by sin than any can wrong us, and yet He forgiveth us; it must teach us to forgive the wrongs and enmity of others. Yea, God hath made our forgiving others a condition of His full forgiving us; and we cannot pray to Him for forgiveness, and consequently not expect it, on any lower terms; yea, we must learn of God to love our enemies, and pray for them, and do them good, and not seek revenge and satisfaction. 4. Which of us hath done no wrong to others? Have we unjustly censured none, nor spoken evil of them, or been angry, or reviled them without just cause? Have we never tempted any to sin, nor encouraged them in it, nor omitted any duty which we owed them? If we have, we may see God's justice permitting injuries against us, as an equal castigation. 5. However, conscience tells us that we have deserved a thousandfold worse from God: and He useth to make the sins of men the instruments of His punishments on earth. God punished David by the permitted sins of Absalom and Shimei (though He caused not the sin). And David the more patiently endured it, as acknowledging the providence of a correcting God. 6. Is it your own fault if all your enemies' wrongs do you not much more good than hurt. God hath told you how so to improve them; and if you do, you may well be patient with that which is your benefit and advantage; yea, and thankful too, which is more than patient. But if you do not so improve them, you have more to be grieved for than your injuries, even your own sin and omission, which loseth so gainful an advantage. 7. If they repent, God will forgive them all their greater wrong against Him (oh what a deal doth He forgive at once to a converted sinner!), and then surely you will easily forgive your mite. But if they repent not, instead of impatience and revenge, pity them, and lament their case; for they will suffer more than you can now desire: would you have them suffer more than hell? 8. Your happiness and all your great concerns are out of the power of all your enemies: it is but matters of little moment that they can touch you in. They cannot take away your God, your Saviour, your Comforter, your glory; no, nor the least of your graces. They cannot deprive you of your knowledge, or of love to God, of faith, or hope, or peace of conscience, or joy in the Holy Ghost. They cannot bring back the guilt of any pardoned sin, nor cast you into hell. 9. And if impatience open the door of your heart, which your enemies could bring no nearer you than your estate, your ears, or your flesh at most, it is not they but yourselves that are your chief tormenter. And will you torment yourselves because another wrongeth you? 10. Do you not observe how sin hath set all the world in a state of enmity to God, and all that is holy, and to the way of their own salvation? And that all the unsanctified world is in a war against God and goodness, under the unknown conduct of the devil? And do you make a great matter then of some petty injury or enmity to you? This is more foolishly selfish, than if you should complain of a soldier for taking a pin off your sleeve, when an army is plundering all the town, and setting all the country on fire, and murdering your neighbours before your face. So much for patience in case of personal enmity and injury. II. But if it be in the case of persecution for your duty to God, impatience then is far more culpable. In this case I premise this advice. 1. Search diligently lest some personal crimes of your own be in the cause, as well as your religion. Sometimes the sinful miscarriages of Christians doth provoke the adversaries to think the worse of their way of religion for their sakes, and so to persecute them for truth duty, but provoked to it by former sin. In this case your first duty is to repent of the sin which first provoked them, and openly confess it and lament it: for while you remain impenitent, and hide or justify your gross iniquity, you harden them that afflict you, and you provoke God to let them loose. Especially when you can aggravate all the miscarriages of your persecutors, and cannot bear so much as the naming of your own sin, but take it for enmity or injury to be called to repent. If it be any sin of ours that hath made us stink in the nostrils of our persecutors, we cannot comfortably suffer or expect deliverance, till we repent. 2. Let us search, with the severest suspicion and impartiality, that it be indeed truth and duty, and not error and sin, for which we suffer. I doubt not but men may be persecutors and injurious, who do but afflict men for sin and error, when it is done for such as are but those tolerable infirmities, which all Christians in one kind or other are liable to; or when the punishment is greater than the fault deserveth; and when it is done in malice against the piety of the persons, or tendeth to the hinderance of piety, and injury of the church of God. But yet the guilt of his persecutors is no justification of anyone that suffereth for his sin or error, nor should abate, but increase his repentance, in that he occasions by his scandal the sin and misery of his persecutors. Peter justly calleth us to make sure that none of us suffer as evil-doers, much less as impenitent persons that cannot endure to hear of it. I am one that have been first in all the storms that have befallen the ministry these twenty years past (to look no further back); and yet my conscience commandeth me to say, as I have oft done, that many through mistake, I am persuaded, now suffer as evil-doers for a cause that is not good and justifiable. For the great difference among sufferers proveth that some must needs be mistaken. 3. If we be sure that our cause is good, let us also make sure that we use it well. A good cause may be abused. Let us see, (1). That we mix no error with it. (2). That we do not manage it partially and uncharitably; that we make not the contrary worse than it is. (3). That we delight not to represent our adversaries more odiously than there is cause. (4). That we deny no just honour or obedience to our governors. (5). That we show not the same spirit of persecution which we exclaim against, by differing from them only in the manner of expression. If they unjustly say that men are so bad as to be unworthy of Christian communion, you agree in unjust condemning others, and only wrong them several ways. (6). Let us see that while we are restrained from some part of our work, we neglect not that which none forbiddeth us. Are we not shamefully guilty in this? None forbiddeth ministers to catechise those that are under sixteen years of age, or to teach them by preaching, or to pray with them, and yet that is commonly neglected. None forbid us to confer daily with our ignorant or vicious neighbours to try if we can convert them, nor to win them by kindness, as Christ went to publicans and sinners. None forbid religious people to catechise and teach their families, and read good books to them, and pray with them, and openly sing the priases of God, as Daniel openly prayed in his house, to be examples to ungodly families about them. And yet how much is this neglected! And a dumb and negligent father and master of a family will condemn himself by speaking against dumb and negligent ministers, and against those that restrain him from some public duties. Some think that if a law were made (which God prevent) against all catechising and teaching men's families, and against praying and singing the praises of God, it would by opposition stir up some to do it better, that now neglect it, so prone are they to that which is forbidden. (This article will continue in the next issue.) =========================================================== New Testament Study - Matthew 12:1-14 ===================================== The Pharisees and the Sabbath ----------------------------- 1At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath." 3He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread-which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? 6I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. 7If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. 8For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." 9Going on from that place, He went into their synagogue, 10and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked Him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" 11He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? 12How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." 13Then He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus. In chapters 11 and 12 of his Gospel, Matthew presents some episodes in which Jesus asserts His authority as the Son of God. These episodes give us an understanding of why the religious leadership turned against Him, despite His early popularity (which was a result of His miraculous works). Jesus told the truth. When the Pharisees were wrong in their teaching, He let them know, convincingly and authoritatively. "In the first days of His ministry it is plain that Jesus won a wide measure of acceptance. He did works of mercy and was a popular preacher. But in the course of time the Jewish establishment came to see that what He was doing and what He was teaching were incompatible with an acceptance of their essential position. So they came to oppose Him, and that with a virulence that would eventually lead to His death" [Morris, 298]. In this section, Jesus debunks the Pharisees' understanding of Sabbath day observance, and proclaims authority to do so as the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus' teaching is prompted by a challenge by the Pharisees: "At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, 'Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath'" (vs. 1-2). (Incidentally, one thing we learn from this episode is that Jesus and His disciples were poor in things of this world. Here, they apparently could not afford a meal, but had to glean what they could from the fields. "He who fed the multitudes did not use His miraculous power to feed His own followers, but left them till they did what poor men are forced to do to supply a little stay for their stomachs. Our Lord bribes none into following Him: they may be His apostles, and yet be hungry on a Sabbath" [Spurgeon, 145].) The Pharisees try to deny the disciples their meager sustenance, citing violation of the Sabbath law. Apparently, their interpretation of the Sabbath law held that gleaning for one's meal on the Sabbath constituted forbidden work. "Plucking was reaping, rubbing the grain from the husk was threshing, to their hypercritical minds" [Spurgeon, 145]. The Sabbath day, by definition, is a day of rest: a day to honor God, and rest from one's work. The religious leaders had turned the Sabbath day into a day of burden: a day on which the people had to be constantly monitoring their own behavior to make sure that they did not break any of the Pharasaical regulations concerning the Sabbath. The Lord, in the Old Testament, stated the law concerning the Sabbath very simply: "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God" (Ex. 20:9-10). The Sabbath "was a day for refreshing people, for meeting their need. But for the Pharisees it was primarily a day for keeping the regulations that expressed their desire to honor God" [Morris, 300]. "It is not even clear how [the disciples] were breaking any OT law, where commandments about the Sabbbath were aimed primarily at regular work. The disciples were not farmers trying to do some illicit work, but they were itinerant preachers casually picking some heads of grain" [Carson, 281]. Jesus does not merely respond to the Pharisees with a reason why this particular act of His disciples was permissible, but He goes further and lets the Pharisees know that their whole understanding of the Sabbath law is incorrect. He begins by citing an episode in David's life: "He answered, 'Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread-which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests'" (vss. 3-4). Though this episode in David's life did not concern Sabbath observance, it applies to the case of the disciples because it describes an event where the injunctions to care for those in need superseded the ritualistic laws. "And if the law about the hallowed bread might be set aside by necessity, so might the law about the hallowed day" [Broadus, 259]. Rather than criticize the disciples for satisfying their hunger, the Pharisees would have done much better to invite Jesus and the disciples over for a Sabbath meal. Next, Jesus points out that there is work that is permissible, according to the law, on the Sabbath: "Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent?" (vs. 5). The gist of these two last responses that Jesus gave the Pharisees is that there are times that two laws conflict. And when two laws conflict, proper discernment concerning the spirit of the Laws is required. In David's case, the law of love (concern for those who were hungry) conflicted with the laws concerning the consecrated bread. In the case of the priests, the laws that detailed the work the priests were to perform on the Sabbath, conflicted with the laws prohibiting work on the Sabbath. The work that the priests did "was right, because the temple with its sacrifices was of higher importance than the Sabbath, and would override the requirements of its sanctity" [Broadus, 259]. The eating of the consecrated bread was permissible because the law of love is the greatest commandment. Jesus points out the precedence that the law of love takes over the ritualistic laws, by citing a prophet in the Old Testament: "If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent" (vs. 7). The central emphasis of the religions of those in the lands around the children of Israel was sacrifice to their false idols. "It is the practice of compassion that should distinguish the people of God rather than the punctilious observance of outward regulations" [Morris, 304]. In this statement, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice", is a great principle in discerning the correct behavior when any regulations of the law seem to conflict with each other: "No ordinance of God is to be pressed so far as to make us neglect the plain duties of charity" [Ryle, 123]. To conclude His response to the Pharisees, Jesus asserts His authority to give such definitive answers concerning questions of the law: "I tell you that one greater than the temple is here... For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath" (vss. 6, 8). "If rulings about Sabbath observance are to be made, it is not the Pharisees but 'the Son of Man,' as 'Lord of the Sabbath,' who has authority to say how to observe properly the day of rest" [Filson, in Morris, 302]. Even if what the disciples were doing was prohibited by the rules of the Pharisees, "acting under their Master's authority, they had a right to do what would not usually be proper on the Sabbath, for Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath" [Broadus, 260]. The guidance that Jesus gives concerning the Sabbath reflects that our God is a reasonable God, not interested in us showing our devotion through meaningless ritualistic exercises. As Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus has interpreted the Sabbath, "not with license, but with a sweet reasonableness which the more rigid of religionists do not exhibit" [Spurgeon, 147]. There is a great danger when anyone adds to God's perfect law. They run the risk of misrepresenting God, thus skewing people's understanding about the nature and personality of God. We have a loving God, a caring God, and a reasonable God. The teachings of the Pharisee's did not reflect that. Thank God that He sent His Son to represent Him perfectly, that we may know, through the character of Jesus Christ, the true nature of God. =========================================================== A Topical Study - The Shortness of Life, pt. 1, by Samuel Davies ================================================================ [Here we begin a series that urges a certain indifference to life, and the things of this world, due to the shortness of life, and the vanity of the things of this world. This series is taken from a funeral sermon by Samuel Davies.]-Ed. Indifference to Life Urged from Its Shortness and Vanity by Samuel Davies (1724 -1761) ----------------------------- 29But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; 30And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; 31And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away. (I Cor. 7:29-31 AV). A creature treading every moment upon the slippery brink of the grave, and ready every moment to shoot the gulf of eternity, and launch away to some unknown coast, ought to stand always in the posture of serious expectation; ought every day to be in his own mind taking leave of this world, breaking off the connections of his heart from it, and preparing for his last remove into that world in which he must reside, not for a few months or years as in this, but through a boundless everlasting duration. Such a situation requires habitual, constant thoughtfulness, abstraction from the world, and serious preparation for death and eternity. But when we are called, as we frequently are, to perform the last sad offices to our friends and neighbours who have taken their flight a little before us; when the solemn pomp and horrors of death strike our senses, then certainly it becomes us to be unusually thoughtful and serious. Dying beds, the last struggles and groans of dissolving nature, pale, cold, ghastly corpses: The knell, the shroud, the mattock, and the grave: The deep damp vault, the darkness and the worm; These are very alarming monitors of our own mortality: these out-preach the loudest preacher; and they must be deep and senseless rocks, and not men, who do not hear and feel their voice. Among the numberless instances of the divine skill in bringing good out of evil, this is one, that past generations have sickened and died to warn their successors. One here and there also is singled out of our neighbourhood or families, and made an example, a memento mori, to us that survive, to rouse us out of our stupid sleep, to give us the signal of the approach of the last enemy, death, to constrain us to let go our eager grasp of this vain world, and set us upon looking out and preparing for another. And may I hope my hearers are come here today determined to make this improvement of this melancholy occasion, and to gain this great advantage from our loss? To this I call you as with a voice from the grave; and therefore he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. One great reason of men's excessive attachment to the present state, and their stupid neglect of the concerns of eternity, is their forming too high an estimate of the affairs of time in comparison with those of eternity. While the important realities of the eternal world are out of view, unthought of, and disregarded, as (alas!) they generally are by the most of mankind, what mighty things in their esteem are the relations, the joys and sorrows, the possessions and bereavements, the acquisitions and pursuits of this life? What airs of importance do they put on in their view? How do they engross their anxious thoughts and cares, and exhaust their strength and spirits! To be happy, to be rich, to be great and honourable, to enjoy your fill of pleasure in this world, is not this a great matter, the main interest in many of you? Is not this the object of your ambition, your eager desire and laborious pursuit? But to consume away your life in sickness and pain, in poverty and disgrace, in abortive schemes and disappointed pursuits, what a serious calamity, what a huge affliction is this in your esteem? What is there in the compass of the universe that you are so much afraid of, and so cautiously shunning? Whether large profits or losses in trade be not a mightier matter, ask the busy, anxious merchant. Whether poverty be not a most miserable state, ask the poor that feel it, and the rich that fear it. Whether riches be not a very important happiness, ask the possessors; or rather ask the restless pursuers of them, who expect still greater happiness from them than those that are taught by experience can flatter themselves with. Whether the pleasures of the conjugal state are not great and delicate, consult the few happy pairs here and there who enjoy them. Whether the loss of an affectionate husband and a tender father be not a most afflictive bereavement, a torturing separation of heart from heart, or rather a tearing of one's heart in pieces, ask the mourning, weeping widow, and fatherless children, when hovering round his dying-bed, or conducting his dear remains to the cold grave. In short, it is evident from a thousand instances, that the enjoyments, pursuits, and sorrows of this life are mighty matters! Nay, are all in all in the esteem of the generality of mankind. These are the things they most deeply feel, the things about which they are chiefly concerned, and which are the objects of their strongest passions. But is this a just estimate of things? Are the affairs of this world then indeed so interesting and all-important? Yes, if eternity be a dream, and heaven and hell but majestic chimeras, or fairy lands; if we were always to live in this world, and had no concern with anything beyond it; if the joys of earth were the highest we could hope for, or its miseries the most terrible we could fear, then indeed we might take this world for our all, and regard its affairs as the most important that our nature is capable of. "But this I say, brethren," (and I pronounce it as the echo of an inspired apostle's voice), this I say, "the time is short"; the time of life in which we have anything to do with these affairs is a short, contracted span. Therefore "it remaineth", that is, this is the inference we should draw from the shortness of time, "they that have wives, be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it," (or using it to excess); "for the fashion of this world", these tender relations, this weeping and rejoicing, this buying, possessing, and using this world "passeth away". The phantom will soon vanish, the shadow will soon fly off; and they that have wives or husbands in this transitory life, will in reality be as though they had none; and they that weep now, as though they wept not; and they that now rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that now buy, possess and use this world, as though they never had the least property in it. This is the solemn, mortifying doctrine I am now to inculcate upon you in the further illustration of the several parts of my text; a doctrine justly alarming to the lovers of this world, and the neglecters of that life which is to come. When St. Paul pronounces anything with an unusual air of solemnity and authority, and after the formality of an introduction to gain attention, it must be a matter of uncommon weight, and worthy of the most serious regard. In this manner he introduces the funeral sentiments in my text. "This I say, brethren"; this I solemnly pronounce as the mouth of God: this I declare as a great truth but little regarded; and which therefore there is much need I should repeatedly declare; this I say with all the authority of an apostle, a messenger from heaven; and I demand your serious attention to what I am going to say. And what is it he is introducing with all this solemn formality? Why, it is an old, plain, familiar truth universally known and confessed, namely, that the time of our continuance in this world is short. But why so much formality in introducing such a common, plain truth as this? Because, however generally it be known and confessed, it is very rarely regarded; and it requires more than even the most solemn address of an apostle to turn the attention of a thoughtless world to it. How many of you, my brethren, are convinced against your wills of this melancholy truth, and yet turn every way to avoid the mortifying thought, are always uneasy when it forces itself upon your minds, and do not suffer it to have a proper influence upon your temper and practice, but live as if you believed the time of life were long, and even everlasting? Oh! When will the happy hour come when you will think and act like those who believe that common, uncontroverted truth, that the time of life is short? Then you would no longer think of delays, nor contrive artifices to put off the work of your salvation; then you could not bear the thought of such negligent, or languid, feeble endeavours in a work that must be done, and that in so short a time. "This I say, my brethren, the time is short": the time of life is absolutely short; a span, an inch, a hair's breadth. How near the neighbourhood between the cradle and the grave! How short the journey from infancy to old age, through all the intermediate stages! Let the few among you who bear the marks of old age upon you in gray hairs, wrinkles, weakness, and pains, look back upon your tiresome pilgrimage through life, and does it not appear to you, as though you commenced men but yesterday? And how little a way can you trace it back till you are lost in the forgotten unconscious days of infancy, or in that eternal non-existence in which you lay before your creation! But they are but a very few that drag on their lives through seventy or eighty years. Old men can hardly find contemporaries: a new race has started up, and they are become almost strangers in their own neighbourhoods. By the best calculations that have been made, at least one half of mankind die under seven years old. They are little particles of life, sparks of being just kindled and then quenched, or rather dismissed from their suffocating confinement in clay, that they may aspire, blaze out, and mingle with their kindred flames in the eternal world, the proper region, the native element of spirits. (This study will continue in the next issue.) =========================================================== A Study in Psalms - Psalms 47 ============================= Psalm 47 - Sing Praises to God ------------------- For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. 1Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. 2How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth! 3He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet. 4He chose our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom He loved. Selah 5God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets. 6Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. 7For God is the King of all the earth; sing to Him a psalm of praise. 8God reigns over the nations; God is seated on His holy throne. 9The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, For the kings of the earth belong to God; He is greatly exalted. ------------------------ This psalm is an exhortation to praise the Lord for His sovereignty over the whole earth, and for the victories He gives His people through that sovereignty. The psalm begins: "Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy" (vs. 1). The first thing to notice is that very few churches on Sunday morning praise the Lord the way the Psalmist is exhorting us to praise Him: loudly, and with great enthusiasm. Some would consider "clapping" one's hands for God, and "shouting" to Him with "cries of joy", to be indecent, unsophisticated, and even unholy. Those who think such behavior is inappropriate would do well to study the book of Psalms, and note the many places we are exhorted to praise the Lord loudly. When we go to a sports game, and the home team scores a victory, do we not enthusiastically praise the efforts of our team. Why not do the same to praise the great victories of the Lord? "The most natural and most enthusiastic tokens of exultation are to be used in view of the victories of the Lord, and His universal reign" [Spurgeon, 352]. Sadly, we can "clap" and "shout" for our favorite sports teams, but we are called insane fanatics if we get enthusiastic about the Lord, who has done much more for us than our local athletes have. And indeed, we have much to loudly praise the Lord for. Contrary to the popular belief of the unsaved, Christians have much joy in their lives. "Those are greatly mistaken, who think the religion of Christ furnishes no cause of joy to those, who truly embrace it. In fact, the blessings of the Gospel awaken the strongest and most pleasing emotions of the human heart, and shall yet fill the whole earth with incredible joy. Even of old, the saints had cause of exulting and rapturous delight in the Lord and His ways" [Plumer, 530]. Let us show the world how joyful we are, and how great our God is, by loudly praising Him! The Psalmist gives reasons to praise Him: "How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!" (vs. 2). We can praise the Lord because He is "awesome", as the Psalmist says. The word translated here as "awesome" has lost much of its bite, in recent years, through overuse. Many would consider "awesome" to be synonymous with "cool" or "neato". The original word, though, actually is an adjective to describe something that is to be feared greatly. The King James Version translated the word as "terrible" (which is not an appropriate word for us, because the meaning of this word has changed a bit since that translation was made). We would do well, possibly, to translate the word, "terrifying". And so, the Psalmist gives as the first reason to praise the Lord: "How [terrifying] is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!" Now, it may seem strange to praise the Lord for being "terrifying", for causing fear. Yet, if you are on His side, you want the Lord to strike fear in His enemies, because His enemies are your enemies. So, the Lord is "terrifying", and He is also, "the great King over all the earth!" God's sovereignty extends to all nations (whether they acknowledge it or not). Any nation that turns to Him may receive the blessings He extends to His people. Though the children of Israel make up the chosen nation, yet all who worship Him will be blessed. So, all nations have reason to rejoice in Him. "Neither the prophecies, nor the Gospel confine the blessings of Christ's kingdom to the Jews, or to any one tribe of men, but extend them to all peoples" [Plumer, 530]. Moreover, because our Lord is "the great King over all the earth", He has the right and privilege to extend the bounds of His kingdom anywhere on earth. Some on earth, citing cultural reasons, would fault ministers of God for going to foreign lands to preach the Gospel of the True God. But God is "King over all the earth". His Word must not be kept from His subjects, wherever they may dwell. "Christ hath right and just title to erect a church in what country and kingdom He pleaseth, without asking any man's license, and to set up among His subjects the profession of His name, and practice of all His ordinances pertaining to the exercise of religion, in doctrine, worship, and ecclesiastic government of His subjects" [Dickson, 272]. The children of Israel had special reasons to praise Him: "He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet. He chose our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom He loved" (vss. 3-4). God's military victories on their behalf brought them into the promised land, which is their "inheritance". And God (loving Father that He is) also has chosen an inheritance for us. The promised land is symbolic of the inheritance in the kingdom of heaven that we will receive. Praise the Lord! The next verse pictures God as ascending to His throne, returning to heaven, after His victory over the enemies of His people: "God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets" (vs. 5). What also may be pictured here, if read prophetically, is the ascension of Jesus after His resurrection. Certainly the tumult and joy expressed is worthy of such a significant event, as the ascension takes place "amid shouts of joy" and the "sounding of trumpets". At this, we are further exhorted to praise the Lord: "Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; sing to Him a psalm of praise" (vss. 6-7). Sadly, we need repetitive reminders to sing praises. "Strange that we should need so much urging to attend to so heavenly an exercise" [Spurgeon, 354]. Continuing prophetically, the Psalmist looks forward to the time when God will be acknowledged by all the nations as the True and Living God: "God reigns over the nations; God is seated on His holy throne. The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; He is greatly exalted" (vss. 8-9). Oh, that that day would come soon, when all the nations bow to God's rule and reign. "All people will be ruled by the Lord in the latter days, and will exult in that rule; were they wise, they would submit to it now, and rejoice to do so" [Spurgeon, 352].