I’m currently reading The Joy of Fearing God by Jerry Bridges, and it’s a great book so far.
At the moment he’s talking about how awesome God is. He quoted these verses…
Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed Him as His counselor?
Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten Him, and who taught Him the right way?
Who was it that taught Him knowledge, or showed Him the path of understanding?
- Isaiah 40:13-14
He points out how amazing things are that God has done. Look at the incredible things He has made. Could we have helped God out as a consultant? Could we have given advice on how to make things better?
Duh, no!
Yet we continually want to give God advice on the providential working of things.
I guess we would never actually say it, but we seem to think God could use a bit of our wisdom to better plan things that are going wrong in our lives.
Those thoughts woke me up. It’s so easy to think about how things could be better managed. But to think we could run things better than God is the dumbest idea going.
He is wise and loving. And we can trust in that.
At the Impact Bible Conference.
I’m so deeply blessed.
Last weekend was the Impact Bible conference. The theme was eternity. It was great to get the focus off all our short term goals and think about the real stuff… God’s Kingdom and glorifying Him forever.
A Trip To Hell
One sermon was called A Trip To Hell, and it was horrifying. It was preached with you imagining that you died and found out you’d been deceived, that you weren’t actually saved. The description was vivid and shocking. Hell fire burning you, and then going before the throne of judgement, and then being cast screaming into the lake of fire… FOREVER.
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As young people we need a lot of leading.
We’ve got to figure out what we’re going to study, what we’re going to do to make a living, what church we’re going to go to, who we’re going to marry, where we will live and so many more decisions.
While we get wisdom and counsel to help us make the decisions, I’d be scared silly if that’s all I got before I had to make my mind up.
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“He makes me lie down in green pastures.”
The Good Shepherd is kind. He gives us rest. He pours out so much love and grace on us.
When you think of what we deserve versus what we get, you marvel at how kind He is. We were His enemies. And yet He takes us to the best of His pastures.
“The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice!” (Psalm 97:1)
The best news is that God is in charge. There is no better scenario than having God in control. You couldn’t nominate a being who would be better at reigning than God. You couldn’t even imagine a being who would be better.
That’s what we mean when we say God is good. God has His attributes in perfection. So He defines good. He is ‘the goodest.’
He is the most loving, the most gracious, the most merciful.
The whole earth ought to rejoice that God is reigning, there’s no better news.
He gives us rest, He gives us food, He gives us everything we could need.
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear Him.” (Psalm 103:11)
“I shall not want.”
I love how simple Psalm 23 is. David beautifully states his complete trust in the Lord.
“I shall not want” could also be translated, ‘I shall not fail’ or ‘I will never lack.’
It’s closely related to the statement that all things work together for good for the believer (Romans 8:32). And to the assertion that God will not keep any good things from us (Psalm 84:14). I know I mention these verses a lot, but they’re key to helping us deal with life and they’re related to this idea that we will not want.
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(Okay, I admit, these promises from Psalm 23 are not going to be super cryptic!)
“The LORD is my shepherd.”
I sometimes get to meet shepherds, with their super gnarly calf muscles and their pack of obedient dogs. They generally farm on very rough countryside as they care for their sheep. It’s a physical job.
As you’ve probably been told in half a dozen sermons, being a shepherd in Israel in 1020 BC was quite different to New Zealand in 2011. Back in the day, you had to move your shepherd through unfenced wilderness. You had to fight bears and lions off! At night you had to sleep in the gateway to protect the sheep.
When David says he has a shepherd, it’s big. There’s so much involved in the word he used. A shepherd is a ruler, a protector, a provider, someone Who cares and tends to His sheep.
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Some things are too popular. Like Amazing Grace. I cringe every time I hear a heathen singing it. They belt out an emotional version of it, but without any understanding of what they sing about. It’s over done.
Then when I go and sing the song myself I’m amazed at the depth of it. It’s a beautiful telling and praise of the gospel story.
Psalm 23 is like that for me. It feels too popular, secular people know it and they even read it at their funerals. But man, it’s packed with awesome truths!
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