Hopewell ARP Church is a Biblical, Reformed, Presbyterian church, serving the Lord in Culleoka, TN, since 1820. Lord's Day Morning, set your gps to arrive by 11a.m. at 3886 Hopewell Road, Culleoka, TN 38451
Read Psalm 119:57–64
Questions from the Scripture text: What does the psalmist call YHWH in Psalm 119:57a? To what does this enable him to commit himself (verse 57b)? What is he desiring (n.b. ‘favor’ is literally ‘face’) and how much (Psalm 119:58a)? What does he want God to do/be (verse 58b)? According to what? What has he done about what (Psalm 119:59a)? What did he conclude to do (verse 59b)? How promptly did he take action (Psalm 119:60)? In what circumstances (Psalm 119:61a) had he done what (verse 61b)? At what time, does he do what (Psalm 119:62a)? Why (verse 62b)? What two things must someone else be for the psalmist to choose him as a companion (Psalm 119:63)? How much of what does he see, where (Psalm 119:64a)? What does he want to learn to do (verse 64b)?
How does the Lord come to be our portion, and what is it like when He is? Psalm 119:57–64 looks forward to the reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these eight verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that when the Lord is our portion, certainty that we have Him and His faithfulness to His Word frees us to see His love everywhere and trustingly do our duty.
This stanza falls fairly neatly into four couplets, with the first two connecting to one other—the second couplet (Psalm 119:59-60) explaining how the psalmist came into the frame of mind and life of the first couplet (Psalm 119:57-58). It is the story of Psalm 73 told in reverse order. In Psalm 73, Asaph is brought to repentance by consideration of his ways, and realizing that the Lord is guiding him, comes to the wonderful conclusion at the end of that Psalm that the Lord is his Portion.
YHWH, our Portion, Psalm 119:57-58. Here, the psalmist begins with the declaration that the Lord is his Portion (Psalm 119:57a), which frees him to live a life of simple obedience (verse 57b). If you have thought that this would be an impractical way to live, then learn to live by the faith in Psalm 119:58. In verse 58a, “favor” is literally “face”; the psalmist desires the blessing of Numbers 6:25–26. If he has the Lord, he knows that he will have everything, because the Lord keeps His own Word (Psalm 119:58b). You can be sure of this, too (cf. Romans 8:32).
Earnest, Urgent Repentance, Psalm 119:59-60. How did the psalmist get here? Earnest consideration (a better translation for the intense word behind “thought” in Psalm 119:59a). Transformation comes by the renewing of the mind (cf. Romans 12:2). God calls us to earnest, intense reflection upon our ways. And this reflection should always result in resolve to act according to His Word (Psalm 119:59b). Don’t just think; decide. And don’t just decide; act immediately (Psalm 119:60). The earnestness of the reflection to which we are called in Psalm 119:59 is matched by the urgency of the action to which we are called in Psalm 119:60 (“made haste” … “did not delay”).
Zealous Devotion, Psalm 119:61-62. Even in the most difficult situation (Psalm 119:61a), the one who has the Lord as his portion is free to focus upon God’s instruction to him. Since God always keeps His own Word (Psalm 119:58b), we can focus on keeping His words to us (Psalm 119:61b, Psalm 119:5b). Even in the most inconvenient or unusual time, the psalmist gives thanks (Psalm 119:62a).
The Companions, Vision, and Desire of the Devoted Life, Psalm 119:63-64. What devotion the Lord brings us into, when He gives us repentance and gives us Himself! The last couplet zooms out, from the difficult and unusual situation, to a whole-life perspective. First, the companions that a believer should choose: Psalm 119:63 gives us the two qualifications someone must have to be our companion. Having the same moral values is actually second (verse 63b). Most important, is that someone would fear the Lord (verse 63a). If the Lord is their portion, if they desire His face with their whole heart, if in the most dire circumstances their great desire is to please him, and if they would gladly schedule midnight times of thanksgiving, they are the right sort of people to be our friends. Dear reader, here is the most important compatibility for a companion, and see to it that you apply it in choosing the most important earthly companion: your spouse.
If a companion doesn’t “fear the Lord” in this way, then whatever similarity there seems to be in moral values is fool’s gold, “fool’s godliness.” They and we should have the view of the world in Psalm 119:64a and approach to life of verse 64b. Everywhere we look, with the Word as frontlets between our eyes, we should see the steadfast/covenant love of God filling the earth (verse 64a). In everything we do, with the Word as bound to our hand, we should seek to do as God has taught us in His statutes (verse 64b). This is life with the Lord as our Portion.
When do you spend time earnestly considering your ways? How urgently do you act when you are convicted by Scripture? What part does seeking the Lord’s face have in your worship and desires? Where do you see the steadfast love of the Lord? What desire do you have to learn the Lord’s statutes?
Sample prayer: O Lord, You are our portion, and our whole hearts desire the smile of Your face. Grant us to think earnestly upon Your ways, to turn our feet to Your testimonies, and to act urgently upon Your Word. Give us, now, to remember Your law, to give thanks to You, to fear You, to see Your steadfast love, to learn Your statutes. Help us, in Your worship, that we might have You Yourself, by the help of Your Spirit, in Your Son, through Whom we ask it, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP119H “My Portion Is the LORD” or TPH119H “You, LORD, Are the Portion”
Read Psalm 119:49–56
Questions from the Scripture text: What does Psalm 119:49 ask God to do with His Word? What has the psalmist done with it (verse 49b)? What does Psalm 119:50a talk about? What has been his comfort (verse 50b)? What was this affliction (Psalm 119:51a)? For what has he been derided (verse 51b)? What has he remembered (Psalm 119:52a)? In order to do what to himself (verse 52b)? But what does he feel (Psalm 119:53a)? Because of what (verse 53b)? What have the Lord’s statutes been to him (Psalm 119:54a)? How does he describe his life in this world (verse 54b)? What else does he do, when (Psalm 119:55a)? With what outcome (verse 55b)? How does he view this walk with the Lord (Psalm 119:56a)? How did he come into such a possession (verse 56b)?
What is it like to hope in God’s Word? Psalm 119:49–56 looks forward to the reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these eight verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that hoping in God’s Word gives us God Himself as our constant companion.
The blessed life. Two of the most common Hebrew words that begin with this letter are the word for “remember” (Psalm 119:49, Psalm 119:52, Psalm 119:55) and the demonstrative pronoun (“this”/”that”/etc; Psalm 119:50, Psalm 119:56). Between asking God to remember His own Word (i.e. promise, Psalm 119:49) and remembering God Himself (Psalm 119:55) and His judgments (Psalm 119:52), together with two declarations in Psalm 119:50 and Psalm 119:56, five of the eight verses of this stanza are taken up. So the stanza, as a whole, puts forward the life of the one who is remembering God because he has been remembered by God. The stanza is a portrait of the blessed life.
Comfort and joy. What does the one who is living the blessed life do with God’s Word? He hopes in it (Psalm 119:49), sticks to it (Psalm 119:51), keeps it (Psalm 119:56) remembers it (Psalm 119:52), and even sings it (Psalm 119:54) and meditates upon it in the night (Psalm 119:55). The result is comfort (Psalm 119:50) even when others mock (Psalm 119:51): comfort from the Word giving him life (Psalm 119:50), comfort that he can strengthen himself in by meditating upon YHWH’s Word and works (His judgments, Psalm 119:52). And the result is also joy: a song to sing (Psalm 119:54a) that reminds him that this life is a brief sojourn in a foreign land (verse 54b). He has a forever-life with the Lord Whose songs they sing.
Grief. The blessed life, in this world, comes with grief. So long as there are “the wicked who forsake Yor law” (Psalm 119:53b), believers ought to be indignant and grieved. Jesus was grieved with unbelief and sin. So also ought His people to be.
How is the Word your companion day and night? How is the Lord your companion? What effect does this have?
Sample prayer: Lord, thank You for giving us a life of the comfort, joy, and even grief that comes from being yours. Give us to be remembering You, and meditating on Your Word, day and night. And bring us home from our pilgrimage, through Christ, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP119G “Keep Your Promise to Your Servant” or TPH119G “Your Word Remember to Your Needy Servant”
Read Psalm 96:1–6
Questions from the Scripture text: What does Psalm 96:1a command to do? Unto Whom? What sort of song? Who is to sing this new song (verse 1b)? What does this singing aim at doing (Psalm 96:2a)? How frequently are they going to proclaim what (verse 2b)? Among whom are they going to declare what (Psalm 96:3a)? Among whom are they going to declare what else (verse 3b)? What are they to declare about YHWH Himself (Psalm 96:4a)? What should be done exceedingly unto Him? What else ought to be done unto Him (verse 4b)? Above whom? Why—what’s true about these other gods (Psalm 96:5a)? But what is true about YHWH (verse 5b)? What go in front of Him (Psalm 96:6a)? What are in the place of His holiness (verse 6b)?
What does the great conclusion to redemptive history declare? Psalm 96:1–6 looks forward to the opening portion of morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these six verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the great conclusion to redemptive history declares the glory of YHWH.
This is a song for a monumental occasion in the future. It looks forward to the great day when YHWH rules over all the nations (cf. Psalm 33:3; Psalm 98:1; 1 Chronicles 16:23–33; Isaiah 42:10). The “new song” language doesn’t mean that we are to be constantly coming up with new songs but that this song belongs to the future great event referred to in all of these passages. There are several important things that we can observe about this song.
The duty to sing. Few commands are given as frequently and urgently in the Scripture as the command to sing, which is triply given in the first verse and half. It is well-suited to follow Psalm 95, which had mandated forceful amplitude in this singing. There, as here, the cause for singing is the greatness of YHWH.
Those who know the God of such greatness must sing! I wonder, dear reader, how we are doing at giving ourselves to this obviously important and intensely urgent duty. SING unto YHWH!
The objects of this singing. This singing is obviously God-ward—to YHWH (Psalm 96:1a)! To YHWH (verse 1b). To YHWH (Psalm 96:2a), blessing His Name (verse 2a). But the singing is also directed at others—proclaiming (verse 2b) and declaring (Psalm 96:3a). This dynamic also features especially in Christian congregational singing (cf. Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). We must sing loudly enough, clearly enough, that we can all hear all of the rest of us. (Blaring pipe organs, or other accompaniment that drowns out the human voice, run directly contrary to what this and other Scriptures command for our singing).
But if our singing is proclaiming and declaring, then not only must we sing; we must also listen. We must be soft-hearted. The “today if you will hear His voice do not harden your hearts” of Psalm 95:7–8 has a singing counterpart in the “submitting to one another in the fear of God” of Ephesians 5:21. As Psalm 96:2-3 say “Proclaim!” and “Declare!” they are reminding us that we need to sing (and hear others singing) soft-heartedly and submissively in the fear of God.
Dear reader, as we sing in the public worship, is your mind engaged in understanding what is being said, and is your heart engaged in receiving it? In particular, when we are singing and hearing of His salvation and His glory as in Psalm 96:2-3, are you receiving the message, and seeking that grasping His salvation and glory penetrate your heart by the work of the Spirit (cf. Ephesians 5:18b, Colossians 3:16)?
The subject of the song. The subject of the song is YHWH Himself. It is occasioned by an event—salvation for the nations and all peoples (Psalm 96:2-3), among whom He now reigns and judges (Psalm 96:10), when He comes for that purpose (Psalm 96:13).
But the occasion of the song is not its main theme. The song’s main theme is YHWH Himself. His glory (infinite weightiness, Psalm 96:3a). His wonders (marvels or marvelousness, verse 3b). His greatness (Psalm 96:4a). His awesomeness (fearsomeness, terribleness, verse 4b). His honor (splendor, Psalm 96:6a) and majesty (verse 6a). His strength (verse 6b) and beauty (verse 6b).
So great is each of these attributes, so superlative, that when it appears by itself it may be translated as “glory.” But here is glory upon glory, each with its own shade of meaning. Here is the glory of the God Who Is—YHWH, Who is always everything that He is, all in one infinite, seamless perfection.
The very heavens, though seemingly infinite to us, are just His finite creatures (Psalm 96:5b). Even when man comes up with an idea of a god, it always ends up powerless and worthless (the meaning of the specific word translated “idols” in Psalm 96:5a). This is one reason that accurate theology is so important. When the idea about God is one that proceeds from ourselves, it falls short—literally infinitely short. It is not “god as I’d like to think of him” that is worthy of the praise of this Psalm but the true and living God, the God Who made all things, the God Who is coming to judge the earth, the God Who reveals Himself here and throughout the Scripture. The God Who reveals Himself ultimately and superlatively in Jesus Christ!
How heartily do you sing in public worship? How thoughtfully and submissively? Who is the God that you praise?
Sample prayer: Lord, we bless Your Name and proclaim the good news of Your salvation and declare Your glory and Your marvelousness. You are great and greatly to be praised and feared. Give us the ministry of Your Spirit to stir our hearts up to this reverence and awe. You have gathered us from among many nations. Unite us in Christ, as we come through Him into the place of Your holiness to behold Your honor and majesty and strength and beauty. Present Yourself to us especially in Christ Himself, even as Your Spirit stirs up our faith in Him, that we might be presented to You in Christ, which we even ask through Him and His Name, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP96A “O Sing a New Song” or TPH96 “Sing to the Lord, Sing His Praise”
Read Isaiah 63:1–6
Questions from the Scripture text: From where does the one in Isaiah 63:1a appear to be coming? In what attire (verse 1b–c)? And what glory (verse 1d)? What are His opening words (verse 1e)? What does Isaiah 63:2 ask about his clothing? What has this One done, alongside whom (Isaiah 63:3a–b)? Why has He done this (verse 3c–d)? With what effect (verse 3e–f)? What is in His heart (Isaiah 63:4a)? What has come (verse 4b)? What had He seen (Isaiah 63:5a–c)? How, then did salvation come (verse 5d)? And for what end did He pursue (verse 5e)? What did He do to the peoples (Isaiah 63:6a–b)? Why? With what result (verse 6c)?
Whom do the watchers and the bride see coming? Isaiah 63:1–6 prepares us for the morning sermon in public worship on the Lord’s Day. In these six verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Lord Jesus is the kingly and divine Speaker, Justifier, Savior, Avenger, and Redeemer.
In Isaiah 62:6, there were watchmen praying for salvation. The daughter of Zion was told to look for her salvation in a Savior, Who had earned and accomplished (cf. Isaiah 62:11) a holy, redeemed, desired, cherished people (cf. Isaiah 62:12).
Now the scene moves to the wall, with the watchmen and the hopeful bride, as a lone Figure appears on the horizon (Isaiah 63:1). He comes from the direction of perpetual enemy Edom (verse 1a) and its capital city Bozrah (verse 1b).
And the first thing that can be seen is the glint in the moonlight of the vividness of His apparel (Isaiah 63:1c). He moves in a way that communicates greatness and strength, not a commoner but a King (verse 1d). And in response to their question, His speech is swift and strong, like His gait, communicating three primary things about Him: He is a speaker, He is righteous, and He is a mighty Savior.
By identifying Himself firstly as a Speaker, He shows Himself to be the Anointed One of Isaiah 61:1–3: the Preacher of good tidings, the Proclaimer of liberty, the Proclaimer of the year of favor, the Comforter of mourners, the Consoler of Zion’s mourners. Although vengeance receives much mention in our passage (in line with our Lord’s second coming), it is His being a Speaker, and Righteous, and Savior that are mentioned first (in line with His first coming). And when He identified Himself in the synagogue at Nazareth, He identified Himself as this Preacher (cf. Luke 4:16–22).
By the time He answers, He is close enough that they can see not only the vividness, but the color, and their question changes from “Who” to “why” (Isaiah 63:2). “Red” is a play on words with “Edom,” and “winepress” is a play on words with “Bozrah.” So there may also be some inquiry as to why He’s coming from that direction. His answer continues their metaphor, but the vintage that He has trodden are the enemy themselves. The quantity of it and the saturation of the stain is because He has done this entirely by Himself (Isaiah 63:3, Isaiah 63:5). This identifies this King as a Man Who is more than a man. There is no one else who could do this, and no one else who would do this, but YHWH Himself (cf. Isaiah 41:28, Isaiah 59:15–16).
Just as we must be committed to not taking vengeance, since it belongs to the Lord (cf. Isaiah 35:4; Romans 12:19); the Lord Jesus is committed to taking vengeance, precisely because it belongs to Him. He says “it is in My heart” (Isaiah 63:4a). His Name is Jesus, Yahweh Who Saves, and He does so not only as a Deliverer, but as a Redeemer. There is a year that His heart calls “the year of My redeemed.” We must not lose sight of what is behind this word, “redeemed,” and the wonderful truth that the Lord Himself is Redeemer unto us.
In His first coming, He has proclaimed His comfort and salvation, and He has been our righteousness, and He has earned and accomplished our salvation (Isaiah 63:1e). But there is a day and a year in His heart when He will collect for Himself this bride, to Whom He has claimed the place of next-of-kin, and given to claim Him as her own next-of-kin (Isaiah 63:4b).
If Isaiah 61:1–3 was the picture of the Anointed, come to redeem His bride, Isaiah 63:1-7 is the picture of the Anointed, come to collect His bride whom He has redeemed. It is a day of a vengeance (Isaiah 63:5-6) that is an essential component to His saving His bride (cf. Isaiah 63:5d). And He is committed to it with all the zeal that He has for His kingship and His royal bride. As this passage presents Him to us, may His Spirit compel our hearts to rest upon Him and thrill our hearts to rejoice over Him.
Why do you need Christ as Speaker? Why do you need Christ as righteousness? Why do you need Christ as Savior? Why do you need Christ as Avenger? Why do you need Christ as Redeemer?
Sample prayer: Lord, You are the great Speaker. Forgive us for when we have not listened or trusted. You are our only righteousness. Forgive us for when we have felt pretty justified in ourselves. You are our only Savior. Forgive us, for when we have thought that there was hope in any other, and even for when we have felt that there was no hope. You are our Avenger. Forgive us, for when we have thought that there is no justice and that our plight has gone unnoticed. And You are our Redeemer. Forgive us, for when our adulterous hearts have found purpose, identity, and ultimate delight in anything other than You. Forgive us, and grant that Your Spirit would make us to behold You as You truly are, and as You have truthfully told us in Your Word, we ask in Your Name, Lord Jesus, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP24 “The Earth and the Riches” or TPH280 “Wondrous King, All Glorious”
Read 1 John 5:14–15
Questions from the Scripture text: What do we have (1 John 5:14)? In Whom? What does this confidence enable us to do? To ask according to what? What does He do? Who can know this (1 John 5:15)? About what requests? What can we know (in addition to that He hears us)?
How can we pray confidently? 1 John 5:14–15 prepares us for the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these two verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that assurance of faith makes us sure that God hears us and answers us.
Confidence in Him. Those who know that they have eternal life (1 John 5:13) have confidence not in themselves, but in Him (1 John 5:14). Their confidence is that God has done this. Assurance is not a confidence in ourselves, the doctrine upon which we have concluded, the obedience we have achieved, or the love we have cultivated. Assurance is confidence in God Himself and His grace by which He has worked in our lives.
Confidence that He hears. And if God has brought us into faith in His Son by His Spirit, then surely He hears us when we pray! This is one of the great practical applications of assurance: it gives us confidence in prayer. Not just that God hears prayer, but that He hears me, specifically, as I am praying. That His Spirit is the One Who is carrying me to pray. That I am received in His Son as I pray. That He is listening to me in Fatherly affection and care. This is something even greater than getting what we ask for: being heard by the living God, having fellowship with the living God.
Confidence to ask great things. The qualification “according to His will” governs 1 John 5:15 as well as 1 John 5:14. But there is a repeated idea that gets the emphasis: “ask anything” (verse 14) and its counterpart “whatever we ask” (1 John 5:15). God has willed great and glorious things. Asking according to His will, and knowing that God Himself has regard for one’s person and one’s prayers, means asking for great and glorious things.
Confidence that He answers. Finally, assurance gives us confidence not only that we are heard, but that God is answering. He was always going to do His will, of course. But assurance of faith brings us into the glorious confidence that when He does those things that we have asked, it is in actual response to our petitions. He has given us His Son so that we might have the privilege of actually obtaining things from Him through prayer!
How confident do you feel while praying? How much of that confidence is on God’s interaction with you, listening to you, as you pray? What sort of great/glorious things do you pray for? What have you obtained from God in prayer?
Sample prayer: Lord, please grant unto us assurance of faith, and please grant that we would make good application of it in prayer. For, we confess that we have often disbelieved that You were listening, or were even unaffected by the idea that You listen. Forgive us for not asking according to Your will, and for restricting ourselves to small requests, when You have given us such a large invitation. Forgive us for the unbelieving suspicions that prayer does not actually obtain anything. For these sins, forgive us, and from these sins cleanse us, so that we might pray with assurance-sustained confidence by Your Spirit, through Your Son, in Whose Name we ask it, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP5 “Listen to My Words, O LORD” or TPH518 “Come, My Soul, with Every Care”
Read Isaiah 10:20–11:16
Questions from the Scripture text: On a coming day, upon whom will remnant Israel no longer depend (Isaiah 10:20a–d)? Upon Whom will they depend instead (Isaiah 10:20-21)? How many had the people been (Isaiah 10:22a)? How many will return (verse 22b)? To show what (verse 22c)? By doing what (Isaiah 10:23)? Whom is YHWH addressing in Isaiah 10:24? What does He call them? Where do they dwell? Of whom does He tell them not to be afraid? What will Assyria do? Like who before them? But how long will this last (Isaiah 10:25)? Whom has YHWH of hosts suddenly destroyed before (Isaiah 10:26)? To whom else will He do this? With what result for God’s people (Isaiah 10:27)? How will Assyria progress (Isaiah 10:28-31)? How close will he get (Isaiah 10:32a)? To be able to do what (verse 32b–c)? But then what will YHWH of hosts suddenly do (Isaiah 10:33-34)? What will come forth (Isaiah 11:1a)? From what? What will grow out of what (verse 1b)? Who will rest upon Him (Isaiah 11:2a)? What six things does this Spirit give (verse 2b–d)? In Whom does this Spirit-anointed One delight (Isaiah 11:3a)? How doesn’t He judge (verse 3b–c)? How does He judge instead (Isaiah 11:4a–b)? Particularly for whom? With what does He strike what (verse 4c)? And with what slay whom (verse 4d)? What two things pull all His attributes together like a belt (Isaiah 11:5)? By what images does the Spirit present the extent to which the future kingdom recovers Eden (Isaiah 11:6-7) and overcomes the fall (Isaiah 11:8)? How does Isaiah 11:9a summarize the new kingdom? How does verse 9b–c explain it? In addition to being a shoot from Jesse (Isaiah 11:1a) what relation does this King have to Jesse (Isaiah 11:0a)? Whom does He welcome (verse 10b–c)? Where (it’s a noun in the original, not an adjective as in NKJ) is His resting place (verse 10d)? What happens a second time in the King’s day (Isaiah 11:11a–c)? Recapturing which exoduses (verse 11d)? And adding what sorts of others (verse 11e–g)? Whom does He welcome/rally to Himself (Isaiah 11:12)? Who in particular will be united/reconciled (Isaiah 11:13)? How does Isaiah 11:14 describe the kingdom extension? How does the power of this new exodus compare to the original (Isaiah 11:15, cf. Exodus 14)? From among whom are His remnant people now, and like the salvation of whom will their salvation be (Isaiah 11:16)?
How will the kingdom of the Son of Jesse come, when the line of David has been cut down to a stump? Isaiah 11 looks forward to the second public reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these sixteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that there is coming a King Who was Himself the Almighty, and who will be our ultimate Noah, our ultimate Moses, and our ultimate David—Who regains paradise, reverses the fall, retrieves the nations, and revenges them.
Isaiah 9:1–7 had prophesied that the darkness itself was a precursor to the light that would dawn when a Child Who is God would fulfill the 2 Samuel 7 promise of the forever-King. But with the Assyrian destruction that the Lord is bringing upon Judah and Israel in the near term, how glorious can that coming reign actually be? The answer of this passage is that it will be wondrously glorious indeed. David’s line may be cut so deeply that what remains is the stump of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1a), but the Shoot that is coming is so great that He is also Jesse’s root (Isaiah 11:10a). It’s a paradox like the one that Jesus points out (cf. Matthew 22:44–45) from Psalm 110:1. Great, then, is the glory of this King, Who is both shoot from Jesse and root of Jesse!
His glory as the reunite of Israel, Isaiah 10:20–11:1. The judgment that the LORD is bringing has multiple purposes. It destroys all other supports (Isaiah 10:20). Both north and south have enlisted enemies for help that end up destroying the other and turning upon them themselves. Whatever we put our trust in instead of the Lord, they will surely fail us, and our trust in them will positively harm us. The judgment also displays the greatness of the LORD’s righteousness. By saving just a remnant, He displays both mercy and faithfulness to save any at all, and that He would have been perfectly righteous even to destroy all of them (Isaiah 10:21-23).
The judgment also has the purpose of reuniting Israel and Judah. We’ve already seen in Isaiah 10:5, Isaiah 10:15 that despite Assyria’s arrogance to think otherwise, the fundamental reality is that they are an instrument of the Lord. And the Lord will punish the instrument for its own wickedness in due time—just as surely as He has punished others like Egypt and Midian (Isaiah 10:24-27). But where and when will this relief (Isaiah 10:27) come?
As Assyria destroys much of the northern kingdom, the remnant is seen as being pushed back to Jerusalem, back to Zion. That is the terminus of the path that Assyria takes in Isaiah 10:28-31. But he will ultimately only get close enough to shake his fist (Isaiah 10:32) before he is destroyed (Isaiah 10:33-34). Thus, he becomes the instrument by which the remnant from the north finally comes back to the house of David (Isaiah 11:1). Back to the son of Jesse.
As the passage describes, this is a pattern that has repeated several times in history, and is ramping up to the final glorious iteration considered in chapter 11. God keeps using judgments to purify a remnant from His people, and to gather them unto Christ in Whom they are reunited. And eventually this will be a reunited remnant from all the nations! When that remnant is gathered and reunited, then all of His enemies will receive their final and full and everlasting destruction!
His glory as the revelation of God in flesh, Isaiah 11:2-5. Ordinary kings are anointed with oil. This King will instead have the Spirit rest upon Him (Isaiah 11:2a). The Spirit proceeds from Him in His divine personhood (cf. Isaiah 9:6) and rests upon Him in His humanity (Isaiah 11:1-2). As such, His character will be the perfect human display of the character of God.
While the summary of this Spirit-given character emphasizes the triplet of wisdom, understanding, and counsel (Isaiah 11:2b–c), note from where this all especially comes: the knowledge and fear of YHWH (verse 2d). What the Spirit especially communicates is not merely skill or information or tactics but proper personal engagement and interaction with God. It is first and foremost delight in fearing God (Isaiah 11:3a) that produces righteousness in His dealings with all men (Isaiah 11:3-4b). The Spirit communicates to Him perfect keeping of the first great commandment and first table of the law, from which follow the keeping of the second great commandment and second table of the law.
This love of man, of course, must include the avenging of man and destruction of His enemies. And this the Christ will do (Isaiah 11:4c–d, cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:8; Revelation 19:15, Revelation 19:21). In righteousness, He will follow all of the principles of the Lord (v5a), and in faith-fulness He will keep all of the promises of the Lord (Isaiah 11:5b), including the crushing of the serpent’s head (cf. Isaiah 11:8; Genesis 3:15).
What is amazing is that believers now have His Spirit not only as our Helper but as the One Whom He has poured out upon us. To us, He is not only the Spirit of YHWH as in Isaiah 11:2, but the Spirit of Christ (cf. Romans 8:9). And it is as “the Spirit of His Son” that God has sent this Spirit not just to be with us but to be in our very hearts (cf. Galatians 4:6, cp. Romans 8:9; John 14:17–23)!
His glory as the recoverer of Eden, Isaiah 11:6-7. His perfect Kingship will eliminate not just the hostilities of men toward one another, but even the viciousness of the creatures toward each other (Isaiah 11:6a–c, Isaiah 11:7). This new creation will be perfectly safe even for a little child (Isaiah 11:6d). This is something that cannot occur in the creation that is bound to corruption and decay (cf. Romans 8:21a), but God didn’t bind the creation in despair or destruction but rather in hope (cf. Romans 8:20), and now it eagerly awaits the return of the King (cf. Romans 8:19, Romans 8:22). Then, at the resurrection, the creation itself will enjoy the glorious liberty of the children of God (cf. Romans 8:21b).
His glory as the reverser of the Fall, Isaiah 11:8-9. Cobras’ and vipers’ mortal threat to men’s bodies is emblematic of that murderer from the beginning (cf. John 8:44), who is called a serpent and dragon (cf. Revelation 12:9). But when that serpent’s head has been crushed, not only will Eden be restored, but the subjugation and docility of the venomous reptiles will forever remind that the Christ has destroyed the works of the devil (cf. 1 John 3:8).
The Zion in view in Isaiah 11:9 is not just a hill in the Near East, or a heavenly location of the assembly of the firstborn, but a stone that grew into a mountain (verse 9a) so great that it has now filled the whole earth (verse 9b, cf. Daniel 2:35, cp. Revelation 11:15ff.)—a mountain that is saturated with the knowledge of YHWH (Isaiah 11:9c) that originated in the Christ by His Spirit (cf. Isaiah 11:2d).
His glory as the retriever of the nations, Isaiah 11:10-14. The event in view in this chapter is not only Eden-restoring and Fall-reversing, but it is a great gathering day. Christ lifts Himself up as a banner of welcome (Isaiah 11:10a–b; cf. John 12:32), and that banner gathers the nations (Isaiah 11:10c, Isaiah 11:12a) together with remnants from Israel and Judah from the ends of the earth (verse 12b–d). This “second exodus” (Isaiah 11:11a–b) of “His remnant people” (more literal than “the remnant of His people” in verse 11c) will be far greater than the first. Its scope will include a remnant from the most unlikely (verse 11d) and distant (verse 11e–g) nations. And its effectiveness will be not only to reconcile them to Himself but to each other (Isaiah 11:13, cf. Ephesians 2:11–18). Only under David had this been even superficially true of Judah and Israel. Now, the reconciling of people from many nations in His church brings great honor to Christ, already, in anticipation of the day when that reconciliation will be complete. Of course, it is only on that day that not only will the entire remnant be retrieved and reconciled, but all who are not of the remnant will go to their dreadful reward (Isaiah 11:14).
His glory as the restorer of God’s rest, Isaiah 11:15-16. Noah features heavily in this chapter. What his father had hoped for in Genesis 5:29, Isaiah was now announcing would come in this Shoot (and Root!) of the stump of Jesse. The resting of the Spirit upon Him in Isaiah 11:2a and the place of rest that is glory itself in Isaiah 11:10d (a noun there, not NKJ’s adjective) both employ the root for “rest” or “comfort” from which he gets his name. When this prophecy is fulfilled, the Shoot of Jesse will have surpassed the flood and the exodus for bringing God’s people into God’s rest.
Isaiah 11:15 employs an image that is a great magnification of the crossing of the Red Sea, right down to the mighty wind of God that dries up seas and rivers and makes God’s new remnant to cross over on dry land. “His remnant people” (Isaiah 11:16a), whether Assyrians or otherwise (verse 16b), will come into the rest of God that had been prefigured in the original exodus (verse 16b, cf. Psalm 95:11; Hebrews 4:8–9).
Here again is a feature of the event described here that cannot occur in this world but awaits the new creation (cf. Hebrews 4:1, Hebrews 4:6, Hebrews 4:10; Hebrews 11:9–10, Hebrews 11:16, Hebrews 11:39–40). Believers are already new creation. And their as-yet-imperfect reconciliation and resting in the Lord both bring forward the glory that belongs to the great day to come. Thus they rejoice for the glory that comes to Christ in these ways. But like the saints of old, we wait to receive the fullness of this promise when the number is completed, and we will all be made perfect together in the resurrection (cf. Hebrews 11:39–40; Revelation 6:11; Romans 8:23).
Jesus Christ is the Son of David and Son of God Who has the Spirit in full measure, recovers paradise, reverses the fall, retrieves the nations, and restores rest in God! Whatever had to come upon Judah and Israel at the hands of Assyria, and whatever we have to go through in our own lives, dear Christian, it is worth it for His great glory!
In light of this chapter, why is it so amazing that Jesus anoints/baptizes us with His Spirit? How are you already enjoying some of the reconciliation and rest aspects of the glory of His reign? What parts of the glory of His reign must be waited for until the next world?
Sample prayer: Lord, thank You for glorifying Christ as having Your Spirit without measure and pouring out Your Spirit upon us. Forgive us for how easily we are discouraged, when we know from Your Word that He is restoring paradise, reversing the Fall, and bringing us into Your rest. We thank You for the honor of bringing Him glory by living as those who belong to the new creation in the reconciliation and rest that He is bringing. Forgive us for not loving His glory enough to live that way more consistently, for not desiring enough that He might get praise from our lives. Forgive us that we don’t even come rushing to His banner of welcome like we ought to. Grant that His Spirit Who dwells in our hearts would so groan for glory, and we also groan for it in Christ, that we would press on toward the upward call of knowing Him. For, we ask it in His Name, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP98 “O Sing a New Song to the LORD” or TPH299 “Joy to the World!”
Read Isaiah 7:1–9:7
Questions from the Scripture text: In whose days does this take place (Isaiah 7:1)? Who go where to make war against them? With what success? What is Ahaz’s house called in Isaiah 7:2? What were they told? With what response? Who speaks to whom in Isaiah 7:3? Whom does Yahweh say to meet? With whom? Where? What does Yahweh say not to do (Isaiah 7:4)? Why will He defend Judah (Isaiah 7:5-6)? What does Yahweh say of their plans (Isaiah 7:7)? What fate will Syria and Ephraim (Israel) suffer, on account of their leaders in their capital cities (Isaiah 7:8-9)? What will happen to Ahaz (and, by extension, Jerusalem and Judah) if he does not believe? What does Yahweh command Ahaz to do in Isaiah 7:10-11? How does Ahaz (supposedly piously) respond (Isaiah 7:12)? But what does Yahweh think of this religiously rationalized disobedience (Isaiah 7:13)? What sign does Yahweh choose instead (Isaiah 7:14)? What will the virgin call her son? What will he reach the age of eating (Isaiah 7:15)? What will he reach the age of reasoning? But what will happen to Israel and Syria before then (Isaiah 7:16)? How (Isaiah 7:17)? And who will begin to shave Judah clean, also, at that time (Isaiah 7:18-20)? What will they have to live off of (Isaiah 7:21-22)? Why not off of crops (Isaiah 7:23-25)? What was Isaiah to take in Isaiah 8:1? And write what quadruple name on it? Who will witness this (Isaiah 8:2)? To whom does Isaiah go in Isaiah 8:3? What does she do? Who picks the name for the son? Why this name (Isaiah 8:4)? To whom does Yahweh speak in Isaiah 8:5? Who have Judah rejoiced in instead of the Lord (Isaiah 8:6)? Whom will the Lord bring upon them for having put their trust in the northern kingdom (Isaiah 8:7-8)? How does the virgin’s son’s name testify against all three peoples (Isaiah 8:9-10)? In what manner does Yahweh now speak to Isaiah (Isaiah 8:11)? What was Ahaz trying to form with Assyria, from which Isaiah was to distance himself (Isaiah 8:12a–b)? What mustn’t he fear when opposing king and people (verse 12c)? Whom should he fear instead (Isaiah 8:13)? What will Yahweh be to Isaiah (Isaiah 8:14)? But what to Israel and Judah? What will happen to many of them (Isaiah 8:15)? What is Isaiah to affirm and protect with those whom he instructs (Isaiah 8:16)? Upon whom is he to wait with them (Isaiah 8:17)? To Whom does he present himself and them (Isaiah 8:18)? What about the people trying to seek spiritual knowledge or power some other way (Isaiah 8:19)? Where, alone, must they seek it (Isaiah 8:20)? How much light do they have without it? What will the one who goes to superstitions instead of the Lord go through (Isaiah 8:21-22)? Where will Assyria bring its darkness first (Isaiah 9:1)? But the what also will be seen there (Isaiah 9:2)? How big will the remnant ultimately be (Isaiah 9:3)? And what will be their experience (verse 3)? Why will they be so glad (Isaiah 9:4)? What will they have to do with the vast amount of spoil (Isaiah 9:5)? How does this multiplication, joy, and victory come about (Isaiah 9:6)? What do we learn about the King by His multi-faceted Name? How long will this last (Isaiah 9:7)? From whose line will He come? What sort of reign will this be? How can all of this come about?
What hope is there against great enemies and even against our own sin? Isaiah 7:1–9:7 looks forward to the first serial reading in morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these fifty-four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Christ alone is the forever-King Who is righteous before God and redeems a remnant whom He makes righteous like Himself.
We have quite a large portion of text today, because this is really all one section in the book of Isaiah. On the whole, chapters 6–12 are dealing with the coming King, as He is necessitated by, and pointed to by, what is currently occurring in Judah and Israel. Isaiah 7:1–9:7 cover God’s dealings with Judah in the south. Then Isaiah 9:8–11:16 parallel them, but this time in His dealings with Israel in the north. Then, there is a closing hymn (chapter 12) making personal/individual application of this promised salvation. For today, we see how Ahaz’s anxiety, self-reliance, and false spirituality necessitate the coming of the true Forever-King.
Circumstances that threaten to move our hearts (Isaiah 7:1–9). Fear can take our hearts off of trust in the Lord and devotion to Him. Even though he was “the house of David,” the threat of an alliance against him, between Syria and Israel, moved Ahaz’s and the people’s heart “as the trees of the woods are moved with wind” (Isaiah 7:2). So the Lord sends Isaiah and his oddly named son (“Remnant Returns”) to rebuke the king for this anxiety (v4) and inform him that he is about to make the same mistake as Syria and Ephraim (the northern kingdom, often called Israel, or by its capital city, Samaria). They have disregarded that the most important, practical reality that is exists is God Himself, and God will crush their plans, but if Ahaz disregards God by anxiety, then he and his plans will not be established either (Isaiah 7:6-9).
The false spirituality that threatens to destroy our houses (Isaiah 7:10–8:8). People make all sorts of spiritual-sounding excuses for not obeying the Lord. They excuse their laxity in using God’s means or obeying God’s law by saying they “have a relationship not a religion.” Or by saying that they are “letting go and letting God.” Or because “they wouldn’t be sincere enough yet (as if that will ever be true in this life!) and want their service or obedience to come from sincerity.” As we’ve been seeing in Romans, the logic of the flesh can use the language of the Bible, but it always boils down to the same thing: not doing what God says, and blaming God Himself for our not doing it. Dreadful!
This is what is going on in Isaiah 7:10–13. Yahweh gives Ahaz a direct command to ask for a sign that He will defeat Syria and Ephraim (Isaiah 7:10-11), but Ahaz refuses on spiritual grounds (Isaiah 7:12). He even does it in overly dramatic fashion (verse 12), which is often the case with those whose spirituality is bursts of sensationalism or sentimentality, rather than steady faith and obedience. Rather than be impressed with Ahaz’s piety, the Lord is simply offended by his disobedience (Isaiah 7:13).
So the Lord gives him a sign now not of Syria and Ephraim’s destruction, but of Judah’s own destruction! To affirm this, a virgin will bear a son (Isaiah 7:14), and the destruction that this son affirms will come upon Syria and Ephraim by the time the son is old enough to each cheese and act rationally (Isaiah 7:15-16). But the Lord will also bring Assyria (whom Ahaz was trusting in instead of the Lord, cf. 2 Kings 16:7–9) to punish Judah devastatingly (Isaiah 7:17-25).
Immanuel. God is with us. But if He is with us while we disobey Him and trust in others, He will be “with” us by way of the rod of His wrath. And in the symmetrical wisdom and justice of His providence, whatever we have hoped in instead of Him, He will make the instrument of our suffering.
What is needed is a King in Whom, and for Whom, God is with us as the One perfectly to be obeyed and entirely to be trusted. Ahaz is of the house of David (Isaiah 7:2, Isaiah 7:13, Isaiah 7:17), but the promised King is not Ahaz but one who will be according to the name of the son of the sign.
At this point, another son is born, with the same purpose: to show how foolish it was for Ahaz and Judah to be so afraid of Syria and Ephraim. Before the child speaks his first words (Isaiah 8:4, a much earlier age than weaning in that culture), the threat that had frightened them so much will be gone. By the birth of the new son, the Immanuel child’s name is “freed” to refer only to the future King. This new prophecy-child is a much more blunt reference to what Assyria is about to do: “Speed-Soil-Haste-Booty” (Isaiah 8:1–3). But the king of Assyria won’t be stopping up north; thanks to Ahaz’s unbelief and disobedience, he will move right along to despoil Judah as well (Isaiah 8:6-8).
The steady confidence and obedience that characterize God’s remnant (Isaiah 8:9-22). Not everyone will be like Ahaz and the majority of the church in his day. There will be those who do not fear the alliances of other men (Isaiah 8:9-10) or trust in alliances of their own (Isaiah 8:12), but they will join Isaiah (Isaiah 8:11) in fearing (Isaiah 8:13) and trusting (Isaiah 8:14a) God alone.
Israel as a whole stumbles over this salvation by faith in God’s Immanuel (Isaiah 8:14-15, cf. Romans 9:31–33), but there are those whose only hope, and sure hope, is “God with us” (Isaiah 8:10c). Trusting in their own works at the time of Jesus and Paul was just a new variation upon the theme of Israel’s trusting in man—whether Ahaz’s political/military maneuverings or even their own “charismatic” movement that looked for man’s sensationalism (Isaiah 8:19) even over God’s actual miraculous provision in Christ. But their self-made hope in the king, and self-made way of “approaching God” will fail them, and they will curse their former hopes (Isaiah 8:21) as they suffer the consequences (Isaiah 8:22).
The same continues in the churches whose approach to increasing in number is by what they think will draw people in, or whose approach to improving performance is by techniques of men instead of means of grace, or whose idea of worship is what feels spiritual instead of what God has commanded. All of these are stumblings over the rock of offense.
On the contrary, God’s remnant sticks only to the Scripture (Isaiah 8:20). They see no dawn, no beginning or ray of light, except whatever is in the Bible. If we belong to Immanuel, let His perfect obedience and trust be our worthiness and hope before God, and let us seek to be conformed to Him in how we respond to the reality that God is with us in our lives. Let us walk with God steadily, in the way that He has commanded, rather than trusting our wits in lives, which we punctuate with outbursts of what feels spiritual to us.
The Immanuel to come (Isaiah 9:1–7). With his brother “Speed-Soil-Haste-Booty” having taken over the role of “indicator of what Assyria is about to do,” there is still the ultimate question of what will come of the House of David. The promise of 2 Samuel 7:12–16 stands over-against the likes of Ahaz. Upon whose shoulder will the government be? How will David’s throne and kingdom finally have a forever-king upon it?
Salvation will come to the unexpected. Zebulun and Naphtali were the least among Israel, intermixed with Gentiles, and would have been the first upon whom the darkness of Assyria descended (Isaiah 9:1-2, cf. Isaiah 8:22). But God’s ways are not like ours. Ahaz assessed things by relative human strength. God’s strength to save is displayed especially in weakness! So this is precisely where the great light shines (Isaiah 9:2). This comes literally true in the One Who still identifies Himself as from Nazareth, even sitting upon the throne of glory (cf. Acts 22:8)!
And His salvation has come not only to these “second-class” Israelites (Samaria) but even to the Gentiles (nations) themselves (the ends of the earth). Thus the “remnant” from before is now a multitude in Isaiah 9:3. And it is not just their number but their joy that has increased. The deliverance is pictured by metaphor where the spoils of war are now not being taken away by Assyria, but stacked neatly outside the homes of God’s redeemed people. There will be no need for firewood, when there is such an abundance of yokes, staffs, rods, sandals, and battle-clothing (Isaiah 9:4-5).
How will this unexpectedly broad, unexpectedly great, salvation come? This section of oddly named children—Remnant-Returns, God-with-Us, and Speed-Soil-Haste-Booty—concludes with another Son. When He finally comes, we learn that He too must be born of a virgin. But that will be more than a miraculous sign of a great work of God; it will be necessary for His spotlessness because of His identity as Wonderful (the God Whom Manoah met, cf. Judges 13:18), Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Several of these are already obviously divine names. By the time Christ has come, and the Spirit has given us the rest of Holy Scripture, we find that every single one of them is a divine Name!
Yahweh is zealous to keep His promise of a Forever-King to David, zealous to fulfill His plan of redemption that drives all of history. He is redeeming for Himself a people who will hallow Him, fear Him, trust Him, and obey Him in steady faithfulness and exceeding joy. And His zeal will accomplish this in Jesus Christ!
Are you among the remnant-multitude? Is your King’s obeying God and trusting God your own worthiness and hope before God? Are you being conformed to Him in your own trust and obedience?
Sample prayer: Lord, forgive us for being anxious like Ahaz. Forgive us for hoping in our own efforst. Forgive us for being impressed with manmade spirituality. Consider us in Christ, Who has trusted in You perfectly. And receive us as He represents us, saying “behold I and the children whom You have given Me.” For, we are Yours in Christ, and we come to You through Him alone, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP130 “LORD, from the Depths to You I Cried” or TPH434 “A Debtor to Mercy Alone”
Read Psalm 119:81–88
Questions from the Scripture text: What is the psalmist’s soul doing (Psalm 119:81a)? For what? In what does he hope (verse 81b)? What is happening to his eyes (Psalm 119:82a)? From what? What has he been searching the Word to ask (verse 82b)? To what does he compare himself in Psalm 119:83a? What has He still not done (verse 83b)? What does he ask in Psalm 119:84a? What is he looking forward to at the end of these days (verse 84b)? Upon whom will He execute judgment? What have the proud done to him (Psalm 119:85a)? What did they violate (verse 85b)? What is true of God’s commandments (Psalm 119:86a)? But what is true of his attackers (verse 86b)? What does he want from God (verse 86c)? What have the persecutors nearly done (Psalm 119:87a)? But what has the psalmist still not done (verse 87b)? What does He ask God to give him in Psalm 119:88a? According to what? In order to do what (verse 88b)?
What can a believer do when he is at the end of his rope? Psalm 119:81–88 looks forward to the opening portion of morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these eight verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that, even at the end of his rope, the believer must persist in crying out to God for the life he needs to keep searching God’s Word and keeping the testimonies of God’s mouth.
At the end of his rope, Psalm 119:81-84. The agony in these verses is intense. “faints” (Psalm 119:81a) is translating a word that means his soul has been entirely consumed in looking for relief from God. Still, he hasn’t given up. It would be wicked to look for salvation elsewhere, and wickedly unbelieving to give up as if there wasn’t hope for it with God.
It’s not just baby believers who end up like this. The psalmist knows what he should do: look to God for comfort by way of His Word! The problem is that this is exactly what he has been doing, and he still hasn’t found relief. It’s not just that his soul is consumed; the same word is now translated “fail” with respect to his eyes (Psalm 119:82a).
Our eyes have been created to behold God’s manifold works of goodness and wisdom, but especially to behold God’s Word. I hope, dear reader, that this is how you like to use your eyes. Isn’t it marvelous? God has given us physical organs by which we may look at His Word! The psalmist has been looking for God’s comfort in God’s comforting Word, but alas! He has not been able to obtain the comfort that he knows is there.
Recently, in studying Matthew 9:17, we thought about how wineskin bottles begin as pliable and slowly firm in their shape. But a wineskin that is too close to fire, or exposed to smoke, could dry out too quickly, with shrinkage in undesirable ways, and become too brittle (and, if used for wine, burst because the wine is still fermenting!). This is how the psalmist feels about his life—prematurely dried out and unable to fulfill his function (Psalm 119:83a). Still, he is looking to God’s Word not just for comfort (Psalm 119:82) but for direction (Psalm 119:83), especially in his distress and despair.
Finally, the question in Psalm 119:84a isn’t just a random inquiry about the length of his life. Combined with verse 84b, it becomes apparent that the psalmist knows what three thousand subsequent years of believers have experienced: sometimes we don’t get justice in this life. The psalmist trusts the Lord; he continues to call himself “Your servant.” But as a finite creature, he doesn’t know how long he can bear up under the attacks. So it is natural that he cries out to know how long this might end up lasting.
It is important to learn from this verse that it is permittable to raise our complaint to God—to express to Him our agony and difficulty under His providence. This is very different from complaining against Him, whether to others, in our hearts, or even to Him Himself. All of these are wicked, and we know it. The godly heart might be confused by his remaining sinfulness and tendency to complain against God: can it be right to tell God how hard on us His providence is? So for three thousand years, the Lord has given to His people this Psalm to sing, pray, and learn from.
But not at the end of his resources, Psalm 119:85-88. When the believer’s experience, and especially his own heart, is letting him down, there is one place of recourse: God Himself. As the proud persecutors have been plotting against (“digging pits for,” Psalm 119:85a) him, it has been against God’s faithful law (verse 85b, Psalm 119:86b). verse 86a literally says, “All Your commandments are faithfulness.” Here is something that we can always rely upon: God’s Word is as faithful as He is.
This is why the psalmist is sure that the persecutors will be judged (Psalm 119:84b), and why he refuses to abandon living according to God’s Word Himself. God’s justice guarantees that help will come—though perhaps, as we observed in Psalm 119:84, only after death.
Still, God Himself is the help. When the believer is at the end of his rope, he is not at the end of his resources. The strength that we have is limited, but we are not a closed system. In fact, we are continually sustained by the Lord. So being at the end of our rope does not mean that we are at the end of our resources. For, God Himself is our great Resource!
This gives rise to one of the most honest Christian prayers there is: “Help me!” It’s grievous that “God help me” has become a byword to so many, when it is a proper watchword for the believer. Dear reader, may it be a reflex of your heart to look to the Lord (and cry to Him!) for help as often as you feel your need of it. Not just when it feels like other resources have failed, but in every use of the means that He Himself has given and supports.
There is a glimmer (however small) of hope even in the statement of Psalm 119:87a. Those who have almost made an end of him are on the earth. But God is in heaven! Just as He is constant in faithfulness, so also He is almighty in power. And with the fullness of His divine being, His covenant love (“lovingkindness,” Psalm 119:88a) bends itself devotedly, unwaveringly, unstoppably upon the objects of God’s eternal, electing affection.
“Revive me” is literally “make me live”! Every creature lives every moment only by the goodness of God (cf. Psalm 104). He makes all men live. In Him, we live and move and have our being (cf. Acts 17:28). For the believer, His making us live comes not only in His ordinary goodness to all the creatures, but in the covenant love that brought us to faith in the first place.
Finally, note the primary purpose for which the believer desires this life to be continued to himself: “so that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.” He is not again asking for some idea of how long this will be, or for the judgment to fall now on the persecutors (though such requests are appropriate). His primary desire is that he might continue to keep God’s Word.
Why? Not just because it is morally and judicially right or even covenantally obligatory, but because it is personal. It is “the testimony of Your mouth.” It is breathed out by this God Who has made the saint and loved the saint and redeemed the saint. And this is the great thing that he hopes to do with the life that the Lord continues to him: to keep that personal testimony that has personally come from the Lord’s “mouth.” Keeping God’s Word isn’t just moral; it’s personal. If you are reading this or hearing this, the Lord is continuing to you your life. Isn’t He doing so in order that you might know Him and His love to you and devote your own life to the keeping of His Word?!
When have you felt like your soul was used up, your eyes were used up with looking in the Bible for help, and your life was dried up and brittle? How much of your inner thought life and interaction with God is a crying out to Him for help? How are you making it the great project of the life that He has continued to you that you would “keep the testimony of His mouth”?
Sample prayer: Lord, when all our soul, our eyes, our life are used up in looking for comfort from Your Word, still, our hope is in You. Help us! All Your commandments are faithfulness, and all of Scripture is the personal testimony that has been breathed out by You. So, in Your steadfast, covenant love, continue to us, now, our life. And grant that we would devote that life to keeping the testimony of Your mouth—offering worship to You by Your own grace, that we might live entire lives of worship unto You by that same grace, through our Lord Jesus Christ, in Whose Name we ask it, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP119K “My Soul Is Fainting” or TPH119K “My Soul for Your Salvation Yearns”
Read Romans 16:21–24
Questions from the Scripture text: Who greets them with Paul (Romans 16:21)? What does the apostle call him? What three others? What does the apostle call them? Who greets them in Romans 16:22? In Whom? What is his relation to the manuscript they receive? Who greets them in Romans 16:23? What is he doing for Paul? For whom else? Who else greets them? What is his position in the city? Who is the last one that greets them? With what word does the apostle describe him? What salutation, greater than a greeting, concludes the letter (Romans 16:24)? From Whom? Unto whom?
How can Christians be more encouraged? Romans 16:21–24 prepares us for the midweek sermon in the prayer meeting. In these four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Christians can gain encouragement by honoring those who encourage them, and especially by receiving Christ’s own grace.
The apostle has expressed delight in many individuals in the Roman church (Romans 16:3-15), urging them also to delight in one another (Romans 16:16), and warning against those who would divide the church or cause or make the church spiritually corrupting to one another (Romans 16:17-20).
Now, he concludes the letter (in the original, Romans 16:21-14 is found at the end of chapter 14) with greetings/expressions of pleasure from others that are with him. Of each of these men, Paul says something to commend them and their greeting. In this way, not only are they the more encouraged by the greeting, but they also are able more to honor the brother who greets them. By what attributes does God encourage us in others’ relation to us and commend them to us to be honored?
The work of gospel ministry. Timothy is his fellow worker. He is well-known, having ministered long with Paul and being named as coauthor in six of Paul’s letters and being described as the most likeminded man to Paul (cf. Philippians 2:20). But it is the work for which they are especially esteemed. He summarizes Timothy, who needs no introduction, as “my fellow worker.” Work is honorable, and a greeting from a worker valuable. And this is all the more true when it is gospel work.
Believers from long-standing families of faith. Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater have the same ancestry as Paul. As we saw in Romans 16:3-16, this increases his affection for them due to God’s joint providence to them. But he has also taught the Roman church to esteem Jewish believers as natural branches to whom a covenantal heritage and right to the gospel belong (cf. Romans 11:23–32). Not only are these three with Paul at Corinth, but his naming them as he is about to leave for Jerusalem probably indicates that they are Israelite-background delegates to accompany the gift for the Judean church. There is an honor to long-standing families of faith, whose households have been in the covenant as natural branches for many generations. We should take encouragement from the welcome/greetings and esteem them highly for God’s blessing to and through them.
Humble servants and growing students. Though there is evidence in other letters that Paul employed a scribe, Tertius is the only one whose name we know. There are often lesser-known saints in service of those who are being used in more visible ways. They should be an encouragement to us and are worthy of honor. Having opportunity to write one sentence of Romans directly from himself, the apostle authorizes him to include two short words in the Greek that show he has “really gotten it” during the process of writing: “in the Lord.”
His delighting in them has been produced in him from his union with Christ, and their preciousness to him is especially because they are in union with Christ. Several large sections of the letter have taught this, and the man whose hand wrote it is an example of the reality that was described.
Believers of earthly means and influence. By hosting Paul, Gaius (Gaius Titius Justus, cf. Acts 18:7, 1 Corinthians 1:14) ended up hosting many others, as well as meetings of the church. For his house to accommodate them indicates that he is a man of means. As city treasurer, Erastus also would have had means and influence. An inscription from the time period identifies an Erastus as the next level higher in the city government, the “public works commissioner,” who might well be the same man at a different point in his career. These men are esteemed not merely for being of means, but because they viewed their means and their expertise as belonging to the Lord. In connection with the gift to the Judean church, it may well be that the Corinthian church had delegated the city treasurer as part of the team to give an account of how the monies were delivered and spent! Being someone of means in the church gives an opportunity to distinguish oneself by generosity and humility. Those who have done such are worthy of honor.
Humble believers who other faithful churches have honored. It is implied that Quartus was a gentile from Corinth who was part of the team that was departing to take the gift to Jerusalem. All we are told is that he is “a brother.” He was probably voted upon by his congregation on account of faithfulness and integrity, but we’re just told that he’s a “brother.” That is enough. There does not need to be a distinguishing mark above this for us to honor someone.
The greatest encouragement. These men were in Corinth, and although they couldn’t be in Rome, their greetings could. So their greetings came by way of this letter. The last line of the letter is reserved for an infinitely greater gift from a much further absentee. “Our Lord Jesus Christ” could not be in Rome because He is on the throne of glory (even now, as you read this devotional!). Yet, by His apostle, He could send to Rome (and to you, Christian reader) His grace. By His Spirit, He would use His own Word not just to express delight in the believers there but to work His own life, gladness, and strength in them. How marvelous! And “be with you all” reminds us that this is for every Christian everywhere. The other men in this section do not know you. But our Lord Jesus Christ personally knows you and communicates His grace to you by this letter, if you are a Christian. Amen! Praise God!
Whom do you know who work hard in the ministry? Whom do you know from multi-generational covenant families? Whom do you know who are humble servants and growing students of the Bible’s theology? Whom do you know that is a believer of earthly means that has not been “ruined” by them but is employing them humbly as belonging entirely to the Lord? How does this passage help you receive what encouragements they give you? How will you seek to honor them as we have learned? But what is your greatest encouragement?
Sample prayer: Lord, thank You for using us to encourage one another. Help us to increase our honor for Your servants so that we might draw even more encouragement from them. But, most of all, thank You for communicating Your own grace to us through Your Word. Grant that we might grow in and by that grace, we ask in Your own Name, Lord Jesus Christ, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP197 “Christian Unity” or TPH534 “Fill Thou My Life, O Lord, My God”