3 Week Hiatus

Due to the preaching responsibilities of Pastor Frasier, Nuggets from the Word of God, may be on a 3 week hiatus after Saturday's post. We will begin where he leaves off, upon his return. Please keep him in your prayers as he will be pulpit filling for a friend.

Psalm 115 - 2009.10.10

“Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.” — Psalm 115:1

In our approach to God, motive is everything. And the only proper motive is that God should be glorified in all that we are and all that we do. When in anything we seek our own glory, we set the stage for self destruction. No life, however impressive, or “beautiful,” or talented that deliberately draws attention to itself will survive the judgment of God. No ministry that covets the approval or honor of men will have the approval of God. And no danger is so subtle as the danger of serving ourselves at the expense of the glory of God. The most important question we can ask is not “what am I,” or “what am I doing,” but why am I thus, and why am I doing this?

God is justly and necessarily jealous for His own glory, and He calls the whole world to recognize and subscribe to His honor. That is not only the divine prerogative, but is essential to the welfare of the race.

“I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands.” (Isa. 42:8-12)

The root of the whole human problem lies just here, that Adam, in whom we all were implicit when the world began, failed to glorify God, so that we all sinned—and died—in Adam (Cf. Rom. 5:12, 19a). The tempter’s bait was “ye shall be as gods.” It was this solicitation to self glory that lured Adam into disobedience and plunged the race into its awful ruin. The Holy Spirit explains it through the apostle Paul in the epistle to the Romans: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness…Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened [Rom. 1:18, 21 my italics].”

There can be but one God. When we glorify ourselves instead of the living God, we become His competitor, to our own everlasting loss. He had early warned, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me [Exodus 20:3].” His position as creator and governor of the world is justification for His honor.

There is, however, another reason why we are to glorify Him, suggested in our text: “For Thy mercy, and for Thy truth’s sake.” Truth is inflexible. And, the truth is,”The soul that sinneth, it shall die. That is the demand of God’s holiness. Yet in His attributes there is another quality that would hold hope for the self glorifying sinful sons of men. That is mercy. But mercy cannot compromise justice or turn truth into a lie. Hence in the heart of God truth and mercy are in conflict with one another—or at least they would be had not God Himself found a resolution to this divine “problem.”

It is in Christ “and Him crucified” that “Mercy and truth are met together; [and] righteousness and peace have kissed each other [Ps. 85:10].” That was the consummation of the plan God laid “before the foundation of the world” for the redemption of lost mankind. Even before Adam brought the roof down on the human race, God had a rescue plan in place so that there has never been a time when sinners could not be saved. And that salvation is all that stands between any of us and eternal judgment. Where, then, is there any room for self-glory? And what, of all we may do, can be done out of anything but a debt of gratitude? And what could be done except for His grace?

If I pray in public; if I preach; if I witness; when I give; when I serve—in any capacity, what is my motive? Is it to honor and glorifiy Him? Or to draw attention to myself?

The Lord Jesus warned, “Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven [See Mat. 6:1ff].” And again, “When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward [v.5].”

Self exaltation can be very subtle—and very deadly! May our hearts ever echo this vital petition: “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory…”

For His glory and our good,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 114 - 2009.10.03

“Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob…” —Psalm 114:7

The Psalm relates clearly to the Exodus and the entrance into the Promised Land via the crossing of the Jordan. The writer, noting both the Red Sea and Jordan crossings, suggests the reaction of nature to the Divine intervention: the mountains and little hills “skipped” like playful sheep as the sea parted and the river made a path for Israel to cross. Nature took note of the presence and power of the Lord and reacted appropriately. His contemplation leads the Psalmist to cry, “Tremble thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob.”:

Here I am reminded of a New Testament reference to trembling. The apostle James,appealing to those who professed faith, but did not follow it with appropriate works, said “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble [Jas. 2:19].” His inference is that demons tremble before the Lord and that those who have a genuine faith in the living God should exhibit a similar awe in His presence.

When king Darius witnessed the Lord’s deliverance of Daniel from the lion’s den, he issued a universal decree “unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. I make a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for He is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall be even unto the end [Dan. 6:25-26].” He understood something of the majesty and power of the eternal God.

Indeed, God Himself calls for man to tremble before Him. “The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble…[Ps. 99:1].” It is not only an appropriate reaction to His presence, but an inevitable one where His glory is disclosed. And, He expresses His displeasure with those who have no fear of His presence: “Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?” And He explains why men are unmoved at His presence; “Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good things from you [Jer. 5:24-25].”

Sin, whether in the unconverted or in the life of the believer, makes the heart harder than the rocks and hills of nature, robbing Him of His glory and men of their eternal welfare. But there is a day coming when the dullest minds and the hardest hearts will quaver before Him. The prophet Joel, anticipating “the day of the Lord,” writes:

“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand…The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” (Joel 2:1,10-11)

Contemporary Christianity is often too flippant with holy things, irreverent in dress, decorum and even in “devotion.” “Awe” is a word that has little meaning in our approach to spiritual things, and there is not much “trembling” before the Lord in our churches. We are too often like the children of Israel when they had persuaded Aaron to make them a self styled god before whom they “sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play.” (See Exodus 32:6) The churches have become a playground or a social center, and the presence of God is little recognized or regarded.

Whether sinning saint or indifferent sinner, we will do well to hear Joel’s cry: “Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God [Joel 2:12-14]?

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…” (Ps. 111:10a)

For His glory and our growth in grace,

"Pastor" Frasier