Psalm 149 - 2010.06.26

"Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand" —Psalm 149:5-6

The "Prince of Preachers," (C. H. Spurgeon) has suggested that Psalm 149 is "a new song, evidently intended for the new creation, and the men who are of a new heart…a song [to] be sung at the coming of the Lord…" If that view can be justified, it may nevertheless be said that now is the time to begin rehearsing!

Drawing our thoughts from the text, and considering it from the perspective of the present rather than the future, one might give this meditation a title, "How to Face the Night." That is, "Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud upon their beds." Night, for the ungodly, is often a time of revelry. The darkness is replaced (for a moment) with artificial light, the silence with man made noise, the loneliness with "the laughter of fools (See Eccl. 7:6)." For the child of God the night need not be a time of depression, but of delight. For God "the darkness and the light" are both alike. We need have no fear of the dark, but find in it occasion for praise. The distractions of the light are gone for a time; the silence gives occasion to hear "the still small voice," and it is not lonely to be alone with Him. Indeed, there "God [our] maker…giveth songs in the night!" An enthusiastic fellowship with God is the best engagement for the saints on sleepless nights!

If we think of the night in spiritual terms, we are surely in twilight and "the night cometh when no man can work [John 9:4]." What shall we do while it is yet day? The answer lies in the next verse in our Nugget. It is twofold: worship and warfare. In the nighttime our preoccupation is to be with Him; in the daytime our engagements are to be for Him.

"Let the high praises of God be in their mouth." So often we hear the name of God and of Christ thrown carelessly if not blasphemously into conversation by the ungodly. How often do they hear His Name revered in our conversation? "Praise is comely for the upright." "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name [Heb. 13:15]." Emphasis must be placed on the word "continually." If we can introduce no other testimony in our daily encounters with the world at large, we can make mention of His name and give thanks and praise to Him in the presence of those who may otherwise give no serious thought to the Lord of glory. If we join this miserable, complaining world in its all too often negative conversation, we lose our opportunity to be "light" in the world's darkness and fail to fulfill our commission and our high calling.

"And a twoedged sword in their hand." This sword is undoubtedly the "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." It is the only offensive weapon in the believer's arsenal, and is "sharper than any [literal] two edged sword [Heb. 4:12]." It is the King's weapon as well, made available for our engagement in the spiritual warfare every believer is introduced to upon his conversion. (See Rev. 1:16) And, it is a weapon of great power and versatility. "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds [II Cor. 10:4]."

When confronted by the adversary, the Son of God did not call upon legions of angels for His defence, but resorted to the word of God, responding consistently to the deceptions of His foe, "It is written…" He knew how to wield it and met every challenge with it until at last the tempter "departed from Him for a season." We must learn to do the same. With this weapon we may bind the enemy (Ps. 149:7-9) and loose those ordained to eternal life who have been taken captive by him. The sad thing is that the majority of believers have never taken up the weapon and learned to use it well. They take no prisoners for God and fail to exercise their God-given authority over the enemy.

Reflecting upon this exultant Psalm and focusing on our excerpt from it, may the Spirit of God challenge us afresh to make the most of our time, day or night, to magnify His name and to engage the foe in spiritual combat assured of victory because, "greater is He that is in [us] than he that is in the world."

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." —Rev. 12:11

For His glory and our good,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 148 - 2010.06.19

"Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven." —Psalm 148:13

If the book of Psalms is thought of as a symphony, Psalms 145-150 are the crescendo with which it concludes. The grand note upon which the divine Composer concludes is "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty!" It is the symphony of the redeemed in his journey from here to eternity. His walk begins in Psalm 1 as one who finds his delight in "the law of the Lord," and is destined for eternal prosperity. As he wends his way, he is carried sometimes to heights of ecstasy, sometimes to the depths of despair. There are seasons of victory and times of abysmal failure, but in the end the Lord delivers him out of them all to conclude his glorious adventure in the grand choir of the ages, making the heaven of heavens ring with praise to the glory of God. (See Rev. 4:11-14!)

The focal point of this praise is "the Name of the Lord," and one cannot read this verse without being reminded immediately of the pledge in the epistle to the Philippians, following the synopsis of the condescension of the Son of God in becoming "sin for us"; "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father [Phil. 2:9-11].

All creation has a voice. Job tells us that at creation "the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy [Job 38:7]." Now, in anticipation of the New Creation, the Spirit of God calls upon all to join in audible praise to the Savior. Angels, starry hosts, planets and their satellites, the earth itself and its wild creatures, the forces of nature, the landscape and its drapery, and all the categories of mankind are called upon to render praise to the Creator and our Redeemer!! What a day that will be! Mozart and Beethoven, Wagner and Sibellius, even Handel have imagined nothing to compare with it.

One figure only will be celebrated in that great day: Jesus Christ the Lord, for He alone is worthy; He will have no competition in earth or heaven. The cacophony of this restless world will sink into silence and every eye will focus on the Lamb that was slain to rescue the ruin of the first creation from the grip of the adversary and all who follow him. He is worthy because He is the Creator: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou has created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created [Rev. 4:11]," reads one stanza. He is worthy because He is the Redeemer: "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation… [Rev. 5:9]," reads another.

"Despised and rejected of men" throughout earth's little day, He will be regaled as the Center of everything in that day. Having for the moment "no form nor comeliness" and "no beauty that we should desire Him," He will be extolled as King of kings and Lord of lords, clothed in unveiled splendor that now defies description, for "His glory is above the earth and heaven."

Given this call to worship—for it is that—the state of the visible church and its petty preoccupation with earthly things should move us to shame and humiliation. God neither needs nor wants our buildings, our programs, our "illustrious" technology and all the trivia that goes with these, too often at the expense of the Truth rather than the advancement of it. He desires and merits our praise and the untarnished praise of His beloved Son. He is not honored in committees, but in commitment to His glory and the praise of His name. He is not glorified by the sermons we preach or the sermons we hear, but by the sermon we are when, focused on His grace and glory, we demonstrate His word and magnify His Name. It is then and only then that we are "living epistles" 'singing' the right melody in harmony with the Son of God to this lost and perishing world.

Oh for the day when the whole church will sing in concert with the angels, the spheres and this vast creation!

"Even so come. Lord Jesus!"

For the praise of the glory of His grace,

the purpose for which we were created,

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 147 - 2010.06.12

“Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God: Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountain. He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.” — Psalm 147:7-9

Some time ago I was “dining” at MacDonald’s when two young women came and occupied the booth next to me. As they prepared to eat their “fast food,” they bowed their heads and one of them prayed aloud to thank the Lord for the food they were about to eat, asking His blessing upon it and upon themselves. It was a simple, yet powerful act as they identified themselves not only before Him, but before the watching world. Once upon a time that kind of thing was not altogether uncommon in our society, but no more. Now it is a great rarity.

When one is taught to trace his origin to mindless chance and aimless evolution, God is not in all his thoughts. If there is “nobody there,” there is no need to give thanks to anyone for anything. Relating to a co-worker recently my own experience of God’s goodness and miraculous provision for our family over our years in the ministry and beyond, he said with a touch of bitterness (though a professing Christian) “Nobody ever gave me anything! I’m fairly well off, but I’ve had to work hard for everything I’ve gotten.” How sad. And how blind!

Who provides the sunshine and the rain to make things grow? Who designed and made the glorious mechanisms that sustain life on the planet? Who gives a man strength for the day so that he is able to work? In the Old Testament, in a passage we looked at just a few weeks ago, God instructed Israel, “…thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. [Deut. 8:18-19].” “Natural resources” are ever dependent upon the supernatural resources of the eternal God Who made all in the beginning and maintains all in the present.

And in the New Testament the Lord Jesus Christ said, in what could be a kind of echo of our text for today, “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows [Luke 12:6-7].” His inference is that it is God Who supplies the need of the insignificant sparrow and of mankind as well, even as David here attributes the order of nature not to unguided chance, but to a wise and gracious God Who is considerate of even the beast and the young ravens, to say nothing of mankind. Elsewhere the Psalmist declares,”Thou openest Thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing [Ps. 145:16].” The apostle Paul assures believers in particular, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus [Phil 4:19].” And the apostle James admonishes, “Do not err, my beloved brethren,” recognizing that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning [James 1:16-17]”.

Given this great truth, the words of the Lord Jesus Christ are especially relevant: “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof [Matt. 6:26-34].”

God will take care of you. Sing unto Him with THANKSGIVING!

“Praise is comely for the upright,”

"Pastor" Frasier

Psalm 146 - 2010.06.05

“Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help." —Psalm 146:3

“The world has a moral problem. We have witnessed a breakdown in the moral life of the world; yea, even in our own country. The moral standards of men in public and political life probably never were as low as they are at this present moment. Men are willing to do almost anything to gain their point, to get control, to possess power. They become politicians instead of statesmen. If those in public life would bow the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ and lay bare their heart and conscience in the presence of God, our whole problem of government and peace would be solved. Righteousness exalts a nation. What is true of the nation and the public servant is equally true of the individual.”*

One might think the above quotation was written yesterday. In fact, it was aired (and later rendered in print) in 1938 by a Christian business man and bible student in his comments on Psalm six. One wonders what he would say if he could come back for a season today! Today’s world only proves the writer’s insight.

Recently I lost the fellowship of a good friend for having made a negative comment about a certain politician and the political party my friend supports. Given the bible’s assessment of man, as in our text for today, it is hard to believe that Christians can be so emotionally involved with and confident in the political process that it can affect their relationship with other believers, but it happens. Even a cursory study of scripture will reinforce David’s exhortation.

Consider some of those references. First and foremost is man’s fundamental spiritual condition. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Underscore the word “all”. And again, “There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good , and sinneth not [Eccl. 7:20].” And, “There is none righteous, no not one [Rom. 3:10].” Whenever we are dealing with man we are dealing with a creature inherently bent in the wrong direction. The natural man, and even the believer who is not fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit is incapable of true righteousness. The apostle says, “For I know that in me (that is in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do [Rom. 7:18-19].”

Additionally, if men, however sincere, seek to govern without submission to the word of God, they cannot understand how to govern aright. Through the prophet Isaiah the Spirit of God says, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them [Isa. 8:20].” Observe that He does not say little light, but no light! This is confirmed and expanded upon in the New Testament; scripture declares that the “Gentiles (i.e. the unsaved) walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness [Eph. 4:17b-19].” Intellectual darkness, spiritual blindness, emotional paralysis, moral perversion and insatiable greed are the basic components in man without the Lordship of Christ. This is the fundamental condition of the vast majority of those involved in what we so naively call the “political process,” and fully explains why there is no solution to our problems from human government or education. Man has a heart condition (to say nothing of an intellectual one) which makes it impossible for him to infuse healing into society. In man “there is no help.”

Few Christians, unfortunately, believe that man is really that captive to sin, but either it is so, or the Bible is in error. Upon the conviction that the Bible is true and trustworthy, it is immediately evident that man cannot bring to the human scene that which is true, wise and suited to ideal government. The picture drawn is such that if a truly good man were to emerge and come to power, other men would presently draw him down or destroy him. (Calvary is proof of that!)

Before the flood of Noah’s day, “God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted His way upon the earth [Gen. 6:12].” Aside from his own family, not one soul joined Noah in the ark. The Lord Jesus Christ said, “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be [Mat. 24:37].” The trend is ever downward, and no amount of electioneering will change it; prophecy will not be altered at the ballot box!

Am I then suggesting that Christians abandon the political scene? Not necessarily; but they must remember that they can never thereby accomplish more than a “stay of execution.” As Noah preached righteousness to his unresponsive generation, so the Christian’s real calling is to get the gospel out in prayerful hope that a “chosen few” will heed the alarm and get in the Ark of Safety before it is forever too late.

“It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” - Ps. 118:8

“There are none so deaf as those who will not hear”,

"Pastor" Frasier