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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Sunday, 14 January 2024:
Psalm 2:10-12 — Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
“Rejoice with fear and trebling”. The Psalms address the major challenges of life we all go through, various sins, and sufferings, but while placing all circumstances within context of who God is and who we are because of whose we are. Among the 150 Psalms, 145 expand up three primary verses which reveal God’s loving, faithful character (the other five Psalms are focused on worshipping Him as God):
– Exodus 34:6-7 – The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.
The Lord first and foremost proclaims Himself to be merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, and forgiving; but He also warns that He disciplines as a righteous God. He calls all who will listen to live in His love, and in sin (we all sin) to repent (change your heart and mind) of sin, trusting in God’s Goodness and Compassion. There is no unforgivable sin apart from rejecting His grace and refusing to accept Him and both Lord and Savior.
– Numbers 6:24-26 — The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
God will bless you and keep you, make His face shine upon you, be gracious to you, lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. You need only trust Him and obey Him. Repent, (change your mind and heart) about who it is you should trust and obey.
– Deuteronomy 32 – For their rock is not as our Rock; our enemies are by themselves….
In Deuteronomy 32, God identifies Himself as the rock of refuge. He is available to you. Jesus said, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24, 27) Build your house on the foundation of Jesus and His word, “for no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:11)
In concert with our other readings this week, Psalm 2 reminds us that God’s message to a rebellious world, the Gospel message, our message to a rebellious world, begins with a call to repentance. Today the psalmist proclaims to the nations, ‘Be wise (understand your situation, your total depravity and enmity with The Holy, Sovereign God), be warned (of God’s wrath against you), serve (repent, surrender, and submit to God’s righteous sovereignty) … and then rejoice (in the Good News of God’s grace through Jesus), but with continuous trembling (awe and reverence for God).’ Compare the psalmist’s message with John the Baptist’s in Matthew 3 — “In those days John the Baptist came preaching…, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” As with the psalmists’ proclamation, John’s call to repentance was no light-hearted casual announcement – it was a dire, urgent warning – “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance…. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire…. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
In Matthew 4, Jesus similarly began His ministry with a call for repentance – “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’…. And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.” (Matthew 4:17, 23) The Gospel message always begins with God’s demand for repentance. The most awful news imaginable (God’s looming, wrathful judgment against sinners) reveals the magnitude of the Good News, God’s unmerited grace upon the repentant sinner who trusts in Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately, in our generation, the call to repentance seems to have been reduced to a whisper, and the Good News is presented more as ‘other news’. “In our attempts to make the Gospel palatable to non-believers, we sometimes promise all the benefits of heaven without demanding repentance. Thus we have celebrities who ‘love Jesus’ while reveling in immodesty and immorality, and many others who think themselves to be saved even though they never darken the door of a church or love their neighbors.” (Tabletalk Magazine)
Our call for repentance must involve boldly and directly countering culture, addressing the specifically relevant social issues of our day, exposing sin with the light of God’s word, while proclaiming salvation through Christ alone (the most socially offensive part of our message). As an example, John the Baptist boldly proclaimed Christ, while specifically, directly, and publicly challenging Herod’s unrepentant sexual sin – a relevant social issue of his day. For the latter, John the Baptist was beheaded. (Matthew 14; Mark 6) When we counter our culture and address current social issues in light of the Gospel and for the sake of the Gospel message of repentance, we serve as Christ’s ambassadors, bearing witness to the truth of man’s depravity and total dependence on His grace:
– John 18:37, 38 – “Then Pilate said to him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.’ Pilate said to him, ‘What is truth?’”
When we challenge culture and social norms, we enter into the great spiritual battle – “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:4, 5)
If you are questioning why the world is increasingly becoming a dark place, question instead why the Church has lost much of its brightness, since darkness cannot overcome light. I think our readings point out that it is because we have neglected to “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.” The bookends of “rejoicing” are “fear” and “trembling.” I’m afraid we have made light of God’s holiness and have failed to “bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” When we fail to stand in reverent awe of God, truly amazed by His grace, our motivation to serve and rejoice wanes, as does our eagerness and urgency to share The Good News.
Psalm 2:11 — Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
With Psalm 2:11 in mind, reconsider Jesus’ words from Matthew 5:13-16 – “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
– 1 Corinthian 1:18-31 — For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 14 January 2024: “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.”
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 