In Praise of God

Isaac Watts (1674-1748), who wrote  such beloved hymns as “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” and “Joy to the World,” also wrote hundreds of hymns which are virtually unknown.

Three of his lesser-known hymns are based on the well-known Psalm 23…and each one is a precious reminder of the wonder of having the Lord God as our Shepherd.  Below are the first stanzas from each of these three hymns.  Given the uncertainty of the world in which we live, and both the physical and spiritual needs we all have, these are stanzas well worthy of our contemplation!  I have bolded the wording which has had the greatest impact on my heart today. The phrase in italics comes in a close second.  The result:  Greater stillness of heart and trust in God’s care.

My Shepherd is the living Lord; Now shall my wants be well supplied; His providence and holy word Become my safety and my guide.

My Shepherd will supply my need, Jehovah is his name; In pastures fresh he makes me feed, Beside the living stream.

The Lord my Shepherd is, I shall be well supplied; Since he is mine and I am his, What can I want beside?

We know this is a time when many groups begin thinking about their Fall Bible study classes.  As you do so, please note that our Joshua study is currently out of print.

You can still get all our other studies from local or online booksellers or Focus Publishing (in the case of Hope in God and Prayer) or directly from us (for Jonah, Psalms, Beauty of Holiness, Thinking Heavenward, and Proverbs).

Additionally, we would appreciate your prayers as we are putting our next book series together. It is currently in very early stages of development, but we are excited about it…I’ll post more updates as they are available.

This evening as I was reading chapter two of a new book entitled Helpful Truth in Past Places written by Mark Deckard, I encountered a series of principles he quotes from a lecture given by Sinclair Ferguson.  Although all of these principles are well known to me and established in my heart through many scriptural passages and examples, I found myself thinking how quickly and easily these truths can fade from conscious thought.  And so, to help me reestablish these truths…and hopefully, to also encourage you…here are ten of Ferguson’s thoughts:

• God is in control of his universe.
• God is working out his perfect purposes.
• God is not my servant.
• God’s ways are far more mysterious and wonderful than I can understand.
• God is good–all of the time; I can trust him–all of the time.
• God’s timetable is not the same as mine.
• God is far more interested in what I become than in what I do.
• Freedom from suffering is not part of the promise of the Christian gospel.
• Suffering is an integral part of the Christian life.
• God’s purposes, not mine, are what bring him glory.

 

“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.  Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil.  Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. 

Let the favor of the LORD our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands…yes, establish the work of our hands!”

Psalm 90:14-17

 

Over the last few weeks I have been surrounded by grief.  This weekend I have listened in shock to a woman who escaped very recently from Iraq, after having suffered through the unjust imprisonment of her husband, the looting of her home, threat of death, loss of family with no hope of returning to be reunited with many of her family members.  She describes the scene to me of hearing the screams of families being killed around her in her apartment complex in Baghdad. . .her neighbors on both sides, killed by terrorists.  Though she is now in America, I grieve for her soul, loyal to a false god, her eyes yet unopened to the truth of the gospel.

A friend, who is younger than me, has been told that she will live the rest of her earthly life in chronic pain (at best), one friend has a terminal illness that could end her life before most would expect, and she grieves that she will most likely bear no more children, and I have wept with a woman who was confronted with the sin of homosexuality.

Last year I grieved through a separation from my husband due to a military deployment.  Trusting God to make good out of what I saw as evil has been a hard work of obedience: even after he has returned, I still struggle.  This weekend, as Jeremy and I were given the opportunity to meet and begin building a relationship with a refugee family from Iraq, in a matter of twenty minutes or so, the eight months our family was separated began to make sense.  I step back, and suddenly 2008 looks so different to me!

So what is the difference between someone who struggles in agony under suffering and one who is still in agony but endures it with grace?

An understanding of redemption.  When God rules a heart, he rules a life and asks us to hold comfort with open hands.  Sometimes He gives the gift of comfort, but sometimes He does not.  This is for our good and His glory, of course.  So, when I take my comfort so seriously that I chase it at the expense of God’s priorities, God’s will and God’s glory, often the result will look like an adult temper tantrum.  Just like a toddler, we ask “why,” sometimes we even punish those around us with our bad attitudes, ungodly and unkind treatment of them, some of us even throw a physical fit, shouting and demanding our way.  Though we frown on this behavior in children, we excuse and justify it in ourselves as we shake our fists at the Holy God who gave us life in the first place!

Am I trusting in the grace of the One who saved me, the One who is sanctifying me, and the One who will call me home to Heaven…or am I trusting my heart, myself, my plans, my, my, my?  If I step back and gaze at my circumstances with eyes and heart that hope ultimately only for heaven and in the glory of God who is carrying me there, suddenly, everything is different.  When I back up from my daily pursuits and ask God how HE sees the things I have been spending the most time on, often, they are revealed as worthless.  The life-altering concept of the heart is that of obedience: are we willing to trade our priorities for God’s, our desires for His delights, our glory (ouch!) for His glory, and ultimately, our end (which is death, if we are without Christ - and this is proved by how we spend our earthly lives, 1 John says) for His end, which is heaven for those are given eyes to see their sin, and who place their faith, by God’s grace, in the blood Christ poured out for them on the cross.

What am I willing to trade for the glory of God?  My plans, my ideas, my comfort, my money, my very life?  Do I realize that the trade is actually unfair?  What God has in store (here on earth AND in heaven) for those who trust Him far outweighs whatever I throw away!

This I  know: better is one day in your (God’s) courts than a thousand elsewhere (Psalm 84:10). . .God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. . .God’s ways are not ours (Isaiah 55:8), no ear has heard, no eye has seen the things God has planned for those who love him (1 Chronicles 2:9).  Though we suffer for a while, these things produce growth and maturity in us now, and an eternal weight of glory (1 Peter 1:6-9).  What will I do today to walk in submission to the glory of God?  What comfort will I lay down today for the joys of willful obedience to the One who obediently laid His very life down for my own soul?

Strangely, I woke up this morning thinking about illness, death and dying.  Why do we have to die?  Why do we have to endure so much illness?  (Yes, I know the biblical short answer:  “Because of sin.”  But why did God choose these to be the consequences of the fall?)

After a few moments of sadness, unease and prayer, the thought came to me that, even though death is an enemy and consequence of sin, illness and death are both gifts, part of God’s common grace toward all mankind (even as painful and heart-rending as they are).

Think about it.  No other consequences of sin could or would catch our attention so thoroughly, so often, or with such emotion.

No other consequences would be equally present in every culture, every day, of every year, of every century.

No other consequences would repeatedly bring all mankind face to face with some of life’s most important questions:  Why do we have to die?  Why is there so much suffering?  Why does God allow this?

For believers, these “gifts” hold even greater importance, for no other consequences would allow us so many opportunities to powerfully point unsaved family, friends and acquaintances to the hope found in God alone and to the promise of eternal life.

No other consequences would evoke such praise, worship, gratitude and hope as, time and again, illness and death compel us to run for help and peace to the person, work, sacrifice and promises of our Lord Jesus Christ.

No other consequences could so strongly cause our hearts to yearn for the kingdom of heaven.

And so today my new question is this:  Am I faithfully using every instance of illness, death and dying to catapult my heart into greater love, service and devotion to my God?