By Trish Donohue
Here’s a riddle for you—complete with my own best guesses…
What revives the soul, (strong coffee?)
Makes simple people wise, (Cliff Notes?)
Makes your heart rejoice, (a big tax return?)
Enlightens you, (People magazine?)
Endures forever, (a bad haircut?)
Is more desirable than gold, (a cleaning lady?)
Is sweeter than honey, (boardwalk fudge?)
Offers great reward? (Botox ads?)
I was reading Psalms in my quiet time the other day, and I came across this exact riddle in Psalm 19. As I read it, my eyes opened wider and my grogginess wore off. I was thinking, “Hey, I need all this stuff!” My soul needs to be revived, I need wisdom desperately, my heart needs to rejoice, I need to be enlightened, and I definitely want great reward. This is quite a sales pitch. And since I found it in the Bible and not in a magazine, it’s got to be true!
So are you ready? The answer is God’s Word. But now that you know the answer, do you feel a hint of disappointment? Are you thinking, “Oh, it’s a spiritual answer—there really isn’t anything real and practical that accomplishes all of that. Bummer.”
Those are your idols talking (well actually, they’re mine, but you probably have some of your own.) They’re jealous because they want you to look to them for relief and refreshment. They like to make the bold promises. “You want refreshment?” they ask. “Watch me.” “Buy me.” “Seek me.” “Lust after me.” “Trust in me.”
They’re all liars though. And as God helps us grow in our faith, we’re getting smarter, and we can read Psalm 19 and believe it.
What will revive my soul? The perfect law of the Lord!
What will make my simple mind wise? The sure testimony of the Lord!
What will make my heart rejoice? The right precepts of the Lord!
What will enlighten my eyes? The pure commandment of the Lord!
In other words, God speaks truth, through scripture, into our lied-to hearts. He’s given us pages full of perfection, straight from his holy, brilliant, clever, creative, sovereign, understanding, amazing mind. And those words and their results bring all that we desire: refreshment, wisdom, rejoicing, enlightenment, righteousness, sweetness, reward! What a promise! What a deal! And no member fees!
Our creator knows us so much better than we know ourselves. Lord, open our eyes to see that your word is “more to be desired…than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.”
By Rob Flood
Editor’s Note: Jared is out this week and has asked Rob to write the Pastor’s Study this week. For those who are committed fans of Jared…fret not: he’ll be back to the Pastor’s Study next week.
As Joel preached this week’s installment of our current series, Words of Comfort, two additional passages of Scripture rose in prominence in my own heart. We’ve said before that this entire section of Isaiah, beginning with Chapter 40, is intended to bring comfort to suffering souls. Yet, it is not the only passage that does this. Much of God’s Word, either directly or indirectly, provides comfort for hurting hearts. Here are just two examples.
Psalm 103
What should a soul that is in need of comfort do? Psalm 103 gives us one of the answers: it should preach to itself. Sometimes our souls need to be preached to…our affections and remembrances of the Lord need to be roused. Psalm 103 does that. Consider verses 6-8:
6The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
8The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
This is truth that we must keep in the forefront of our minds. “The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.” We know this in our minds, yet forget it so frequently. Which is where the preaching comes in. We need to know this so much that David begins by saying:
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
You see how David is commanding his own soul to bless the Lord. He is commanding all that is in him to bless God’s holy name. And, after preaching the truth of God to himself, it seems odd that David’s soul would be the only one lifting praise. So he with exhortations of all:
20Bless the LORD, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
21Bless the LORD, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
22 Bless the LORD, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
Psalm 121
This psalm begins with the question asked by all who are in need of comfort.
1I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
Essentially, the question is “Where am I going to get some help to get out of this struggle?” Once you’ve preached to your soul to bless the Lord, you can’t help but be reminded of who he is. We turn to the Lord for help…and he promises to help us.
2 My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
3He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
8The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
In times of need, when words of comfort are everything our weary souls require, God’s Word proves itself sufficient again. As Joel said in his message, “God is not distant.” Our God is a help to souls in need. Praise him!
By Jessica Evans
Pastoral Note: As the one that carries pastoral responsibility for the Pro-Life Ministry, I’ve invited Jessica to write about our recent experience in Washington, D.C. Our hope as a pastoral team is simply to keep this issue in front of us all from time to time. Often, perhaps too often, this is an issue that may drift from the front of our minds. We encourage you all to pray for our legislators, our justices, our president, women with unwanted pregnancies, and the safety of the unborn. Stefan Bomberger
On January 22nd, a group of twenty Covenant Fellowship Church members made the trip to Washington D.C. for the annual March for Life. Reports estimate that over 300,000 people came out in support of the pro-life cause: individuals from different states, different ages, races, religious backgrounds, and physical abilities were all united in our burden to protect the unborn. These were record numbers!
As you may know, this year marks the 37th anniversary of the Supreme Court's infamous Roe v. Wade abortion decision. Since the court ruling in 1973, a recent analysis (from the National Right to Life Committee) estimates that we have lost over fifty-two million children to abortion. This number is nearly impossible for us to wrap our minds around. May this reality stir conviction in our hearts, that we would embody Doug Hayes’ Sanctity of Human Life message [click here] to “act justly,” extend mercy, and “walk humbly” as we speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves (Proverbs 31:8).
Here are some questions that we can ask ourselves as we seek to embody Doug’s message: We should desire to share the redemptive truth of the gospel and extend that same mercy to the many women who have been wounded by abortion. Here at CFC, our Pro-Life Ministry is helping to equip church members on how to engage others on the issue of abortion in gospel-centered, winsome ways. In so doing, we hope to provide a context for meaningful pro-life outreaches and involvement in pro-life fundraisers.
By Andy Farmer
I don’t tend to like to make social commentary on a blog, but I couldn’t resist. Here it is a couple of weeks away from the Winter Olympics and I’ve been presented with an ethical dilemma. I’m a life long Olympics fan (both summer and winter games) and over my history I have learned that controversy comes with the Games. I have vague memories of the 1968 Games and the black power salutes on the 100 meter medal stand. Politics has always been an issue – who can forget the absurd boycotts of the 1980 and 84 games. And of course you’ve always had the judging problems and the performance enhancing drug scandals. So I’m no purist when it comes to ‘the Olympic Ideal’.
But the Fox Fur Predicament has me in a no – win situation. Here’s the deal. US figure skater Johnny Weir has decided his uniform of choice should include, among various swirls and sequins, fox fur trim. But now People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have pressured Weir to drop the fur. Here’s the story along with a picture so you get the idea of what Mr. Weir is styling these days and why this is a big issue. http://www.idahostatesman.com/450/story/1059905.html
So why is this my problem? Well, like I said, I don’t mind controversy in my sports, but I like to land on one side of the issue. And this one has me flummoxed. Do I (assuming I ever had the chance to make my case to Weir or PETA) say,
“PETA, do us all a favor. Get Johnny to dump the fir. While you’re at it see if you can talk him into a hoodie and sweats.
Or, do I say to Johnny,
Listen Sport; don’t let the Animal ACLU push you around. It’s a free country – wear whatever you want – just bring home the Gold!
Either place I land some sensibility in me gets messed with. I don’t really want animal rights zealots (as much as I love animals) brow-beating people on their costume choices. But I don’t want my USA male athletes prancing around in fur trim tights. Probably the only thing that would satisfy me is to see JW skating around in a hoodie and sweats in a routine set to Ted Nugent songs. But that may be more than I can hope for with two weeks left to go before the Olympics.
On a related note, here’s a picture of Jill and me at the International Olympic Headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland a couple of years ago.
Bring on the Games!
By Rob Flood
Last night, the married and engaged couples of Covenant Fellowship Church shared the last message in Fight Night: 3 Rounds to Conflict Resolution. Mark Prater taught on the Gospel of Peace. Praise God that we have forgiveness in Jesus Christ and that, ultimately, peace in our homes is something that has been accomplished through his blood, as we apply gospel truth in our homes.
Peace with God is not possible without grace from God. So too, peace in our homes is not possible without grace.
On a very similar topic, John Piper refers to grace in marriage as “justification bent outward.” He defines it as the outward bending of the result of our justification…Christ’s finished work in our hearts.
In a message called, “Marriage: God’s Showcase of Covenant-Keeping Grace,” he says the following:
This is the vertical reality that must be bent outward horizontally to our spouses if marriage is to display the covenant-making, covenant-keeping grace of God. We see this in Colossians 3:12-13, “ Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
“As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive”—your spouse. As the Lord “bears with” you, so you should bear with your spouse. The Lord “bears with” you everyday as you fall short of his will. Indeed, the distance between what Christ expects of you and what you achieve is infinitely greater than the distance between what you and expect of your spouse and what he achieves. Christ always forgives more and endures more than we do. Forgive as you have been forgiven. Bear with as he bears with you. This holds for whether you are married to a believer or an unbeliever. Let the measure of God’s grace to you in the cross of Christ be the measure of your grace to your spouse.
And if you are married to a believer, you can add this: As the Lord counts you righteous in Christ, though you are not in actual behavior or attitude, so count your spouse righteous in Christ, though he is not—though she is not. In other words, Colossians 3 says, take the vertical grace of forgiveness and justification and bend them out horizontally to your spouse. This is what marriage is for, most ultimately—the display of Christ’s covenant-keeping grace. (1)
Marriage, unlike most other relationships, offers us the opportunity to forbear, to forgive, to choose unity over agreement and love over winning. But this is only possible as we reference, even rely upon, the work of Christ on our behalf…reconciling us to God and granting the grace for us to reconcile with each other.
[1] By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org at this link: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByTopic/45/1992_Marriage_Gods_Showcase_of_CovenantKeeping_Grace/
