Psalm 102 was the text for the Sunday School lesson I taught last Sunday and the focus of the lesson was to view temporary afflictions in light of the unchangeable nature of God. It is very important to remember God’s unchangeable nature for many reasons.
One thing we should learn is that afflictions are temporary and God is eternal. The God who brought Israel out of Egypt and conquered the promised land for them is the same God who gave them afflictions. This applies today as well if you remember a time when you knew God was good and now bad things happen and you question whether God is good, remember that God never changes. Psalm 102:13 mentions an “appointed time” this shows that God has appointed events to occur. Those events include afflictions and hardships. God does not change, just because hardships come and other things change does not mean that God has changed or is no longer enthroned.
The fact that God does not change shows us that there is absolute truth. What God says is true and that will never change. This idea has come under attack in the last 100 years. Many people do not believe that you can know anything for certain. If you understand that God has revealed his word and that God does not lie or change, then you can know what God has revealed is true.
We can understand the whole Bible better in light of God’s unchanging nature. Some people think that the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New Testament. This idea is wrong. God in the Old Testament hates sin but is still gracious. God in the New Testament is gracious but still hates sin. God was just as gracious to Adam and Eve as he is to people today.
Verse 12 of the Psalm sums up what we should remember “But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever; you are remembered throughout all generations.” God is the king of the universe and he always has been and he always will be.
Last week I read a brief story in newspaper about a church that is having a book burning on Halloween. This church plans to burn bibles and other books by Christian authors deemed heretics. This church believes that the King James Bible is the only Bible translation that is valid. I am not going to dispute these people’s right to burn books or whatever else they want to burn. I will not dispute their choice of Bibles to use either. I am not an expert in the source material and the manuscripts that the King James Bible is based upon. What I will dispute is the claim that anyone who uses another version of the Bible is a heretic. This statement combined with the fervor with which they proclaim their love of the King James Bible sends the message that in order to go to heaven one must use the King James Bible. This is an absolutely false and deadly belief.
Anyone who holds to a bible translation this strongly is saying that the work of Jesus Christ is not sufficient for salvation. The message is that in order to be saved you must repent of your sin, have faith in Jesus Christ and use the King James Bible. Whether or not they actually believe this I do not know. However, they do say that “to be a heretic all you have to do is use another version of the Bible other than the King James Bible.” I am assuming that they believe that heretics go to hell. So by their logic if you use another translation of the bible you go to hell. Even if using the wrong translation is a sin apparently Jesus Christ was not able to atone for that sin. This is something that you must do yourself. If you believe that your bible translation is some sort of deal breaker between you and God, then you are very wrong. Someone like this is putting their faith in their bible translation and that is what I would call a deadly heresy.
I want to be clear in saying that no one is saved by what they do, you are saved by grace through faith. No one is saved by what version of the bible they read or do not read, what church they attend, what books they read or burn or anything else they might think will bring them closer to God. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Grace is a gift from God that cannot be earned by what people do. We are not saved by what we do- Romans 11:6 And if by grace, then [is it] no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if [it be] of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. Paul explains that people are not saved by what they do (works); rather they are saved by grace. Anything that is added to grace is wrong according to the inspired word of God.
In writing this I hope to have shed some light on an error that I saw. I write this as one who has been saved by grace not as some brilliant theologian. I hope that I have not misrepresented this church. I went by what I read on the website I have linked to in the first sentences of this post. I welcome any response from the pastor of this church or his congregation, of course I have no idea how they would find out that I wrote this. I am sure that there are many genuine believers who prefer the King James Bible. The important thing is that no one can add to the work of Jesus Christ in salvation. Those who insist on the King James Bible seem to me to be adding to the work of Christ. Jesus Christ accomplished all that is needed to save sinners with nothing added to his work. Anytime someone is changing the gospel by addition or subtraction of some idea, then believers should be concerned and offended. I am concerned that this group of people and others who think like them have placed their faith in something that cannot save them. My hope is that either I am mistaken in what they believe or that they will see their error and repent and fully place their faith in Christ for their salvation.
Everyone has doubts about what is going on around them. People doubt that God is good since there is evil in the world. Some people have doubts about whether they will have food to eat or other things that they need. Christians question why good things happen to people who ignore God. Psalm 73 addresses this issue. Asaph wrote that his “feet almost slipped” when he “envied the arrogant” and “saw the prosperity of the wicked”. This is an understandable thing to do. There are people all around who seem to be blessed and they have nothing to do with God. They ignore God’s commands and yet everything seems to go their way. In verse 13 Asaph asks did I “purify my heart and wash my hands for nothing?” This is a real and honest response to the sacrifice of following God. Why would someone who tries to follow God have a hard life and someone who rejects God have an easy life?
Asaph explained how he found the answer to this question in verses 16-17 “But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end.” Once he entered into the sanctuary of God he understood. His perspective changed from seeing the earthly things (wicked people) to seeing heavenly things (God). He changed his perspective through worship and focus on God. When his perspective had changed he saw what awaited the wicked-“ruin”, “desolation” and “terrors”. This is one important lesson from this Psalm- do not envy the wicked. Even though it appears as though they have it easy and are blessed now, these easy times and blessings will run out. God will punish the wicked. God’s children should never envy God’s enemies. Despite their comfort and prosperity the wicked are on a path to death and destruction. They do not have it easy and are not blessed; it is an illusion because sinful people do not know what is really good and desirable.
The last verses of the Psalm tell us what is desirable. In verse 25 Asaph says what we should desire “And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.” He is speaking about God here. We should want God and his presence in our lives. Instead of desiring material possessions and fame among men, we should want God. The key is being able to truthfully say that there is nothing on earth that I desire besides God. When someone desires God above all else they will not be concerned about how the wicked prosper. If someone desires God can they have that? Will God withhold himself from someone who really desires him? Psalm 37:4 answers this-“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” If you want God and delight in him, then he will give you what you desire. The important thing to learn from this Psalm is that God must be the center of our lives. If we focus on him and desire him then the material things of the earth will not have influence over us. The best thing about this is that God is better than all of the other things. We are not asked to accept something of lesser value. We get God as our strength and portion forever and that is the best possible thing we could have.
This past Sunday my Sunday School class and I studied Psalm 56. The lesson was focused on fear and what to do when you are afraid. Many times in the Psalm David uses the phrase “in God I trust”. This is a very important idea but I was drawn to the last sentence of verse 9- “This I know, that God is for me.” The person who can say this truthfully has nothing to fear. This statement brings the entire Psalm together.
Many people do not know if this statement applies to them. They do not know if God is for them. Every person needs to be able to say “God is for me”. The first thing to understand is that God is not for everyone. People who are unrepentant of sin and refuse to acknowledge God’s authority in their lives cannot repeat David’s line. God is not for those who sin and reject him. God is what these people should fear the most, but they do not. For God to be for someone they must repent of sin and trust him. David demonstrates this very well in Psalm 51. To be able to say that God is for you, you must have an attitude like David’s in Psalm 51.
Once you know that God is for you, what is there to fear? If the God that created the universe and rules that universe is for you, how could you be afraid of anything? The only one we should fear is God. Jesus explained this in Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” David wrote Psalm 56 when men were coming to harm him. He knew that God controlled those men and those men could not do what God could do to him. In verse 11 of Psalm 56 David asks the question “What can man do to me?” I say that man can do a lot of damage, but God can do a lot more. This is what Jesus teaches in this Passage from Matthew. Man can kill the body, but God can kill the body and soul. So if the only one we have to fear is God and God is for us then what do we fear?
We should always have a fear of God because of our sin. Romans 8:1 says that “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” This is what takes away our fear. God should destroy our bodies and souls in hell, but through Jesus Christ we can escape that. Not only do we escape God’s wrath and become even with God, he is now for us working all things for our good. God was against us while we rejected him, but now he is for us. There are many things tied together with the statement “God is for me”. When I can say that God is for me there is nothing that I should be afraid to do.
The Bible makes it very clear that it is important to love other people. Jesus said to love your neighbor and even love your enemy (Matthew 5:43). There are many other places where Jesus makes it clear that how someone treats other people shows who they really are. Whether a person is a true believer or not can be seen by how they love other people. While it is very important to love other people and treat them right, there is a way this can go wrong. If this idea is taken too far the only way you can do something wrong to do something that harms someone else. This idea is all over our society. As long as you do not hurt someone else then there is nothing wrong with what you do. Any sort of victim less crime or victim less sin is alright. There may be many people who feel this way, but it is absolutely wrong. I thought about this while teaching through Psalm 51, where in verse 4 David says “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight”. David writes this after committing adultery and murder. So there were victims in his sins but he did not cry out to the family of Uriah, who had been wronged, he cried out that he had sinned against God. This idea seems to be lost today. People do not often lament over their sin against God or even seem to care about sinning against God. Why do people dislike radical Islamic terrorists? It is because they kill people, not because they worship a false God. The term radical should not even matter; a peaceful person who worships a false god is very evil. This shows itself in the community that I live in. If someone is nice and gets along with everyone else then we tend to think that they are Christian, because they live out some of the ideals of Christianity. What is really important is who do you seek to please or displease. Too many people only are concerned with pleasing other people and do not worry about what God thinks of them. This is one of the many important lessons of Psalm 51-sin is against God first and foremost. When we sin there are earthly consequences, but eternal consequences are much more important. We must seek forgiveness from God more than forgiveness from man. When a person is concerned about their sin against God then they will treat their fellow men better. The main point I hope to make is that each person’s one-on-one relationship with God is more important with their relationship with other people.
Romans 3:11 “no one understands; no one seeks for God”
This verse has come to my mind on two occasions in the last month. The point of this verse seems to be clear- no one seeks God. This idea is forgotten, ignored or not believed by many people. The first occasion that this verse came to mind was as I was listening to a pastor explain the plan and mission of his church. He said that his church was focused on going after the “seekers”. I did not press the pastor to explain who he thought these people were, but I believe he was referring to people who were looking for God but could not find him. The concern that I have is that seekers do not exist according to Romans 3:11. If you are looking for sinners who are seeking God then you will never find them. I hope that the term seeker means something different to those who say that they are focused on winning the seekers. A church that is looking for people that do not exist is not going to accomplish anything. They have underestimated the sinfulness of man and will be continually frustrated trying to find these people who do not exist.
The second occasion that this verse came up was following a Sunday morning service my home church. We had a very small number of people present that morning. Likely it was the smallest number of people attending in my lifetime. There were reasonable explanations as why people who normally attend were absent, however it is still discouraging to see so few people come to worship God on a Sunday morning. I remembered this verse and thought about who should come to worship God. If this verse means what it says then no one seeks God or wants to worship him. So without something to change people, then church buildings should be empty on Sunday mornings. But church buildings are not empty, people do come to worship God and study his word. The positive thing is that God has changed people so that they will seek him. Later in the same chapter Paul writes that people are “justified by his grace as a gift” (Romans 3:24). This faith to seek God is a gift and a miraculous one at that. It is a miracle that anyone who once did not seek God now does.
One thing everyone can learn from these ideas is that we should not focus on searching for people who do not exist to fill church buildings. We should all look at Paul’s description of sinners in Romans 3 and be reminded that people are very sinful. It is only a miraculous work of God that changes sinners from ignoring and hating God to loving and wanting to worship him. Another thing to remember is that judging success by the number of people who attend Sunday morning worships services is not a good thing to do. If there is only one person who has been changed from the type of person Paul described in Romans then that should be a cause for rejoicing. So if there are several people who have been changed and gather together then it should be that much more wonderful.
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