This will likely be the last post for a little while. I am taking this next week off and I’m not sure whether I will be posting anything. If I do, I don’t know what time of day it will be posted, and I seriously doubt it will be daily.

But for today, I turn back to the Psalms. In particular Psalm 130.

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! 

2 O Lord, hear my voice! 

Let your ears be attentive 

to the voice of my pleas for mercy! 

3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, 

O Lord, who could stand? 

4 But with you there is forgiveness, 

that you may be feared. 

5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, 

and in his word I hope; 

6 my soul waits for the Lord 

more than watchmen for the morning, 

more than watchmen for the morning. 

7 O Israel, hope in the LORD! 

For with the LORD there is steadfast love, 

and with him is plentiful redemption. 

8 And he will redeem Israel 

from all his iniquities. 

Here is a lament over sin. The language and tone that the psalmist uses expressions desperation. This is a cry for mercy. These are the words of someone who understands the weight of sin. Sin is rebellion against God and it is an affront to his character.

On top of that the psalmist knows that if the Lord kept account of our sins and held them over or before us - none of us could stand. If he held us accountable with strict justice…we would be lost. And then we come to the great conjunction - “But.” God is not one who holds sins over those who are penitent. With God there is forgiveness (cf. Psalm 103:3; Nehemiah 9:17; Ephesians 2:4-10). That forgiveness that God gives restores our relationship to him. It allows us to walk in proper fear (cf. Psalm 128:1). We are forgiven to be free to obey, not to continue to walk in disobedience.

The psalmist then waits in hope. He waits with eager anticipation - more than the watchmen (the sentry or night guard) waits for the morning. And he closes the psalm with encouragement. It is a call to all of God’s people to hope in the Lord. His soul had been refreshed and now he calls on others to find that refreshment - the blessing of forgiveness. Because - with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. What an amazing description!! What an amazing God! And we see that so fully displayed in Christ Jesus - the one who died so that we might be declared righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Romans 5:6-8: 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Here’s a song I love (though I wish it were played a bit faster).

My daily routine in the morning has been much the same for many years. I started a habit of Bible reading when I was younger (thankful for my mother encouraging that), and by God’s grace, I continue in that habit (though honestly it is constantly a fight to make sure it’s not just reading, but also devotional in nature). One of my standard approaches to reading Scripture is to use the M’Cheyne Reading Plan and along with that D.A. Carson’s devotional books called For the Love of God (you can find the books [there are two volumes] here or go to the daily blog). This is a great resource that helps connect the readings and points your heart to Christ. As an aside - I know it’s already over halfway through April, but if you don’t have a plan to read God’s Word - it’s never too late to start, and today is always a good day.

All that to say as I was reading this morning one of the readings was 2 Timothy 3. We are probably all very familiar with verses 16 & 17:

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

The divine nature and value of Scripture in our lives is something we should know. Scripture is God’s ordinary means of grace: which means this is how God has set forth for us to grow (at least one of his key methods).

But aside from that what I want to point out is the two verses prior:

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Paul is charging Timothy to continue in what he has learned and in what he has believed. He knows the character of those he has learned it from and how, since his childhood, he has known the Scriptures - the sacred writings. Look at that last phrase: which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

It is in the Scriptures that we are made wise to salvation. It is not through nature or common sense (see Psalm 19), but through God’s revelation of himself. And what do the Scriptures do? They reveal Christ Jesus. The Scriptures do not save - it is Christ who saves. If in our reading of Scripture we miss Jesus, we have missed the point (see the interaction between Jesus as the two disciples on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection). As we see Jesus thought Scripture we see the heart of God and we see the glory of God.

This reminds me of something I saw from Dane Ortlund:

Let’s not just stop at our salvation, our faith in Christ, let us press on to know him…to know his heart and his love. Let our gaze into the face of our God transform us (2 Cor. 3:18).

Two songs this morning. First is Wes King simply saying that he believes in the Word of God.

And the second is this beautiful song from Fernando Ortega:

From "Live in St. Paul"-DVD. Eternal God, Unchanging Mysterious and Unknown Your boundless Love, unfailing In Grace and Mercy shown. Bright Seraphim in endle...

It’s Monday of Holy Week. What we see on this day in this last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry is that he curses a fig tree and he cleanses the Temple. Why? Why does he do this?

Well, he comes upon a fig tree and he sees it in leaf. The presence of leaves signified that there should be fruit (even out of season), but there wasn’t. It looked as though it would have fruit, but it didn’t. And so Jesus cursed the tree.

Next he comes to the Temple. Let’s look at Mark’s account in chapter 11.

15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.

There is a relation between these two events. Jesus judged the fig tree for showing forth the signs of fruit, but not producing any. He judged the Temple for not being the place of prayer, the place of worship. It had the appearance of a place of worship and holiness, but it was not functioning in that manner. In a sense, both the tree and the Temple were hypocritical - they had the appearance of the right thing, but weren’t producing the fruit that was to be present…and he judged them both.

Isn’t that too true of all of us? Are we not all hypocrites? Do we not all deserve the judgment of God?

Praise God for the work of Christ to die for sinners and to take the judgment we deserve upon himself!! Without that work, without Christ, we would all be without hope. But by the grace of God, the love of God, we have a sure hope in what Christ did for sinners.

2 Corinthians 5:21: For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This week I’m going to try and highlight hymns/songs about the passion of Christ. For our first installment, the great hymn “Alas! And did My Savior Bleed?”

Holy Week, Day 2: Monday Monday, March 30, AD 33. To continue through the week, follow the link below for Tuesday: https://vimeo.com/89651201 The link for Palm Sunday: https://vimeo.com/89013208