The Answer for the World

The Answer for the World

 

Psalm 146 (NIV)

 

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—he remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord.

 

The final book of the Psalter finishes with a series of “Hallelu Yah” psalms in which the entire psalm is sandwiched between the expressions of praise, “Praise the Lord.”  Upon returning to their home land after the Babylonian exile, the Israelites celebrated their covenant relationship with this psalm.

 

It declares that their praise belongs to God, praise with everything they have and for as long as they have breath in their being.  All the days of their lives, they will praise the Lord God.  There is no other to place you trust in.  No mortal man regardless of how great can save.  When their last breath is gone, all their hopes and plans, their dreams or schemes, all will come to nothing. 

 

As New Covenant people our hope and help is still in the Lord.  I am afraid however that much of North American Christendom knows very little of the kind of praise that the psalmist wrote about here.  Praise and “worship” is often crammed into a small block of our time that we sacrifice for God, and even at that we watch the clock and can’t wait to get back to our lives.  Real Worship is life and breath and relationship with the Father that cannot help but to overflow with praise.  It is also not limited to Sunday but includes all the days of my life. 

 

Our hope and our help come from God through Jesus Christ, our Savior, our redeemer, our peace, our righteousness, our provider, our healer.  It is in Him and Him alone.

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” A warning and reminder must continuously go out to believers in this country that man cannot save!  The Republican Party cannot save, the Democratic Party cannot save, neither can any other group that comes on the scene regardless of their best attempts.  Our help and hope is to be in Jesus Christ alone for He is the only true foundation and solid rock.  Many Americans are still believing the lie that to be American equates to being Christian; that this is a Christian Nation.  We are blessed no doubt, and I believe it is largely because of the Christian foundations and principles with which it was built but those days are long gone and this Nation is determined that they do not need the God who blessed them.  Now I said we are blessed, I did not say that we are or were a Christian Nation because we are not nor were we ever a Christian Nation.  Now drop your stones and hear me out.  There has only been one Nation chosen and set apart as God’s “peculiar people”, the Nation of Israel.  All the rest are nations, kingdoms and peoples to be blessed through God’s special people. There is however a Spiritual Kingdom to which we belong without geographical and national borders.  A kingdom which will never end.  One can be a citizen of this kingdom regardless of where they live or what nationality they call themselves on this earth. Nations will rise and nations will fall, kingdoms will rise and fall as well but the Kingdom of Christ will endure forever. 

 

I know it is popular to post pictures on facebook of American flags with crosses or red, white and blue eagles and apply Scriptures like 2 Chronicles 7:14 “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”  But that verse was not written for America.  Now don’t hear me wrong, I LOVE MY COUNTY!  I am as patriotic as anyone.  I served in the military and fought in combat.  I am permanently and totally disabled because of it and I WOULD DO IT AGAIN!  So again, drop the stones.  What I am saying is that this was written for the Nation of Israel which is a shadow of the Church (the substance).  So as a Christian, a member of Christ’s Kingdom one can personally and perhaps even collectively as a local body of believers but not to any secular country of kingdom of this world, no matter how good the intentions were of the founders.  Our country has chosen her way and it is determined to serve itself in secular humanism without regard for the Lord.  Our primary citizenship must be to the Kingdom of God, all others will pass away.  No president and no party can save us and their hopes and plans, their dreams or schemes, will all one day come to nothing.    

From verse 5 through verse 9 the writer paints a beautiful picture of the God who is most worthy to be praised.  Blessed is the one whose help and hope is found in the God of Jacob, creator of all things, sustainer of all things and whose faithfulness endures forever.  The God of Jacob is the same God that loves us today and has chosen each one us for a covenant relationship with Him.  The creator of all things loves you and me personally.  Blessed indeed are those who place their hope in Him. All the “hot topics” of the political world could find their answers in Him.  So many cry out that they are discriminated against, that they are treated unfairly.  The Lord upholds the cause of the oppressed.  Social reform, welfare, and world hunger are a mess in man’s hands but God gives food to the hungry (Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (Matthew 6:26)).  How about justice and social problems like people bound in the chains of addictions of all kinds? The Lord sets the prisoners free.  Healthcare?  The Lord gives sight to the blind.  For those burdened with inequality and hardships who can in no wise lift themselves up, the Lord lifts them up, He is the true mark of justice and righteousness and in Him there is nothing false.  The Lord watches over the alien in ways that border patrols would never do, in love and care.  Again the government passes laws and seeks reforms continuously for welfare programs while the Lord sustains the fatherless and the widow.  There is no corruption in Him and the ways of the wicked are already frustrated. 

 

The Lord reigns forever!  Oh that more would place their trust in the Lord and not in a corrupt and greedy secular institution where the rich and powerful have their own interest at heart.  The Lord loves!  He is love.  He is perfect love and he has man’s salvation as His greatest interest.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but will have eternal life. 

 

My trust is in Him.   

 

Grace to you,

 

Pastor Tony Garcia

Freedom Church, USA

The Lord Saves Me

The Lord Saves Me

 

Psalm 94:16-19 (NIV)

 

“Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers? Unless the Lord had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death. When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy."

 

In this psalm the writer is crying out to God because of some sort of oppression that is being experienced by the nation of Israel.  In the first half (verses 1-11), he calls out to God to rise up to their defense.  He lays out the condition that exists under this oppression and the fact that the oppressors have no fear or regard for the Lord, the God of Jacob.  The psalmist also points out the folly of not having the fear of the Lord.  He does indeed see, hear and will discipline those who do not walk in the ways of righteousness.  The Lord knows the hearts of man and that his thoughts are futile.  They need teaching.  They need training. They need discipline.  In this element of discipline, God’s punishment for man’s evil deeds will not go unpunished for the eyes of the Lord see all (see Hebrews 4:13). 

 

Discipline does not just refer to the rod of discipline and chastisement, but also to the idea of child rearing, training up.  Blessed is the man that is disciplined by the Lord, who is taught from His law.  It is through discipline that one learns wisdom, righteousness, knowledge and many virtues that are important in life.  All discipline from God, regardless how it seems at the time, is done in love and for our best interest (see Hebrews 12:11) and through it we can obtain knowledge that will save us from many heartaches in life.  We can shorten the days of trouble that this world brings as we learn God’s ways of life which are perfect for us.  His ways are righteous and those who walk in them, will never be rejected.  He will never leave or forsake those who are His.  While we can never perfectly follow the Law, we can rejoice that Jesus came as the representative for all mankind and was the fulfillment of the law.  Not only that, He received the punishment part of discipline as well.  All the wages of sin, the punishment for doing wrong, was released and received in the body of our precious Lord and Savior though he himself had no sin.  “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)”.  So with the “punishment” part of discipline received in Jesus, we can benefit from the upbringing, child rearing part of disciple by a loving Father who is in no way and by no means angry at us.  If the psalmist can say “Blessed is the man you discipline, O Lord while under the old covenant where his sins condemned him, how much more can we, under the new covenant say it with our sins forgiven and removed and where we have the gift of “no condemnation (see Romans 8:1).

 

In the last half of the psalm, the writer celebrates the Lord who is his deliverer.  There is no other to call upon who will save him and indeed without the Lord, he surely would have died.  When he cried out to God, it was His love that supported him.  When anxiety was great, it was God who could comfort him and bring joy to his soul.  There is only one needed for deliverance.  Regardless of the forces coming against him, the Lord is his fortress, the rock in whom he can take refuge.  The Lord’s mighty hand will destroy the enemy.

 

I intentionally covered the second half of this psalm briefly because I want to share how it spoke to my heart while reading today.  There are times, days and seasons that we all go through when we feel very alone.  Now of course I know that He will never leave us or forsake us, but I’m talking about feelings.  Maybe you’ve just lost a job, or a spouse has left you; perhaps a sudden diagnosis has hit you like Mack truck or maybe you have been sucked so deep into depression that you can’t seem to find your way out.  It is in these times that cry out desperately for the Lord to come to our aid and sometimes join with the psalmist in asking, “How long O Lord?”.   

 

The Lord knew me before I was formed in my mother’s womb and He had a plan for me (see Jeremiah 29:11).  That plan included serving Him in pastoral, teaching and leadership ministry in some form or another.  I have known this for most of my life.  I also believe that because of this, the enemy has had a big bulls eye painted on my back my whole life.  I believe that the attacks of the enemy are in proportion to the plans that God has for a person, a ministry, etc.  My life has been full of adversary, some by direct attacks of the enemy using others, some by tripping me up in sin (not excusing it or blaming it on the devil), and some by physical, mental and emotional attacks on this clay vessel in which my spirit lives.  Without going into detail about all that the Lord has brought me through, I will tell you that as I continue to grow in Christ day by day, I still have times that I feel like the writer of this psalm. 

 

One of the strongest attacks that I encounter is that I suffer from PTSD from both sexual abuse and from being a combat veteran who has served on the front lines of battle.  Because of these, I have suffered for decades with this condition as well as some of the demons that commonly attach themselves to it such as substance abuse and severe depression, anxiety and anger and suicidal thoughts.  Before someone “corrects my thinking”, let me say that I KNOW that Jesus is my healer, and that the work of the cross is finished.  I know that by His stripes I AM healed.  I believe that truth, I receive that truth and I have a confident expectation of living symptom free.  (Some in the “name it and claim it” circles have brought much confusion to the Body by bringing condemnation to those who still suffer.  To argue those positions is not my purpose here).  By the GRACE of God I have just come out of a season of struggle.  My enemy, my attacker had come against me and when I fall into a depression I need someone to rise up for me.  I can honestly say with the psalmist, “Unless the Lord had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.” 

 

I thank God for my friends, my family and most importantly for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who are all such a huge part of my life.  There is but one Savior who supports me when “my feet are slipping” and when my anxiety is so great within me that I fear that it will swallow me up, who can bring joy back into my soul.  I know this Savior well.  He is the air I breathe, He is my everything and looking to Him, I stand in the waterfall of His GRACE that brings me all I need.  Even so, for those of us who suffer from attacks of this kind, there is a deep, dark and heavy cloud that sometimes envelops us and tries to pull us into the deepest pit.  The war that wages in the mind, heart and emotion of someone suffering in this way can be debilitating and while we remain in the waterfall, there is a heaviness that pushes our head down so that we are unable to experience the fullness of His GRACE.  I am a preacher of GRACE, no doubt about it.  Those who know me know that it is my life’s calling to expose people to the truth of the real gospel of GRACE.  A major element of experiencing the GRACE of God is to “fix our eyes on Jesus” and His beauty and perfection. 

 

One of the common pictures that is painted to describe the unlimited, unmerited, unearned, undeserved favor of God is one of standing in a huge, Niagara falls type of waterfall; arms outstretched to receive, head up behold the love and favor that is so much we couldn’t even stand up under it if God himself didn’t hold us up.  I love that word picture, I refer to it often in the messages I share.  So what happens when depression or symptoms of PTSD set in?  Do we dare tell someone their faith is weak or they are not speaking the right words?  I can assure you if you would consider doing that to someone in this position you would be NO HELP AT ALL!  That can only bring shame, condemnation and confusion.  Yes the answer is Christ.  Look to Him, feed on His Body, confess the truth that you know about who you are in Christ but there is no one who does this perfectly every day of their life.  In spite of all the truth and growth in Grace that you mature in, and all your great intentions to live and walk in GRACE, we ALL continue to have layers (however thin they may be) of doubt wrapped around our hearts.  These may not be recognized and you may not even be conscious of them but they remain all the same and the enemy of our souls will exploit these any time he is able.  He knows that when our eyes are off the Savior, we are once again vulnerable to his assaults.  Those who suffer with conditions like depression and PTSD, understand just how weak the flesh, and even the mind can be. 

 

The entire body is needed to function in this world.  To function both individually and to function as a whole.  This is one of the reasons that we should not forsake the gathering together of ourselves.  There are times in my life that I just cannot stand up to the attacks alone and while “I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength”, He remains with us here on earth in the form of His Body.  He is the Head and the Church is the rest.  It is often through this Body that He operates.  The Church is Jesus with skin on and there are times that I need His arm wrapped in skin wrapped around me holding me up and helping me hold my head up.  When we are in the deep of our darkest and most challenging situations, we sometimes can’t even bring into remembrance the truths that we know and that we could easily declare when all is well.  It is in these times that we need the other members of the Body to come alongside us to remind us of what we already know.  We need love, support and encouragement from the Body of Christ in the same way that Christ would give it…if we are not giving help that way then we are not operating as the Body.  Today I may need you and tomorrow you may need me.  It is in the community of the Body that we are the healthiest.  I thank God for my brothers and sisters in Christ who hold me up in prayer and who support and encourage me when I am in these valleys.  I thank God that I have people in my life who I can be transparent with (I admit I am still working on this), it is because of this that they know me well enough to know when I need them.  I also thank God for my wife and partner in ministry and in life.  She knows me best of all and prays for me always.  She knows the depths to which I am sometimes pulled into and experiences much of it herself just by being married to and living with me.  She loves me and encourages me when I am at my worst and she is precious in my life.   

 

The Lord Jesus is our Salvation, His love keeps me and holds me up, He brings joy and gladness to my soul renews my strength like that of the eagles and I praise Him with my entire being.

 

He brought me out of the deep miry clay,

He set my feet on the solid rock to stay,

He puts a song in my happy soul today,

A song of praise, Hallelujah!

 

 

 Grace to you,

 

Pastor Tony Garcia

Freedom Church, USA

You Are God Alone

You Are God Alone

 

Psalm 86:8-13

 

"Among the gods there is none like you, Lord; no deeds can compare with yours.  All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name.  For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.  Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.  I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.  For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead."

 

Many of the Psalms are prayers crying out to God in times of trouble.  This is one of them.  Though we are never told exactly what “the day of trouble” is, it appears that the psalmist is being attacked and in fear for his life.  Throughout the psalm, and especially in the first six verses there is the cry for help mixed with the attributing of greatness and GRACE to God in relation to those who are His.  Inherent in those attributes of God is the humility of the psalmist in his relation to God.  When the days of our troubles come, who do we cry out for help?  While many cry out “Oh God, help me!”, few will see themselves so dependent on Him that they see themselves as “poor and needy” every day, and even fewer can honestly stand before God claiming to be His servant, devoted to him, trusting in Him as he calls out and lifts his very soul to God all day long.  But for those who have experienced salvation, who have “tasted and seen that the Lord is good” (see Psalm 34:8), they can come confidently before the Lord without fear knowing that He is forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to Him.

 

Towards the end of the psalm (verse 14) we are given a clue as to the type of trouble the writer is facing.  Enemies are attacking.  These enemies are described as “men without regard for [God]” meaning that they are not in the special relationship with Him that the writer describes of himself in the first six verses.  The psalmist beautifully describes the deliverance sought as being completely and totally dependent on the gracious, compassionate love and faithfulness of God.  Any strength given the psalmist will be from the mercy of God and the salvation given will be both a sign of God’s goodness to the writer and a clear message that the Lord is on his side and has delivered him, in this, the enemies will be put to shame.  It is a wonderful thing to know the blessed relationship of sonship that we have in Christ when we truly understand the gospel of GRACE.  To be able to approach God without fear of anger, understanding that there is nothing but an incredible and constant flow of love and favor and mercy. In Christ, we have salvation and are sealed with the Holy Spirit and the goodness of God surrounds us.  Surely goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives and our enemies, which are under the feet of Jesus are put to shame.  The psalmist cried out for help with the hope that we have as certainty that If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31).

 

The heart of this Psalm describes the relationship between God and the psalmist that gives him the ability to make the claims that he does about himself and the declarations about God that he is so certain of.  It gives the proper perspective of the Lord and the acceptable position of all men before our creator.  There is but one God and sovereign of all creation.  This is the starting place of faith.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (Proverbs 9:10).  Recognizing the awesomeness of God and that no one or nothing can compare with God.  One day all the nations, which God himself has made, will bow down and worship Him to the glory of His name.  This will be willingly or unwillingly but it is a fact that the psalmist knew just as certainly as the apostle Paul knew it when he wrote, “Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).  The Lord God is great and awesome and He alone is God.

 

If this is God, what is man’s proper standing before Him?  The psalmist recognizes that there is but one way to go and that is to ask the Lord to teach him His ways, His ways are truth.  Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life” He is the light and to know His ways and to walk in the light is how we should desire to live.  Man however continuously falls short of walking in the ways that they ought to and even to love God will all their heart.  This was true for the psalmist as much as it is true for us today.  The psalmist asked for an “undivided heart” so that he could fear God and praise His name glorifying Him forever.  His intent was good as is the intent of many well-meaning Christians who remain in a cycle of asking for strength to “do right” and have an undivided heart only to find themselves failing, seeking repentance and then trying harder next time. Unfortunately this brings such condemnation and guilt that it becomes harder and harder with each cycle to begin again due to the shame one feels.  The better way is the way of GRACE.  John wrote, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). When we recognize God’s incredible love for us and the Gift of no condemnation that we receive in Christ Jesus, there is no longer a pressure to have a perfectly undivided heart with a fear that we will be rejected.  God’s love is perfect love and perfect love casts out all fear (see 1 John 4:18).  When we know God’s perfect love, we are free to love Him in return, not out of obligation but out of response.  Not out of fear but because we are so loved by Him that we can’t help but fall in love with Him more and more each day.  In our own strength, even with the best intentions our love will be imperfect, praise God His love towards is absolutely perfect.  He loves us!  He loves me!  He loves you!  Who are we that He would deliver us from death while we were yet sinners? Who are we that He remains mindful of us daily and pour GRACE upon GRACE on us and show us such favor.  This is GRACE and this is life in Christ.  In days of trouble and in days of comfort, I will trust in the Lord and praise, worship and honor Him for He is Greatly to be praised.  

 

 

 Grace to you,

 

Pastor Tony

Freedom Church, USA

More Blessings from the Psalms: The Heart of God

The Heart of God

 

Psalm 50:7-15

 

“Listen, my people, and I will speak; I will testify against you, Israel: I am God, your God. I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.  I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?  Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”

 

The Psalms are divided up into five books.  As I read through each “book”, I will select one psalm to write on.  In this second book we find a psalm attributed to an author for the first time.  Asaph was the superintendent of the Levites that David had assigned to minister praises before the Ark of the Covenant.  While he may be the person who penned the psalm, it is by inspiration of the Holy Spirit that God Himself speaks through this psalm.  And while it was written directly to His covenant people Israel, it carries obvious relevance for covenant people of today as well.

 

In this psalm the Lord summons the heavens and the earth to witness the righteous judgments that He is about to make upon His covenant people.  The psalm then breaks into two separate judgments of different types of covenant people.  There are the “wicked” represented in verses 16-22 who claim covenant status by the words of their mouths but who have no real covenant relationship through either their hearts or their actions.  They believe that if they say they belong to God it is so even though there is no evidence of it in their lives.  In fact all evidence would suggest just the opposite—that they are NOT covenant people.  They are hearers of the word but not doers (see James 1:22).  They take part in all forms of evil even though they know the laws against such action.  They further suppose because they have not experienced immediate repercussions for their sin that they had gotten away with them.  They mistook God’s temporary silence in this as it not being offensive to Him but He makes it clear that this is not the case in verse 22 when He says, “I will tear you to pieces with none to rescue”.

 

There are many “nominal” Christians in our world today.  They may believe that they live in a “Christian country” or that because they go to church that they are a Christian.  Our Lord quoting the Prophet Isaiah spoke of these types of people saying that their lips honor Him but their hearts are far from Him (see Matthew 15:8).  Again, the long silence concerning their true condition gives them a false assurance that all is well with their soul.  They have no real relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ but instead love the world and declare that they are ok because God loves them and He knows their hearts.  Oh that they would realize just how true that statement is and that it should terrify them rather than give them comfort.

 

The first group of people that the Lord addressed in this psalm however in verses 7-15 were “godly Israelites”.  They actually practiced their covenantal religion with the temple worship and sacrifices.  The issue that they were rebuked for was not that they failed to bring their sacrifices but that the ritual of their religion and sacrifices had superseded true spiritual worship.  While their sacrifices were “ever before God”, He told them that He had no need for any of them.  David was right when he wrote, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it (Psalm 24:1)”.  In sovereign expression God declares that every animal, every bird, every creature and all of creation belongs to Him.  He has no need for anything from any person, He is self-sustaining and even if He did require something, He would not need to get it from man for He own everything already. He tells them that their sacrifices are not to “feed” Him as some of the pagan peoples believed sacrifices were for their idol gods.  The truth was, though not expressly stated, the sacrificial acts of worship were for them, not for God.  So what was the instruction they were to receive in this?  “Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” Let your worship be true not simply a spiritual exercise.  Rejoice in covenant relationship and fulfill the “vows” that life as one should in a marriage covenant. 

 

The last part of verse 15 is an incredible revelation of the heart of God when it comes to covenant relationship.  “call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”  In the whole section from verse 7-15 we see that God is not in need of anything from us and that there is a danger of religion becoming formality and habit.  As with the Israelites of the old covenant, we in the new covenant have nothing that we can offer God.  Our material goods, our money, our church attendance, all our good works…they all amount to nothing.  The apostle Paul called all that he could offer “rubbish” which is a nice translation…it is more accurately dung.  The prophet Isaiah expresses a similar idea calling all man’s righteous acts as “filthy rags”, again the truer translation is much more graphic—in the Hebrew the word is really of a used and dirty menstrual rag.  Our works count for nothing.  But here is the beauty of our God, “call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”  It HONORS God for us to need Him!  He wants us to call on Him in our need, in our day of trouble, when we do that it shows our faith that he is God and we can’t save ourselves.  As long as we try to figure out and solve our problems ourselves, God cannot step in to deliver miraculously because we are in the way.  We are not trusting God but looking instead for some other answer.  When we simply call out to Him, He will deliver us and in that we honor Him.  This is faith that pleases God—all trust in Him and none in our own ability.  This is so with our salvation as well…our greatest need and day of trouble.  No works, no cleaning yourself up to be good enough to come to Him, no getting right first…simply call out to Him, He will deliver you and you will honor Him and bring glory to His name.

 

 

Grace to you,

 

Pastor Tony

Freedom Church, USA     

I'm Blessed!

I’m Blessed!

 

Psalm 32:1-2 (NIV)

 

“Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit"

 

Reading through the Psalms is a wonderful journey through Hebrew poetry.  Full of emotions of every kind, we see into the hearts of the writers, many ascribed to the great Hebrew poet and king David.  There is an incredible amount of transparency and honesty in the Psalms and the writers are not afraid to voice their fears, sorrows or feelings of overwhelming defeat.  But there is also a great amount of declaration of and dependence on God, the deliverer, the source of strength and the shield.  And while there is a basic old covenant understanding in regards to sin and punishment and righteousness and favor, there are the hidden messianic jewels as well as the clear pictures of God’s amazing grace.

 

The thirty second Psalm is thought to be written by King David some time not too distant from the time of repentance and restoration after the prophet Nathan confronted him about his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah.  The message of the Gospel was realized so wonderfully in David’s life it is no wonder he was inspired to write this psalm.  In fact, the true GOOD NEWS of God’s GRACE and forgiveness so overshadows the simple accounting of how his sin affected him that before he could focus on and recount his pre-forgiven state he explodes with joy and jubilant celebration: “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.”

 

Only after this outburst can David begin to teach through poetry the goodness of God in relation to sinful men.  From the beginning of the psalm there is a presupposition of sin.  In this case it may have very well been the Bathsheba incident but it could just as well been any other.  The ugly truth is that there is ALWAYS the presence of sin in someone’s life “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)” Knowing and experiencing God’s GRACE the way that he had made him unable to keep the good news shut up inside himself, but in order to get to the “good news”, we must first understand the “bad news.”  Man needs to know that they are sinners and that the wages of sin are indeed death.  Sin is a reality and it should grieve us.  It should weigh heavy upon our hearts as we recognize our sinfulness.  This was accomplished through the law and the commandments for the nation of Israel and for us through their examples and the revelation of God through the Scriptures, “I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law (Romans 7:7)”.  While this is an important truth to communicate, it is NOT the Gospel!  The Gospel is GOOD NEWS!  This is horrible news.  It is the truth that we are helplessly, hopelessly and utterly lost with no remedy that we can obtain on our own.  It is a shame that so many “churches” concentrate so much on sin and guilt along with the endless call to “holiness” which is too often a demand for works righteousness and performance based perfection.  Their “gospel” becomes, “you’re a sinner so you have to STOP! Repent of your sin or face God’s wrath!”  Friends, this is not good news.  It is the bad news.  So what is to be done and how do we get to the “Good News”?  We’ll get back to that in a moment.

 

David recognizes two problems concerning sin at the end of verse two and at the beginning of verse three.  First let’s address what we see in verse three “when I kept silent”.  Unconfessed sin is a real issue.  If a problem is not admitted to, it cannot be resolved.  The secrets of sin, the guilt and condemnation that comes from knowing that we are in the wrong, whether we admit it or not will eat away at a person who is awakened to any sense of right or wrong at all.  David tried to ignore the feelings of guilt, he tried to hide his wrongdoing deep in his heart assuming that he could get away with it.  So too we often, knowing that we are wrong, keep silent hiding from the very presence of the one who can bring us relief for fear of punishment.  While we hide in our shame and silence, our minds, hearts and even our bodies pay the price as David expressed in verses three through four.

 

Another problem that is not so readily recognized is at the end of verse two, “in whose spirit is no deceit.”  This has to do with HONESTY.  There is a necessity to be real, transparent and honest with themselves, with others and certainly with God who sees and knows all anyway.  Self-deception is another real problem as is hypocritical lying to others in order to make them think there is no sin in you.  In some circles that assume that the sin nature can be eradicated, there remains “deceit in their spirit” assuming, presuming or attempting to convince others that there is no sin in them.  The reality of the sin nature and the struggle between the flesh and the spirit does not go away while we remain in these vessels of clay.  To deny that fact simply because one wants to believe it or because their theology will unravel if they admit it is setting oneself up for unnecessary pain and failure when the bottom of their “entirely sanctified” life falls out—and it will.  Sin will come because we are mere men.  While we certainly grow in GRACE and maturity, we do not arrive to a place of “sinless perfection” in this life.  Also, calling SIN a mistake or not a willful transgression to a known law of God does not make it anything different than what it is—SIN!  Why do we need so desperately to have the sin nature eradicated anyway?  If eradicated then there is no longer any sin at all in a person and no longer a need for a savior or our advocate “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” (1 John 2:1).      

 

David explains the way to forgiveness in verse 5 and encourages others to never fear to enter into the way of GRACE from verses 6-10.  Simply CONFESS, which is to agree with God of the reality of your sinfulness.  He acknowledged his sin to God not attempting to cover it up.  It is fear, pride or simple deceit (whether to self or to other) that keeps men from coming to the storehouse of GRACE that is already prepared to open up and pour over them.  David said, “I acknowledged, I did not cover up, I confessed…and YOU FORGAVE!  Wonderful GRACE!  THIS is why he could not contain his joy in the first two verses.   “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them” Notice he did not say the man who stops sinning, who has put his sin aside and learned how to walk in righteousness.  Neither did he say that a man will be blessed if they turn from sin and walk in holiness.  That would be wages for right behavior and not grace (see Romans 4:4 & 11:6).  GRACE is undeserved, unmerited, unearned favor while we are yet sinners.  Blessed is the man whose transgressions (while still there) are forgiven!  Whose sins (which remain) are covered.  And whose sin the Lord does not count against him!  This is the NEW COVENANT, not getting what we deserve because Jesus took it for us on the cross.  And then getting what we do not deserve—this is the Blessed part, in Christ, we are righteous!  We are sanctified completely!  Not because we are perfect but because HE is perfect, not because of what we do or who we are but because of what HE HAS done and WHOSE we are.  The work of the cross was a PERFECT and FINISHED work.  He died once and for all for all.  There is nothing incomplete about His work and no second work necessary.  All that we need and will ever be, we will be IN HIM.  He is our sanctification.  He is our righteousness.  We are partakers of His Glory as a free gift obtained by FAITH alone.  It is a reality and a mystery that we cannot fully comprehend but PRAISE GOD it’s true!  Blessed we truly are!  GRACE, GRACE WONDERFUL GRACE!

 

With a short encouragement in verses 8-10 for people to not be stiff-necked about receiving such a wonderful gift when the love and GRACE surrounds them and is so easily and readily available David breaks into praise once again calling other partakers of this wonderful GRACE to join him in praise.  By GRACE…through FAITH alone in Christ you are made righteous and upright in heart.  And that’s something to sing and rejoice about!

 

 

 

Grace to you,

 

Pastor Tony

Freedom Church, USA