Psalm 30: A Field Manual for Praise

Living our lives in this sin cursed world is very often not easy. Life is not a smooth ride, but more like a roller coaster with unexpected bumps and turns. And life is sometimes more difficult for us Christians. Our enemy Satan is after us and wants us.  He will do everything in his power to frustrate us, confuse us, and mock us. Thankfully our loving Savior is in control and is working all things together for our good.


David in Psalm 30 is experiencing his enemies mocking him. For it leads him to cry out to God for help and deliverance,  "O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me" (Psalm 30:2). David cries out to his God in prayer and God is faithful to deliver him. I love the expression of David crying out to God in prayer. It points to his desperation, faith, and brokenness before God. This verse therefore tell us much about how we ought to approach God in our prayers.


But David did not just move on after God answered his prayers. No. He then gives us a weighty exhortation to praise our glorious God. "Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name" (Psalm 30:4). I love this. It makes perfect sense. Praise humbles us and gives the glory to God alone.


Towards the end of the Psalm David basically extends the praise and opens it up a bit. "You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!" (Psalm 30:11-12)


We can to. We most definitely can when we think of the infinite kindness of our God giving us his precious son Jesus. I think the description of David's mourning into dancing is a perfect description of what our response is to the gospel.


Our own sin left us miserable. We had no way out, because we didn't want to get out. We wanted our own way. Yet God rescued us. He raised us to new life in Christ!! We discover how much we need Jesus, we cling to him, and treasure him as supreme! The gospel and only the gospel leads us to dance with infinite joy, praise, and thanksgiving! Do that now.

Will We Die Alone?

One of my favorite bands has a song that just recently came out. This band is not Christian at all, but there are some things to take away from the song from a biblical perspective.


Everyone lies and cheats their wants and needs and still believes their heart.
And everyone gets the chills, the kind that kills when the pain begins to start.

Notice everyone is the key word for us in this part of the song. Sin is such a universal malady that even a non-Christian band can recognize the utter depravity of every single person's heart (Romans 3:23). We all love ourselves and will do anything to make us look better.

I'm not exactly sure what is meant by "the chills" but I think it means that everyone recognizes that things are not right. Everyone has some sense that we must do something to fill the void that is in our hearts. So we try to fill it by success, money, fame, human approval, pleasure, etc.

Everyone raises kids in a world that changes life to a bitter game.

Here we see the absolute miracle of life and the happiness of it. But notice that this world tends to eat away at us and changes life from happiness to bitterness. Human beings, apart from the grace of God, end up depressed, angry, bitter, and unloving (Romans 1:29). To the point that life just becomes a pointless game.


And everyone lives to tell the tale of how we die alone some day.
Notice everyone realizes they will die someday. It is obvious. Everyone will reap what they sow. But the word alone caught my attention. This is not exactly true of the Christian. Yes we will die alone in one sense; but Christ took our place, he died our death! (Romans 6:8) Therefore we have hope that we will stand the judgement of God against sinners because our Lord Jesus bore our sin and nailed it to the cross.


It grieves me that there is so much hopelessness in this world. Alas, we can only pray that people will realize the value of Jesus Christ for their souls.

What Keeps Us Going?

Around a week ago I had a friend ask me, how do you stay happy in a world like this? His point was in the midst of all the chaos in this fallen world it sure is hard to stay afloat. I basically said to him that he was right, this world is fallen. Its not going to be perfect. We are sinners, rebels against God, so this world will not give us complete happiness.


On the other hand, I explained to him what keeps me going in the midst of the chaos. And it is this: The fact that Jesus, the eternal God, came to live on this earth for me. The fact that he lived a perfect life to give me righteousness that I so desperately need, that he died for me and rose again for me. (2 Cor. 5:21, Philippians 2:6-8, 1 Peter 1:24).


Every day we must come back to the gospel for encouragement. It is seeing and savoring the objective truth's of the gospel that keep us going. When we sin or when we see sin around us we must remind ourselves of our sinfulness, but also delight in the fact that there is a Redeemer-Jesus God's son. And put our trust in him, for he will come back to this earth again to judge unrighteousness.

5 Dangers for Young Men

1. Pride

“Young men, do not be too confident in your own judgment. Stop being so sure that you are always right, and others wrong. Don’t trust your own opinion, when you find it contrary to that of older men, and especially to that of your own parents. Age gives experience, and therefore deserves respect.”

2. Love of Pleasure

“Youth is the time when our passions are strongest—and like unruly children, cry most loudly for indulgence. Youth is the time when we have generally our most health and strength: death seems far away, and to enjoy ourselves in this life seems to be everything. ‘I serve lusts and pleasures’, that is the true answer many a young man should give if asked, ‘Whose servant are you?’”

3. Thoughtlessness

“Not thinking is one simple reason why thousands of souls are thrown away forever into the Lake of Fire. Men will not consider, will not look ahead, will not look around them, will not reflect on the end of their present course, and the sure consequences of their present days, and wake up to find they are damned for a lack of thinking. Young men, none are in more danger of this than yourselves. You know little of the perils around you, and so you are careless how you walk. You hate the trouble of serious, quiet thinking, and so you make wrong decisions and bring upon yourselves much sorrow.”

4. Contempt of Religion

“This also is one of your special dangers. I always observe that none pay so little outward respect to Christianity as young men. None take so little part in our services, when they are present at them—use Bibles so little—sing so little—listen to preaching so little. None are so generally absent at prayer meetings, Bible Studies, and all other weekday helps to the soul. Young men seem to think they do not need these things—they may be good for women and old men, but not for them. They appear ashamed of seeming to care about their souls: one would almost fancy they considered it a disgrace to go to heaven at all.”

5. Fear of Man’s Opinion

“It is terrible to observe the power which the fear of man has over most minds, and especially over the minds of the young. Few seem to have any opinions of their own, or to think for themselves. Like dead fish, they go with the stream and tide. What others think is right, they think is right; and what others call wrong, they call wrong too. There are not many original thinkers in the world. Most men are like sheep, they follow a leader. If it was the fashion of the day to be Roman Catholics, they would be Roman Catholics, if it was to be Islamic, they would be Islamic. They dread the idea of going against the current of the times. In a word, the opinion of the day becomes their religion, their creed, their Bible, and their God.”

~ J.C. Ryle

HT: Mike Anderson

The Author of Hebrews

It is a pretty big debate among Christians on who wrote the book of Hebrews. Some think it was Barnabas or Apollos, many others disagree. Regardless, I was encouraged by this quote that I read from Peter O'Brein's commentary on Hebrews:


"The most important thing Hebrews tells us about the author, whoever he was, is that in the first decades of the Christian movement, another remarkable mind and heart besides Paul's was at work in interpreting the significance of the crucified and raised Messiah Jesus for the understanding of Scripture, of the world, and of human existence."

Paul Tripp Quotes Part 3

These are all from Tripp's Twitter. 


If you have come to rest in the righteousness of Christ and have quit trying to parade your own, you know grace has visited you.


If you've quit asking people, things and places to give identity and now rest in your identity in Christ, you know grace has visited you.


If you're God's child, you can live with hope and courage because your Savior rules over all things for his glory and your good.


You have one place of hope, security and rest. It is found in these words, "GOD IS LOVE."


God's grace never moves you be casual about sin. If sin was something less than deadly and serious, there would be no need for God's grace.


The grace you've been given is not just the grace of forgiveness and acceptance, it's also the grace of empowerment. So, get up and follow.


If you look for life in the people and places of the here and now you'll always be disappointed. This broken worked can't be your messiah.

Centrality of Jesus' Death and Resurrection in the Bible

"Nothing is more central to the Bible than Jesus' death and resurrection. The entire Bible pivots on one weekend in Jerusalem about two thousand years ago. Attempts to make sense of the Bible that do not give prolonged thought to integrating the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are doomed to failure, at best exercises in irrelevance.


Jesus' own followers did not expect him to be crucified; they certainly did not expect him to rise again. Yet after these events their thinking and attitudes were so transformed that they could see the sheer inevitability that Jesus would die on a cross and leave an empty tomb behind, and absolutely everything in their lives was changed."


-D.A. Carson Scandalous

The Gospel is Outside Us!

I once read a story about Martin Luther and a friend of his. They were writing to one another and Luther's friend had some concerns about whether or not he was trusting Christ enough. The story goes like this:


Martin Luther was translating the Bible into German at the Wartburg castle and could only have contact with his colligue Phillip Melanchthon by courier. Melanchthan had a different sort of temperament than Luther. Some would call him timid; others of a less generous bent might call him spineless. 


At one time, while Luther was off in the Wartburg castle translating, Melanchthon had another one of his attacks of timidity. He wrote to Luther, "I woke this morning wondering if I trust Christ enough." Luther received such letters from him regularly. He had a tendency to naval-gaze and to wonder about the state of his inner faith, and whether it was enough to save. Finally, in an effort to pull out all the stops and pull Melanchthon out of himself, Luther wrote back and said, "Melanchthon! Go sin bravely! Then go the cross and bravely confess it! The whole gospel is outside of us."


A couple things to point out here:


1) Luther was not encouraging sin. If you read the account carefully, Melanchthon often had these feelings of doubt about his state before God. Luther was just responding to him based upon what he knew about his friend. And it did seem that he was focusing too much on his inner faith. So please do not take this account to mean Christians are supposed to not care about their own sin. Of course that's not true. But when we do sin, because of the work of Christ, we can and should go to the cross boldly. 


2) Luther was encouraging gospel confidence. I know from my own Christian life that two or three years ago I would've looked a lot like Melanchthon. I often looked to myself for assurance of my salvation. In other words, even though I knew Christ paid it all on the cross, I still had second thoughts about my state before God. I was somehow undermining the work of Christ by clinging to my own supposed righteousness. I had forgotten a simple truth that Luther rightfully stated, "The whole gospel is outside of us." In other words, even after we become Christians it is still by grace alone! Any progress that we make in obedience to God's commands is still by grace alone! And the great result of this mindset is that, in the end, we will end up living a more obedient Christian life.


Even today I greatly struggle with this truth that my acceptance before God is based solely upon the work of Christ alone. Yet keeping this truth in mind we can live in great freedom knowing our standing before God is perfect because of our Savior Jesus! We are free. 

Savoring Jesus' Kingdom

I wanted to share something I've been doing recently in my Bible devotions. I was introduced to this method by a couple friends. Its called the SOAP method. The portion of Scripture I read was Luke 1:26-45 and I picked a couple verses that stuck out to me.


Scripture: Luke 1:30-33 (ESV). "And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in you womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."


Observation: The angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will bear a son named Jesus. Jesus will be great and his kingdom will have no end.


Application: Jesus, according to his Father, is the great one. Jesus is to be worshiped for who he is, the eternal King.


Prayer: Jesus, we thank you for showing us true greatness. We thank you for giving us complete access, by your grace, to your eternal kingdom. Help us to remember our eternal home, help us to live for your kingdom, and propel us to seek to expand your kingdom with the people around us.

Prodigal Love for a Prodigal Son

This is an excerpt from a sermon delivered by C.H. Spurgeon a long time ago. Spurgeon was preaching on Jesus' well known parable the Prodigal Son. The whole sermon can be read here. Enjoy reading about the love of God in Christ for you. Be encouraged in the gospel!

Spurgeon:

This poor young man, in his hungry, faint, and wretched state, having come a very long way, had not much heart in him. His hunger had taken all energy out of him, and he was so conscious of his guilt that he had hardly the courage to face his father; so his father gives him a kiss, as much as to say, “Come, boy, do not be cast down; I love you.”

“Oh, the past, the past, my father!” he might moan, as he thought of his wasted years; but he had no sooner said that than he received another kiss, as if his father said, “Never mind the past; I have forgotten all about that.” This is the Lord’s way with His saved ones. Their past lies hidden under the blood of atonement. The Lord saith by His servant Jeremiah, “The iniquity if Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.”

But then, perhaps, the young man looked down on his foul garments, and said, “The present, my father, the present, what a dreadful state I am in!” And with another kiss would come the answer, “Never mind the present, my boy. I am content to have you as you are. I love you.” This, too, is God’s word to those who are “accepted in the Beloved.” In spite of all their vileness, they are pure and spotless in Christ, and God says of each one of them, “Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honourable, and I have loved you. Therefore, though in yourself you are unworthy, through My dear Son you are welcome to My home.”

“Oh, but,” the boy might have said, “the future, my father, the future! What would you think if I should ever go astray again?”Then would come another holy kiss, and his father would say, “I will see to the future, my boy; I will make home so bright for you that you will never want to go away again.” But God does more than that for us when we return to Him. He not only surrounds us with tokens of His love, but He says concerning us, “They shall be My people, and I will be their God: and I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear Me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.” Furthermore, He says to each returning one, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them.”

Whatever there was to trouble the son, the father gave him a kiss to set it all right; and, in like manner, our God has a love-token for every time of doubt and dismay which may come to His reconciled sons. Perhaps one whom I am addressing says, “Even though I confess my sin, and seek God’s mercy, I shall still be in sore trouble, for through my sin, I have brought myself down to poverty.” “There is a kiss for you,” says the Lord: “Your bread shall be given to you, and your water shall be sure.” “But I have even brought disease upon myself by sin,” says another. “There is a kiss for you, for I am Jehovah-Rophi, the Lord that heals you, who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases.” “But I am dreadfully down at the heel,” says another. The Lord gives you also a kiss, and says, “I will lift you up, and provide for all your needs. No good thing will I withhold from them that walk uprightly.” All the promises in this Book belong to every repentant sinner, who returns to God believing in Jesus Christ, His Son.

The father of the prodigal kissed his son much, and thus made him feel happy there and then. Poor souls, when they come to Christ, are in a dreadful plight, and some of them hardly know where they are I have known them talk a lot of nonsense in their despair, and say hard and wicked things of God in their dreadful doubt. The Lord gives no answer to all that, except a kiss, and then another kiss. Nothings puts the penitent so much at rest as the Lord’s repeated assurance of His unchanging love. Such a one the Lord has often received, “and kissed him much,” that He might fetch him up even from the horrible pit, and set his feet upon a rock, and establish his goings.

HT: Timmy Brister

Gospel-Driven Sanctification

This is a quote from Sinclair Ferguson. I was really instructed and encouraged. 


The first thing to remember is that we must never separate the benefits (regeneration, justification, sanctification) from the Benefactor (Jesus Christ). The Christians who are most focused on their own spirituality may give the impression of being the most spiritual but from the New Testament’s point of view, those who have almost forgotten about their own spirituality because their focus is so exclusively on their union with Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished are those who are growing and exhibiting fruitfulness. Historically speaking, whenever the piety of a particular group is focused on OUR spirituality, that piety will eventually exhaust itself on its own resources. Only where our piety forgets about us and focuses on Jesus Christ will our piety be nourished by the ongoing resources the Spirit brings to us from the source of all true piety, our Lord Jesus Christ.


HT: Tullian Tchividjian

My Encouraging Verse

Often I will turn the radio dial to 88.1 FM, which here in Omaha, is Klove.  I am not the biggest fan of Klove, I certainty will not put their sign on my car, but I enjoy some good Christian music from time to time on Klove. Everyone that listens knows that they have a daily encouraging verse. I think this is a great idea, we are people who need to be encouraged in our often discouraging world. However, some of the verses that they choose, leave me thinking to myself, that really is not that encouraging.  And then I started thinking about some verses that encourage me in my walk with Christ.


And my mind came to one specific verse. That verse is 1 Timothy 1:15,  "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost".


This verse should be continually on our minds as Christians. Why? Because, at one time, all of 
us were not Christians. We lived our lives alienated from our Creator, we spend all of our time indulging in the foolish desires of our flesh, and we lived basically all for ourselves. It is in this verse that we remember what our condition was before we became Christians. This verse reminds us that we, like the apostle Paul, at one time we're bad sinners. 


But, someone might be thinking, I do not see how this verse is encouraging. This doesn't sound like good news, it sounds like very bad news. Yes, your right, it is bad news that we are this bad. 


But as the verse reminds us again, Christ Jesus came into this world for people exactly like us! There is a Savior! His name is Jesus! This is indeed good news for us who, by God's grace, recognize our condition. We Christians must be constantly reminded that we are that bad and Christ is that good. For it is in these truth's that our worship for God is fueled and sustained. 


Let this verse be the encouragement you run to in your daily life. 

Do Not Be Conformed To This World

This is my first post on my blog, and it is from Spurgeon's Morning and Evening!

If a Christian can by possibility be saved while he conforms to this world, at any rate it must be so as by fire. Such a bare salvation is almost as much to be dreaded as desired. Reader, would you wish to leave this world in the darkness of a desponding death bed, and enter heaven as a shipwrecked mariner climbs the rocks of his native country? then be worldly; be mixed up with Mammonites, and refuse to go without the camp bearing Christ's reproach. But would you have a heaven below as well as a heaven above? Would you comprehend with all saints what are the heights and depths, and know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge? Would you receive an abundant entrance into the joy of your Lord? Then come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing. Would you attain the full assurance of faith? you cannot gain it while you commune with sinners. Would you flame with vehement love? Your love will be damped by the drenchings of godless society. You cannot become a great Christian-you may be a babe in grace, but you never can be a perfect man in Christ Jesus while you yield yourself to the worldly maxims and modes of business of men of the world. It is ill for an heir of heaven to be a great friend with the heirs of hell. It has a bad look when a courtier is too intimate with his king's enemies. Even small inconsistencies are dangerous. Little thorns make great blisters, little moths destroy fine garments, and little frivolities and little rogueries will rob religion of a thousand joys. O professor, too little separated from sinners, you know not what you lose by your conformity to the world. It cuts the tendons of your strength, and makes you creep where you ought to run. Then, for your own comfort's sake, and for the sake of your growth in grace, if you be a Christian, be a Christian, and be a marked and distinct one.