The Meaning of Life: The Class Continues In Christ

Psalm 34:21-22

21        Affliction will slay the wicked,

                        and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

22        The LORD redeems the life of his servants;

                        none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

            We’re now at the end of Psalm 34, but not at the end of the class. This class doesn’t end here on earth when the last nail is in the coffin. This class continues into eternity with Jesus.

            The meaning of life and the answer to the question in 34:12 can only be found in Jesus, His cross, and His resurrection. The cross shows you how valuable you are to God. The resurrection shows you that there will be a Graduation Day when the Professor returns. On that Day all the dead will be raised. Whether they believe this or not doesn’t matter to God. He said it and He will do it. He showed this in Christ Jesus’ resurrection.

            Those who die in unbelief will be counted among the wicked. It doesn’t have to be this way because God welcomes and wants all people to come to faith in His Son Jesus.

But you are one of His precious students, and we will continue to suffer here in this age. We will suffer at the hands of others simply because we are Christian. We will suffer at the hands of our own sins because we are sinners—we’re failing students, but this is the kind of student to whom Jesus welcomes and gives the passing grade. And we suffer in the classroom of this broken world and evil age. Nevertheless, you sit in Christ’s classroom, and He has His eyes of grace on you.

            Some words from the Early Christian Church:[1]

34:21 The Wicked Condemned

THE RIGHTEOUS ONE. AUGUSTINE: Who else is this just one, but our Lord Jesus Christ, who is also the propitiatory offering for our sins? Those who hate him therefore do meet that most wretched death, because all who are not reconciled to our God through him die in their sins. EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 34.26.⁷⁶

FAILURE. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Not only do sinners meet such a fate, but also those hostile to the righteous will fall foul of troubles. Now, he says this to bring out the extent of the providence that God shows for the righteous. “Will come to grief” means that they will stumble, will trip up, will fail in their hostile intent against the righteous by being punished by God; “come to grief” meaning “missing the mark,” which means failing to achieve a purpose and intent at odds with that prescribed—hence our calling a wrong action a sin as being at odds with the proper intention. COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 34.22B.⁷⁷

BEYOND THE FUNERAL. AUGUSTINE: What looks like a good death to you would seem very dreadful if you could see the inner side of it. Outwardly you see him lying in bed, but do you see the inner reality, as he is dragged off to hell? . . . Do not put your questions to beds draped with costly coverings, or flesh muffled up in rich clothes, or mourners with their extravagant laments, or a weeping family, or a crowd of flunkeys before and behind when the corpse is taken out for burial or monuments marble and gilded. If you put your questions to these, they tell you lies, for many people there are who have not merely sinned in small matters but have been thoroughly wicked, who yet have had a plush death like this, who have been judged worthy of being mourned, embalmed, clothed, carried in procession to the grave and buried in no other fashion than this. Put your questions rather to the gospel, and it will reveal to your faith the soul of the rich man burning in torments, helped not a whit by the honors and obsequies that the vanity of the living has lavished on his dead body. EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 34.25.78

34:22 Refuge in God

THE HOPE OF THE RIGHTEOUS. CASSIODORUS: This psalm has certainly ended well in the hope of those who are good that, after forsaking the association of the wicked, they may instead reach toward the good things yet to come. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 34.23.⁷⁹

Rev. Dr. Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes concerning the end and the Christian:

The hope of Christians points to the coming again of Jesus and the resurrection of the dead. In the Psalter this hope is not expressed in so many words. That which has been, since the resurrection of Jesus, spread out for the church as a long line of events of salvation history moving toward the end of all things, is from the viewpoint of the Old Testament still a single undivided whole. Life in community with the God of revelation, the final victory of God in the world, and the establishing of the messianic kingdom are all subjects of prayer in the Psalms.

There is no difference in this respect from the New Testament. To be sure, the Psalms pray for community with God in this earthly life, but they know that this community does not end with this earthly life but continues beyond it, even stands in contrast to it (Pss. 17:14f., 6, 34). So life in community with God is certainly always directed beyond death. Death is indeed the irreversible bitter end for body and soul. It is the wages of sin, and this must not be forgotten (Pss. 39, 90). But on the other side of death is the eternal God (Pss. 90, 102). Therefore death will not triumph, but life will triumph in the power of God (Pss. 16:9ff., 56:14 [13], 49:16 [15], 73:24, 118:15ff.). We find this life in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and we pray for it now and forever.^[2]

Rev. Dr. Tim Saleska ends this Psalm in a pastoral fashion:

In the meantime, the voice in Psalm 34 reminds us that we should not think that Yhwh has relinquished control of his creation. Nor should we think that he is not in control of our lives. Nor that he isn’t near to us in those times of brokenness when he seems most distant. Sometimes, in ways that can seem ordinary, but also sometimes in ways that people can only call extraordinary, Yhwh shows his hand—even (and maybe especially) to the lowliest among us. When he does, we can rejoice in the sign that Yhwh has forsaken neither us nor his promise to us in Christ. The mitigations that he brings to our lives are tastes of a glorious future. It is for this reason that I give the psalmist’s final words in the psalm their deepest possible meaning. For me, his words describe the ultimate truth for which I wait: “Yhwh redeems the life of his servants, and all those who seek refuge in him will not be ashamed” (34:23 [22]).^[3]

Class is now in session!

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[1] Blaising, Craig A. and Carmen S. Hardin, eds., Psalms 1–50. ACCS 7. ICCS/Accordance electronic edition, version 2.6. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008. OT Vol. 7, 268-269.

^[2] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible, ed. Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Albrecht Schönherr, and Geffrey B. Kelly, trans. Daniel W. Bloesch and James H. Burtness, vol. 5, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1996), 176.

^[3] Timothy E. Saleska, Psalms 1–50, ed. Christopher W. Mitchell, Concordia Commentary (Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2020), 552.

The Internship Includes Suffering—But Not Alone

Psalm 34:19-20

19        Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

                        but the LORD delivers him out of them all.

20        He keeps all his bones;

                        not one of them is broken.

            This is the part of the class that Jesus’ students may not care for too much. This is part of the internship of being a Christian in the Classroom of Christ. The devil will put a lot of situations in our lives that would cause our faith to wilt and wither. The classroom of darkness wants Jesus’ students to focus on the here and now rather than keeping an eye to Graduation Day when Professor Jesus returns.

            St. Paul was a student in Professor Jesus’ classroom 2000 years ago. He writes this concerning his internship—and ours:

2Corinthians 4:7   But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.

Peter Craigie writes in his commentary:

God’s presence is experienced within these crisis situations; there is no divine guarantee that the righteous will escape the crises and trials of mortal existence. Thus, the psalmist espouses a more sophisticated form of wisdom theology than that of the friends of Job. The “fear of the Lord” (v 16) which was the substance of the psalmist’s instruction could well lead one into a path of life characterized by hardship and difficulty, but it brought with it the divine presence which made possible triumph in the midst of trial. On the other hand, it was equally the case that the fear of the Lord did carry with it the promise of divine protection; God does watch over the physical welfare of his people and protect them (v 20). The wisdom theology offers no easy alternatives with respect to life’s hardships; there may be protection from evil or deliverance in evil, but the only thing common to the lives of the righteous is the continuation of the divine oversight and care.[1]

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[1] Craigie, Peter C. Psalms 1–50. WBC 19. Accordance/Thomas Nelson electronic edition, version 2.0. Waco: Word Books, 1983. 281.

Professor, I Don’t Understand the Assignment

Psalm 34:17-18

17        When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears

                        and delivers them out of all their troubles.

18        The LORD is near to the brokenhearted

                        and saves the crushed in spirit.

            Inevitably, there are assignments that one or more students don’t understand. Sometimes the entire class doesn’t understand the assignment. Such are the students in Professor Jesus’ classroom—you and me.

            The righteous cry out for help. What sort of help is cried out for? The answer is deliverance from our troubles. Sometimes God will deliver you from what troubles you right now. And sometimes He won’t because He has other things in mind that we are not privy to.

            Words from the Early Church:[1]

A SPIRITUAL CRY. BASIL THE GREAT: The cry of the just is a spiritual one, having its loudness in the secret recess of the heart, able to reach even to the ears of God. . . . They sought after nothing petty, nothing earthly, nothing lowly. For this reason the Lord received their voice, and he delivered them from all their tribulations, not so much freeing them from their troubles as making them victorious over the circumstances. HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 16.12 (PS 34).⁶⁰

TRUST AND OBEY. AUGUSTINE: But what about me? I cried to him, and he did not rescue me; so either I am not righteous, or I am not following his instructions or perhaps he cannot see me. Do not be afraid, just do what he orders; and if he does not rescue you in bodily fashion he will rescue you spiritually. . . . God rescued Peter when the angel came to him as he lay in fetters and said to him, “Get up and leave”;⁶¹ the fetters were suddenly loosened, Peter followed the angel, and so God delivered him. But he did not rescue Peter from the cross. . . . But did God really not deliver him from the cross? . . . Perhaps God heard him at that later time even more surely, because this time he truly did deliver him from all his pains. When Peter was rescued the first time, what a lot of suffering still lay ahead of him! But at this later time God sent him to a place where he would never suffer again. EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 34.22.⁶²

HEARD FOR ETERNITY. CASSIODORUS: What then do we say about the martyrs, since it is well known that they were not freed from the torments of the tyrants? They were certainly set free when they were conducted to the kingdom of heaven; they were plainly released from all their troubles. For the cry of the just is always heard, not only for this life, but most of all for their eternal benefit. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 34.18.

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[1] Blaising, Craig A. and Carmen S. Hardin, eds., Psalms 1–50. ACCS 7. ICCS/Accordance electronic edition, version 2.6. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008. OT Vol. 7, 267.

Classroom Management: the Eyes of the Professor

Psalm 34:15-16

15        The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous

                        and his ears toward their cry.

16        The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,

                        to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

            Regardless of grade level—even in college—classroom management is a necessity. The eyes of the instructor or teacher are ever present watching to see if the students are understanding the material and “getting it.” And yes, sometimes there are disciplinary issues that need to take place when a student gets out of line.

            The eye of the Professor Jesus is an all-seeing eye. As students in Professor Jesus’ class, we might not always understand why we must suffer. We don’t always understand the ways of God. “Why is it that I follow the Lord and there are bad things that happen to me?” “Why is it that it seems like those who don’t live by God’s word and rules seem to be getting away with it? It almost seems easier for me to simply compromise my faith and go to the ‘other’ class with the other students.”

            Be certain that the eyes of the Professor are always toward you. God has made you one of His righteous people, therefore, He certainly and indeed hears your cries. He is paying strict attention to His students in His classroom. And the eyes of the Professor are also on those who are not enrolled in His class. God is truly against those who do not attend His class. And yet, God still is calling them to attend His class. The general truths in 34:15-17 hold true if we are not fooled by appearances. Yhwh does indeed reign. He is indeed in control. The Good Professor sees His students and knows who they are. He knows you! ^[1]

            Here are some words from the Early Church:[2]

A FAVORABLE LOOK. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: God takes care of the righteous (by “eyes” referring not simply to sight but also to what is done by God in beneficence and providence). . . . He also accepts their requests. . . . But he has an eye also for the wicked, though not in the same way as for the good. To what effect? “To destroy remembrance of them from the land”: . . . God gives evidence of great care for the righteous, accepting their supplication while completely disregarding those guilty of wrong actions and inflicting destruction on them. COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 34.16A–17B.⁵⁷

FOR OUR GOOD. AUGUSTINE: “But if he heard me, he would take my trouble away; I appeal to him, but I still have the trouble.” Just hold steady and keep to his ways, and when you are in trouble he hears you. But he is a physician, and there is still some diseased tissue in you. You cry out, but he goes on cutting, and he does not stay his hand until he has done all the cutting he knows to be necessary. In fact, it is a cruel doctor who listens to the patient’s cries and leaves the festering wound untouched. And think how mothers rub their children down vigorously in the bath, for their own good. The little ones cry out in their mothers’ hands, don’t they? Does that mean the mothers are cruel in not sparing them, in ignoring their tears? Are they not really full of tender love? All the same, the children cry, and they are not let off. So too our God is full of charity, but he seems to be deaf to our entreaty because he means to heal us and spare us for all eternity. EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 34.20.⁵⁸

34:16 Against Evildoers

A DIFFERENT GAZE. CASSIODORUS: After explaining the grace toward the just, he now turns his attention to the punishment of the wicked. . . . Understand that he sees both groups, but his gaze results in a different outcome for each group; he looks at the just to hear them, but looks upon sinners to destroy them. When he says “from the earth,” he means the future homeland, which only those who have pleased God will possess. The “remembrance” of the sinners will perish, because there will not be any recollection of them among the just. . . . Those who leave the Lord’s memory surely go on to eternal punishments. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 34.17.

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^[1] Timothy E. Saleska, Psalms 1–50, ed. Christopher W. Mitchell, Concordia Commentary (Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2020), 551.

[2] Blaising, Craig A. and Carmen S. Hardin, eds., Psalms 1–50. ACCS 7. ICCS/Accordance electronic edition, version 2.6. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008. OT Vol. 7, 266.

Psalm 34:13-14

13        Keep your tongue from evil

                        and your lips from speaking deceit.

14        Turn away from evil and do good;

                        seek peace and pursue it.

            “I’m saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone! Thank God and thank you God.” So, now what? Can the student of Professor Jesus simply live any old way she wants to? Since we are saved by God’s grace, should He not care how we live? He certainly does care about how we live out our lives as His children and His students. You are, right now, in a saved condition with God because of what Jesus Christ has done for you on the cross. Indeed, all your sins are paid for. God doesn’t pull the rug out from under our feet because we don’t live the right way all the time. This doesn’t mean, however, that God doesn’t care about how we live. He DOES care, and that’s why the choices we make really do indeed truly matter to God.

            All kinds of sins might come to mind. However, here in Psalm 34, God’s word includes the tongue. Isn’t it weird that such a small and seemingly insignificant muscle can cause so much grief and harm? It sits there behind our teeth and gums. It’s when we start flapping our gums that we get into trouble. The very tongue that we praise God for washing away our sins is the same tongue used for filthy and vile language. As the saying goes, “Would you kiss your mother with that mouth?” How about praising God with that mouth? The very tongue we use to thank God for forgiving us our sins is the very same tongue we use to gossip about others’ sins. The very tongue we use to thank God for our new identity in Christ is the very same tongue we use to tear down other peoples’ reputations and lives. Little wonder that fearing the LORD means watching our tongues. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther comments on this:

14. Pursue it. For in this life there is no end of pursuing it, since here no one grasps it. Hence the apostle says in Phil. 3:12: “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I follow after (behold, you, too, must do it!), if in some way I may apprehend it.”

But he says turn away, because in this life we are always in the midst of evils, like a lily among thorns, like kernels among the chaff. Therefore we cannot escape them physically but must do it with the spiritual will.^[1]

            The tongue of the Professor teaches us how to “fear and honor the LORD”:

Luke 23:34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Matthew 11: 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

John 19:30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

            Have your participated in any gossip, slander, or harm to someone’s reputation? Confess your sin to God with the very same tongue. He is faithful and just and forgives all sin. Then go and reconcile with that person. Doing good means seeking reconciliation with the other person as well. God LOVES reconciliation between people. Look at how the Professor reconciled you with God on His cross.

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^[1] Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 10: First Lectures on the Psalms I: Psalms 1-75, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, electronic ed., vol. 10 (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999), 161.

Class is in session. The topic is ‘the fear of the LORD’

Psalm 34:11-12

11        Come, O children, listen to me;

                        I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

12        What man is there who desires life

                        and loves many days, that he may see good?

            This is the time of the year when schools go into session. Preschools have begun, elementary through high school have students in their desks, and universities are welcoming the new incoming freshmen and returning students. This is the time to gear up for more learning.

            How about you? Are you enrolled in a class? You might be reading this and saying to yourself, “I’ve done my time in school. I graduated high school. I’ve done what I needed to do to get on with my life. So, no. I’m not enrolled in any class at the moment.”
            Well, not so fast! The second half of Psalm 34 goes into teaching mode. The word “children” here means “students” or “pupils.”[1] Are you a Christian? Are you one of God’s children? Then guess what? You’re in class!

            The class subject is the fear of the LORD. In the first half of the Psalm, we learned that there were two kinds of fear in this world. There’s the fear and afraidness that Satan likes to use to gain control over peoples, countries, etc. This kind of fear and afraidness steals the joy that God wants people to have in life. To be sure, there are realities in this world of which to be afraid. If you’re walking down a dark street and an unsavory looking character is approaching, good fear will move us into action. However, fear itself should never take over our lives and enslave us to itself.

            The other kind of fear is the fear of the LORD. This is the kind of fear that God’s people have. This is the kind of fear that governs and surrounds your life. The Christian honors and reveres God and knows that He’s always in control, even when circumstances might seem otherwise.

            The topic for class is verse 12: the meaning and purpose of life. Now, one would think that this class would be filled with a waiting line. After all, who doesn’t desire life and long, good days? However, This is God who asks the question. To find out the meaning of life and meaning for your life, we need to visit the Professor of the class, and that Professor is Jesus. He’s got the unique Ph.D. in the meaning and purpose of life. No one else possesses this degree, and no one else will ever possess this Ph.D. Only Jesus.

            To learn the meaning and purpose of life, you need to go to the front of the class and visit with the Professor. You need to sit at the feet of the Professor. There you will see Him, not wearing an academician’s Ph.D. miter. You will see Him wearing the miter of sinners. When you sit at the front of the class you will see the Professor’s hands used for instructing us in sin where His crucified hands wipe away our sins recorded on the whiteboard/chalkboard. When you sit at the feet of the Professor, you will see that His feet likewise are nailed to the cross for you. The classroom is the cross from which the Professor instructs us.

            This now is the classroom. Jesus is the Professor. Are you sitting in the back of the class? Move forward to the front of the class. You are one of His most prized students!

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[1] Craigie, Peter C. Psalms 1–50. WBC 19. Accordance electronic edition, version 2.7. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1983. 280.

Psalm 34:11-22

School’s Now In Session.

            Last week the Psalm for the Week was Psalm 34:1-10, which taught us about the fear of the LORD. The second half of the Psalm, Psalm 34:11-22, instructs us in living out, and living in, the fear of the LORD.

Propers for 15B:

Proverbs 9:1-10

            Proverbs is a genre of Biblical literature known as Wisdom literature. As with the rest of Scripture, Wisdom literature, and thus Proverbs, points to and is fulfilled in Christ in some way, shape, or form. God IS Wisdom. He’s the complete and full standard of Wisdom. God enfleshed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ, thus Jesus is God’s walking and talking Wisdom.

            In this section of Proverbs Lady Wisdom calls out to people to leave their previous life as she invites any and all people into Her home. The other lady is Folly. Her ways are temptations by the pleasures that the world has to offer. Lady Folly, however, is like the spider’s web. Once the prey is lured in and trapped, there’s no way out.

            This section praises the “simple.” “Prov. 9:1–6, 13–18 conclude the larger collection of Prov. 1–9. … Here Wisdom appears as a hostess who sends out her servant girls with invitations to a great feast in her new house (vv. 1–6). Once again, the invited guests are the “simple and inexperienced” (v. 4). If they accept Wisdom’s invitation, they acquire life (v. 6). By contrast, Foolishness merely mimics Wisdom (vv. 13–18); she too invites the “simple and inexperienced” into her house (v. 16). She is herself, however, completely characterized by “foolishness” and “ignorance.” Hence anyone who enters her house will remain “simple and inexperienced,” and will enter the sphere of death (v. 18) as the result of a failed life.”[1]

            The Proverbs reading ties in with Psalm 34:11-22 in that Lady Wisdom is God’s Wisdom teaching His people His ways for Christian living.

OR

Joshua 24:1-2, 14-18

            This part of Joshua is pretty familiar to many Christians. At least verse 15 is familiar. Many Christian homes have a picture are some sort of artwork that says As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

            The conquests have taken place. Yhwh has seen them through thick and thin as they have now entered the promised land. Joshua recounts everything that Yhwh has done for His people, including calling Abraham from a life of false gods to following Yhwh. Through Abraham God created for Himself a people and promised to be with them always—through thick and thin. God has a covenant renewal with the people here in chapter 24. Choose this day whom you will serve. Will you serve the false gods of the past? Or will you serve Yhwh alone as your God? The answer seems obvious: We will serve the LORD. However, putting this into daily practice is another matter. This was a problem back then, and it’s still a problem for God’s people today. We all need to continue in God’s classroom as we learn to serve the LORD.

Ephesians 5:6-21

            The reading for today begins at 5:6. The reading for last week ended at 5:2. So, what happened to 5:3-5? For those who might be inclined to read these, it can be disturbing, and quite frightening, when the Christian looks at his or her life and discovers that the sins listed there are a part of “my life too. Does this mean I’m excluded from the Kingdom of Christ and God?” No. It doesn’t. Paul is writing to Christians. He’s writing to you. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9 that you are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, and so you are. Through faith in Jesus, God has made you a part of His Kingdom. No matter what sins we’ve committed, God has forgiven them. You are very precious to God, and He wants you to know that.

            This latter part of Ephesians zeros in more on how the Christian is to live out his faith. Change happens in the life of the Christian, and Paul now describes what this change looks like. The old life is now in the past. Sexual immorality, filthy talk, covetousness, and so forth, are the ways of our old life before Christ came into our lives. Now that Christ lives in us by His Spirit, changes happen. Perfectly and absolutely? No. We are still sinners who give into temptations. Does that mean, then, that we should simply rollover, give up, and strive not to live God-pleasing lives? Again, NO. How we live actually matters to God. We cannot turn Christian living and good works into an rewards-punishment schema. In other words, live right and you’ll be blessed. Live wrongly and you’ll be cursed. Live right and you’ll get to heaven. Live wrongly and you’ll be damned. This is not what Paul is teaching here. He’s teaching that, now that you already have this gift of eternal life and God has made you a participant in His Kingdom, let’s now get on with Kingdom living.

John 6:51-69

            Today’s reading in John 6 brings to a conclusion Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse. We’ve heard this in church for the last four weeks.

            Many of the disciples (there were way more than twelve by this time) wanted to follow Jesus. After all, they has witnessed Him healing their sick, blind, deaf, dumb, and lame. Many of them were personally fed with the miracle of multiplying the fish and loaves of bread. They had in their minds that this Jesus is our personal walk-in clinic and drive through restaurant! “Of course, I want to follow Jesus and take part in all of this.”

            Jesus then goes into His Eucharistic explanation of what real life for people entails. It sounds like cannibalism to them, but it’s not. On the other side of the Holy Communion coin, Jesus is not teaching a spiritized teaching of the Eucharist either. Jesus is really and truly present in, with, and under the bread and the wine.

            Everyone leaves in ignorance. Everyone that is, except for the Twelve. They’re ready to learn more. The Teacher is right there in front of them. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” And so the never-ending class continues to this very day.

COLLECT OF THE DAY

Almighty God, whom to know is everlasting life [Ps 34:12], grant us to know Your Son, Jesus, to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow His steps in the way that leads to life eternal; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (B73)

            In this Prayer for the week we pray for knowledge. To know God is everlasting life. As a Christian, you already have this eternal life. We pray in this prayer that God would help us to grow in our daily faith that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Not only that, but we pray that we would follow in His steps. Following means learning and growing, which will not end until that last nail is in the coffin.

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[1] Mosis. Botterweck, G. Johannes, Helmer Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry, eds. Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Revised; Accordance electronic edition, version 1.4. 15 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006. 167

Saturday, August 17, 2024

Psalm 34:9-10

9          Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints,

                        for those who fear him have no lack!

10        The young lions suffer want and hunger;

                        but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

            “Have you ever considered yourself a saint?” I ask this question quite a bit in Bible and adult instruction classes, and to people when the opportunity arises. The usual answer I receive is, “No” with looks staring down. I get it. Been there.

            No one is a saint on their own. You’re not and I’m not either. We’re far from sainthood since we are sinners. Nevertheless, the Christian is a saint by virtue of his Baptismal faith. In Baptism God does all the work. He delivers the “great exchange” that Christ Jesus secured for us on the cross. God delivers the necessary righteousness to you because of His Son. God delivers the necessary holiness of Christ to you because of His Son. In short, God turns sinners into saints in Baptism because that’s what He enjoys doing and takes pleasure in doing so.

            This is why the Christian fears, or honors and reveres the LORD. But we’re still in this world broken by the consequences of our sins. And we’re still quite capable of giving into temptations and sin, such as the sin of anxiety and fear, as we listen to the narratives of the world and the kingdom of darkness. In doing so, the Christian begins to doubt the sovereignty of God, and worse, that God might not be as powerful as He claims to be. Another side of that afraidness-fear is that “maybe God has abandoned me because of my past and my sins.” NOT TRUE! Here are some words from some of the Early Church Fathers and scholars concerning these verses.

LACKING NOTHING. ARNOBIUS THE YOUNGER: Fear the Lord, all his saints, because the ones fearing him lack nothing—nothing of excellence in the present, nothing of perfection, nothing of future joy. COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 34.³⁵

THE FAITH OF FEAR. AUGUSTINE: There are plenty of people who hesitate to fear the Lord, because they think they may go hungry if they do. They are told, “Do not cheat.” And they protest, “How am I to eat, then? Handicrafts need a little dishonesty to succeed, and business cannot flourish without fraud . . . if I fear God, I will not have enough to live on.” . . . If we entertain thoughts like these we are in danger of being throttled by the noose of scandal. We are seeking on earth food that will perish, and not seeking the true recompense in heaven. We are putting our head into the devil’s noose; it tightens round our throat, and the devil holds us enslaved to wrongdoing. EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 34.14.³⁶

SUCCESS OF FEAR. DIODORE OF TARSUS: It is not possible for the one who fears God and hopes in him to fail. COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 34.³⁸

34:10 Lacking No Good Thing

THE RICHES GOD GIVES. ARNOBIUS THE YOUNGER: The rich dwell in uncertainty concerning the things the world gives. The riches that God gives do not fail, but they remain because these riches arise in the fear of the Lord. COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 34.³⁹

TRUE WEALTH. BASIL THE GREAT: Wealth is unstable and like a wave accustomed to change hither and thither by the violence of the wind. . . . God himself is absolute Good, and they who seek him will not be without him. HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 16.7 (PS 34)[1]

Rev. Dr. Tim Saleska puts it very pastorally in his commentary on this Psalm:

Don’t think that Yhwh doesn’t intervene in even the humblest life. Don’t think that he no longer hears and answers prayer. Don’t fail to see his extraordinary hand at work even in the ordinary provision of our lives. Learn to fear him as a child (which entails trust and love), because Yhwh loves to give good things to his children. If your heart is broken and your spirit is crushed and your life is full of troubles (34:19–20 [18–19]), remember that Yhwh is near (34:19 [18]); trust him to deliver you from it all (34:19–20, 23 [18–19, 22]). These are important lessons for us to live by.

Contrary to what we are tempted to believe, Yhwh does not always and forever remain behind the scenes, hidden and unavailable. Jesus is Yhwh come to us in the flesh (Philippians 2). As John says: “we have beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14). His physical death and resurrection are mighty deeds done to save his people, like Israel of old. And he promises to come again, just as his disciples saw him depart. And when he does, all his people will see the salvation of our God.^[2]

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[1] Blaising, Craig A. and Carmen S. Hardin, eds., Psalms 1–50. ACCS 7. ICCS/Accordance electronic edition, version 2.6. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008. Old Testament Vol. 7, 263.

^[2] Timothy E. Saleska, Psalms 1–50, ed. Christopher W. Mitchell, Concordia Commentary (Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2020), 551–552.

Friday, August 16, 2024

Psalm 34:8

8          Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!

                        Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

            My wife and I love to watch old movies, TV sitcoms, and made for TV movies. One of our favorite TV movie series is Columbo. Remember him? I’m rather surprised, sort of, that so many in the generation after me don’t know who Columbo is! He’s the bumbling, wrinkly-coated homicide detective who comes off very absent-minded. But he’s really quite brilliant, especially when comes to solving crimes.

            I found a cookbook online called Cooking With Columbo. It features a favorite recipe from one of the stars appearing in each episode. Our date nights are selecting an episode to watch while preparing the corresponding recipe. A couple of the recipes were a little weird on paper. But after tasting them—hey, they’re really quite delish!

            Taste and see that the LORD is good! God wants a relationship with each and every person. He wants a relationship with you. God invites us to check Him out. The recipe for God is to trust in Him and Him alone. This trust is found only through faith in Jesus Christ, His only Son who died on the cross for the sins of each and every person. There’s no other way to the Father except through faith in His Son. There’s no other way to eternal life with God in the afterlife except through faith in Christ Jesus. Adding any other ingredient to God’s recipe will only flop because we can’t improve on God’s recipe.

            And yet, when faced with fears in our life, we go seeking after other ingredients to add to God’s already successful recipe. The ingredients we add simply spoil God’s meal.

            Augustine wrote:

Whoever does not trust in the Lord is in a wretched state. But who are they who do not trust in the Lord? Those who trust in themselves. Sometimes, brothers and sisters, there is an even worse condition: think now. There are some who do not even trust in themselves but put their trust in other people . . . . “I’m all right, I’m under the protection of So-and-So.” . . . How ready people are to talk like this, but not to say, “I trust in God, and he will not let you hurt me.” Nor do they say, “I trust in my God, because even if he does give you some license to harm my property, he will give you no power over my soul.” EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 34.13[1]

            Jerome, an ancient exegete and scholar in the Early Church wrote:

Just as the body dies unless it is given proper food, even so does the soul if it is not given spiritual food. Why am I making such a point of this? Because there are some who insist on saying, I have no need for sacred Scripture; the fear of God is enough for me. That is, therefore, precisely why we affirm that just as there are foods for the body, so there are, likewise, foods for the soul, namely, the sacred Scripture.[2]

            So, what’s on your menu this evening?

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[1] Blaising, Craig A. and Carmen S. Hardin, eds., Psalms 1–50. ACCS 7. ICCS/Accordance electronic edition, version 2.6. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008. Old Testament Vol. 7, 262.

[2] Ibid., 263.