Friday, July 21, 2023

Trust in the LORD! (Psalm 115:9-11)

 

9 O Israel, trust in the LORD!

He is their help and their shield.

10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD!

He is their help and their shield.

11 You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!

He is their help and their shield.

It’s hard to miss the point. The call to trust Yahweh is found in every verse in this stanza.

As to the occasion behind the composition of this psalm, we may have a clue in verse 2: “Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” (in quotation marks). This could have been a taunt in the context of a battle. When do you taunt? Taunting is usually done when you are winning— when you have the upper hand. It could be that the background of this psalm was a military crisis (Longman, TOTC). Israel in engaged in war and the enemies are temporarily winning.

What was Israel’s response to the taunt? They responded by saying that Israel’s God is in the heavens and he does whatever pleases his (verse 3). He has all power, authority, and knowledge… and acts in his own time and in ways he chooses” (NLT Study Bible). Then Israel proceeds with mocking the idols of the enemies in verses 4-8, which could be read as a counter taunt: they have mouths but are unable to speak, they have ears but can’t hear; with noses but can’t smell, they have hands but unable to feel, with feet but cannot walk, with throats but can’t produce a sound out of it.

In our stanza (verse 9-11), along with the threefold call to trust Yahweh is the threefold use of the metaphor shield. Yahweh is their help and their shield. This metaphor of course is again military inspired. In the midst of this military crisis, they have a defender— a protector.

In the next two verses (12-13), they expressed their confidence that the Lord remembers his people and that he will bless them. He will bless Israel. He will bless the descendants of Aaron the priest and lastly, the category where we belong: he will bless those who fear the Lord, both the small and the great.

Brothers and sisters, we may not be in a military crisis right now but we are all facing song crises in some other shapes and forms. It may be a financial crisis. It may be a relational crisis. It may be a health crisis. But in whatever crisis you may be facing, never forget that your God is in the heavens. And though we may not understand what he is doing for he does whatever he pleases, we trust that he who sits on his throne possesses perfect wisdom, and if we remain in the fear of God, we could have the same confidence as ancient Israel had. The Lord shall surely bless.


Friday, February 7, 2020

On Romans 13:1-7

"a participatory democracy is radically different from the government of which Paul speaks in his admonition to the believers in Rome. It is expected in a participatory democracy that bad laws are to be changed and bad officials are to be ousted."

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Sovereignty plus love and care

God is not limited by our limitations, discouraged by our discouragements, or hindered by our shortcomings. He is sovereign over all things! In the hands of a tyrant such as Herod, this kind of power could terrify and devastate, but when combined with God’s covenantal love and care for his creation and image bearers, it can fill us with hope and peace, no matter what the circumstances.

The First Days of Jesus
Andreas J. Köstenberger
Alexander Stewart

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Glorifying God by Imitating Him

Wayne Grudem
Business for the Glory of God
He created us in such a way that we would take spontaneous delight in seeing reflections of his character in our own actions and in the actions of others. Though this process is now marred by sin, we still see it happening to some extent. We feel a deep, fulfilling kind of joy and satisfaction in telling the truth (because God is truthful), treating others fairly (because God is fair and just), acting in love toward other people (because God is love), being faithful to our marriages and keeping our word in other commitments (because God is faithful), and so forth. We also enjoy seeing other people act in these ways, because in those actions we catch a glimpse of the character of God. In this way we can begin to understand how to fulfill the command, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

Thursday, November 1, 2018

The Incarnation and the Plan of Salvation

Stephen J. Wellum
Holman KJV Study Bible
Apart from Him as God the Son incarnate, we do not have a Redeemer who can stand on our behalf as a man, let alone satisfy God's own righteous demand upon us due to our sin. After all, it is only God who can save us. By becoming one with us, our Lord not only becomes our sympathetic Saviour, He also accomplishes a work that saves us fully, completely, and finally.

Monday, October 22, 2018

Christian Joy

 "Joy is a happiness based on unchanging divine promises and eternal spiritual realities. It is the sense of well-being experienced by one who knows that all is well between oneself and the Lord. Joy is not the result of favorable circumstances but occurs even when those circumstances are the most painful and severe."

John Macarthur
Richard Mayhue

Monday, September 25, 2017

Not just a sign

"Abraham's servant wasn't just asking for a sign; he was asking for a woman of character who would be one in a thousand."

Gary Thomas
The Sacred Search

Trust in the LORD! (Psalm 115:9-11)

  9 O Israel, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their...