The Secret Heart

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In Hebrew the word for heart is “Levav” (לֵבָב). It connotes the inner man, the character of the person.

Psalm 51 is my wife’s favorite of the 150 psalms from Scripture. It is of course one of David’s penitential psalms. In it he confesses. His sins with Bathsheba and his staged murder of her husband Uriah are front and center. In short, David does not hide from God. He owns his sin and goes to God with it. And God hears and forgives him. That’s the pattern of the believer and that’s the pattern of God. David does not attempt to justify his sin. He owns it. He confesses it to God. And God restores him. The temporal consequences of the sin often remain but the ultimate spiritual balm remains. David is saved.

For all his faults, David remained God’s man. David had a resume you’d not wish to compete against–a poet, a musician, a shepherd, the greatest king national Israel ever had, the son who prefigured the Christ to come, a warrior, a man of means. The list could go on.

What set David apart was his heart for God. Though a sinner, he was God’s man. His heart, his nature, his character—they were Godward. He longed to please God.

Did he fail as a father to Absalom? Yes, clearly. Did he have a “woman problem” at times? Again, yes. But did David repent? Again, yes. Psalm 51 is an obvious example of this character of genuine repentance, of turning away from sin and to God.

In this psalm, David writes that the Lord delights “in truth in the inward being” (v. 6a) and that the Lord teaches “wisdom in the secret heart” (v. 6b). That’s what is meant by Levav–the character, the affections, the true nature of the man, who the man really is at his core.

I’m about to walk the hills that I have walked for years now. I know where the roots are, where the rocks are, what timber is fallen, and where I’m likely to see deer foraging. I know when I’ll hear the creeks flow and when this evening’s sun will disappear behind the western ridge.

As intimately as I know all these things, the Lord knows more. He knows why these passions for his creation consume me. He knows where I’ll step before I extend my legs. He knows the taxonomy of the rocks, the temperature of the creek’s waters, and where those waters will end. He knows the pace of my walk, the trees that tower above me, and how long my shadow is upon the forest floor.

In sum, God knows my character. Indeed, he knows all things. And he has told me in his Word that he delights “in truth in the inward being.”

It is presumptuous to speak for others, but as for me, this breaks me. It reminds me that I’m not my own, that I’ve been bought with a price, that I will answer, and this changes me.

Very Present

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Text: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Ps 46:1).

Context, Context, Context: Psalm 46 is a song/psalm of celebration penned by some of the Old Testament hymn writers of people in covenant relationship with the Lord. The 11 verses of Psalm 46 are words of praise to the present-tense God. That is crucial to understand. God is in covenant relationship with his people. He does not abandon them or forsake them. He is ever present with them.

Teaching: Focus for a moment on just verse 1. Does it say that God was or that God will perhaps be? No, it doesn’t. It says that God is, that God is very present. A temptation that we may feel at times is to think or feel as if God is not aware of our troubles, that God doesn’t care. That’s one of the great encouragements of psalms like Psalm 46. It teaches that the Lord is in intimate relationship with his covenant people. He is our refuge and strength because he is “very present.” Our feelings can and will betray us. It is unwise to live by feelings. They can and often do lead us into unwise relationships. Verse 5 of Psalm 46 reminds us that God is “in the midst.” That is, God is present. He is very present. He sees all. He knows all. He knows where you are and what you’re going through. Therefore, go to him. Verse 11 again teaches the same principle, namely, that the “LORD of hosts is with us.”

Encouragement: This past Sunday at church, I told the saints again and again the same doctrine, that God is present, that God is near, that no one escapes God. You can ignore reality, but reality still exists. Your suppression of it does not change the truth of the way things are. God is a covenant-making, covenant-keeping God. People will let you down; they will disappoint you; they will betray you. But God is faithful and will not—indeed cannot—lie. And that truth, dear ones, is encouraging. God is very present and is a refuge and strength to all who are in him.

Gospel Distinction: Chaplain Daily Touchpoint #438

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Illustration: Have you ever been blessed by having a godly person in your life? My father-in-law was such a man to me. He died a few years ago but I still sense his presence each day. His mannerisms, his laugh, his kindness, and ways of encouraging each person with whom he came into contact—they all still surround me. He gave off what Scripture calls a fragrant aroma of kindness (2 Cor 2:14-16, e.g.). When you parted from him, you mysteriously felt uplifted, encouraged, restored to a spirit of hopefulness.

Segue: This coming Lord’s Day at our church, I’ll be teaching 1 Peter 4:1-6. Those verses concern the matter of gospel distinction. That is, Christians, Peter teaches, are to be known for their witness. They’re not to be obnoxious or prideful or worldly. They’re to live lives like Randy lived—lives transformed by the grace of God. Peter says we’re not to live lives characterized by “sensuality, passion, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry” (1 Pt 4:3). Let it never be said that Scripture doesn’t get specific regarding human sin. Peter says that the pagan world is “surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you” (1 Pt 4:4). See, by not participating, you make your theology visible. By not going along, you bear witness to your conversion.

Encouragement: Gospel distinction is the kind demonstration and public display of the sovereign work of God in our lives. It’s living out externally what God has wrought internally. That’s what Papa did. He lived it out. I remember when I preached his funeral, one of the things I said was that Papa lived the best sermon I ever saw preached. I can only hope to emulate such a man.

A Matter of Trust

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Illustration: I’ve listened to Billy Joel’s music most of my life. When I was a boy, I was fortunate to see him live in concert at least once. One of his tunes from the 1980s is titled “A Matter of Trust.” Below are some of the lyrics:

Some love is just a lie of the soul
A constant battle for the ultimate state of control
After you’ve heard lie upon lie
There can hardly be a question of why


Some love is just a lie of the heart
The cold remains of what began with a passionate start
But that can’t happen to us
‘Cause it’s always been a matter of trust


It’s a matter of trust
It’s always been a matter of trust
It’s a matter of trust
‘Cause it’s always been a matter of trust

Connection:

Like many of Joel’s songs, this one is about relationships–their joys, mysteries, sorrows, and dramas. The theme of this particular tune is trust. Scripture, too, speaks to this issue of trust. The locus of the wise person’s trust is crucial. Upon whom should the wise person rely? Self? A spouse? A friend? A politician? A fellow soldier? A grandparent? God?

Per Scripture, the wise person will trust the Lord. Why? Because God is the one person who cannot lie. That is one of the most comforting truths in the world–that God cannot lie. Why? Because to lie would mean being less than holy, less than perfectly righteous. And that would violate God’s nature.

Encouragement: In Psalm 20, David writes the following:

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

They collapse and fall,

but we rise and stand upright (Ps 20:7-8).

I long to rise and stand upright. But that hinges upon the locus of our faith. The wise person’s trust should be in the one who is ultimately and wholly trustworthy, the Lord himself.

Chaplain Daily Touchpoint #436: The Matter of an Unchanging Foundation

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Text: “[I]f the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3).

Analysis: That’s an excellent question, is it not? It rests upon a few presuppositions. First, that there is indeed a foundation. But what exactly is the foundation? Is it something immovable and fixed? Or is it something malleable and subject to change? If it changes, on what grounds does it change? Fluctuating, conflicting human preference? By what standard does one evaluate the foundation if and when it is removed from an unchanging absolute?

These should be basic questions because they go to the heart of ontology—to the heart of being itself. But what if cliches and juvenile talking points supplant deep, critical thinking? What then? Does it degenerate into a matter of human will? That is Nietzschean nihilism and ends in bloodshed.

Context, Context, Context: What David is driving at in Psalm 11 is that God is the unmovable, fixed, unchanging standard of righteousness. All other standards are by definition contingent. That’s the point of the rhetorical question, “if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

Encouragement: “For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds” (Psalm 11:7a). Righteousness is inseparable from God himself. To seek to define righteousness vs. unrighteousness, good vs. evil, light vs. dark without references to the one true and living God is having one’s feet firmly planted in midair. In other words, they’re not planted at all. They’re foundationless. And if you want to know what that looks like, just look around at the ideas being proffered. They’re unqualifiable assertions lacking a transcendent and objective foundation. That is why David calls the wise back to God, back to the unchanging, holy, righteous, fixed standard by which ethics is defined.

Chaplain Daily Touchpoint #435: The Beginning of Wisdom

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Text:

19 Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail;
    let the nations be judged before you!
20 Put them in fear, O Lord!
    Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah

Context, Context, Context: David, the shepherd/poet/king, wrote Psalm 9. Psalm 9 is sometimes categorized as a psalm or confidence or a psalm of thanksgiving. The reasons are straightforward: David recognizes and rejoices in the fact that God is the one most worthy of praise. He is the one from whom all blessings flow. He is to be the believer’s focus. Through most of the poem, David employs language of God as king, as ruler, as supreme. And when we get to lines 19-20, David is speaking of nations hostile to God and to God’s truth.

Teaching: David focuses on the theological posture of nations and people who oppose God. David prays that the nations would be judged before the holy judgment seat of God (v. 19), that they might learn to fear the Lord (v. 20a), and they would be humbled before God (v. 20b).

Encouragement: Throughout Scripture, God’s Word teaches that humility precedes honor, that pride is abominable before God. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (James 4:10). Satan is the one who opposed the King of kings; he demanded the spotlight; he wanted to be the Most High. But God will not share his glory with another. God is the Creator and we are his creatures. And David, because he understands the times and what God’s people are to do, calls the nations (i.e., people) to humility before God so that, at the proper time and in the proper way, God might raise them up.

Coffee with a Friend

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Coffee with a friend this morning. We met at a local coffee shop, ordered his cappuccino and my black coffee, then went and sat in the Adirondack chairs across the street, and again spoke of theology, apologetics, history, church history, current events, and the gospel.

As I sipped my coffee and he sipped his cappuccino, we listened to each other, asked questions of one another, spoke of our love for our families, and of our churches.

My friend is bubbling with ideas, with questions, with intellectual curiosity. He is reading and thinking deeply. He is tender to truth. He is hungry for it.

I see myself in him, especially as I was years ago, when I was finding my way theologically and recognizing how God put men and women in my life at the right times to shepherd me and encourage me.

I hope to be such a person to him. I am so encouraged each Saturday morning by our time together. It is encouraging to enjoy kind and tender dialogue and discussion and depth in a culture that so often is characterized by acerbic tones, crassness, and a shutting down of depth and civility.

It’s a small thing–simple things like coffee and conversation. But I am confident that times like this sow seeds of hope and truth and kindness in a culture so often diminished by the lack of such small things.

Till next time.

Who Reigns?

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Intro: Regardless of when I read Psalm 2, it’s as if it is ripped from that day’s headlines.

Verse 1 portrays the nations as raging and people plotting in vain.

Verse 2 describes how the earth’s leaders set themselves against God and his Anointed/messiah.

Verse 3 personifies the world’s powers as wanting to cast off all restraint and oppose God.

You don’t have to be paying too much attention to world events to possibly think to yourself, “Hmmm? Why does this sound so familiar?”

Regardless of our worldview or our political leanings, surely we can all admit that we’re living through a civilizational shift:

  • Artificial Intelligence seems to pop up in almost every article or story.
  • The Middle East is a powder keg.
  • Religious iconography is being profaned and/or completely perverted.
  • Some politicians continue to be revealed as being bought and paid for by wealthy lobbies.

The list goes on and on.

Questions: What does the Lord, according to Scripture, think of all this? Is he taken aback? Is he befuddled? Just let Scripture speak for itself:

4He who sits in the heavens laughs;
    the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
    and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King
    on Zion, my holy hill.”

7 I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
    today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
    and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron
    and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” (Ps 2:4-9)

It’s almost as if God knows his creatures’ proclivities and natures through and through–almost as if he is sovereign, almost as if he’s letting people learn lessons. Meanwhile, the drama continues. It all plays out.

Concluding Thoughts on the Book of Job

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Introduction: Again and again I return to the Wisdom Literature in Scripture—especially Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. Why? Well, those books especially deal the most with enduring existential questions: 1) Why is there so much suffering?; 2) What is man’s root problem?; 3) Is there a solution?; 4) If so, what is it?; 5) Why is evil so often permitted and goodness so often punished? There are more questions addressed in the Wisdom Literature, of course, but the aforementioned are some of the main ones.

Context, Context, Context: The Book of Job explores these questions in excruciating detail. This morning as I completed my reading through it yet again, I was again moved to my core. Why? Well, because God answers Job. Beginning in chapter 38 of the Book of Job, God answers. And Job is changed. As are Job’s friends. Job’s fortunes are restored; they are, in fact, doubled (Job 42:10). Job is commended personally by God (Job 42:7).

Teaching: Job repented of his presumptuousness and pride: “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further” (Job 40:4-5). Job was, in short, humbled. He came to more fully understand God’s sovereignty and his (Job’s) finitude. Job was made to know his limitations. In other words, humility precedes honor: that was one of the verities Job was taught. Pride is our root problem; we assume a posture of importance before God and God has to remind us that we are creatures of dust that he formed. He is the Creator; we are the creatures. When we get that theology into our viscera, it changes us. It humbles us in order that we will look to God.

Chapters 38-42 of Job are some of the most moving closing chapters of any piece of literature one will find. Why? Because they illustrate the utter magnificence of God, God’s wisdom, and God’s sovereignty. God levelled scathing rebukes at the short-sighted theology of Job’s friends. Simultaneously, God gave Job an inestimable gift—namely, himself. God was there . . . through it all. And God was good . . . through it all. And great blessing followed great suffering.

Encouragement: All of us know some measure of suffering. It’s unprofitable to compare our levels of suffering. All of us know sickness, sorrow, death, loss, grief, betrayal, and more. Those are all experiences of the human condition, of fallenness, of a broken world. We all understand that in our bones. But what is also true is that God is still there; he still is sovereign in, through, and over our suffering. In the incarnation, God the Son became one of us in order to take on flesh and suffer in our stead. This is what Job’s story is to drive us to understand. The Suffering Servant, Jesus, came in order to bear the punishment that we prideful creatures deserve. And the response of the wise person is to do as Job did—repent and flee to God. Don’t minimize the beauty and pathos of Job 42:12: “And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning.” Let us attend to that wisdom, meditate upon it, and be transformed by it. God blesses his people—but there is always a cross before a crown.