News

I will remember the deeds of the Lord;

yes, I will remember your wonders of old.

I will ponder all your work,

and meditate on your mighty deeds.

Your way, O God, is holy.

What god is great like our God?

—Psalm 77:11-13

But when they measured [the manna] with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.

—Exodus 16:18a

“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”

—Leviticus 23:22

“When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.”

—Deuteronomy 24:20-22

The Lord's people remember who the Lord is and what He has done, remember who they themselves are and walk accordingly. That allows them to serve as His witnesses.

Children start learning important lessons even before they begin learning reading or writing or arithmetic. Including kindness. Israel had much to learn, so the Lord began teaching them very early. They needed to learn to trust Him, so He provided food and water in the wilderness. They needed to learn fairness, so He arranged it so that each one would have enough.

After children learn basics, such as the names of colors, the alphabet, and counting, they are ready to learn bigger subjects, such as art, reading, and arithmetic, that make use of the most elementary lessons. Including manners. The Law of Moses looked forward to their life in the promised land, and it taught them how to make use of the bounty that would be available to them.

As the Law clearly stated the way Israel was to use bountiful harvests, the Lord continued to remind His people of who He is and of their own past. Instead of squeezing every possible bit of profit from their fields and orchards and vineyards, the Lord's people were commanded to make that bounty available to others, giving opportunities to those of lesser means.

The Lord is not the God of selfish productivity. He is the God of compassion and grace.

“Hear my prayer, O Lord,

and give ear to my cry;

hold not your peace at my tears!

For I am a sojourner with you,

a guest, like all my fathers.”

—Psalm 39:12

“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.’

—Exodus 22:21-24

“You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.”

—Exodus 23:9

“‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’”

—Deuteronoy 27:19

“The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me.”

—Leviticus 25:23

“In whatever tribe the sojourner resides, there you shall assign him his inheritance, declares the Lord God.”

—Ezekiel 47:23

The reminders of Israel's ancestry as sojourners were not just an intellectual exercise or an arms-length history lesson. They were given to shape the way the Lord's people lived.

A teacher or other adult may correct a child who is treating a playmate or classmate unfairly by asking, "How would you feel if...?" That question is intended to awaken empathy. But a parent or other family member may ask, "Do you remember when you...?" That question, grounded in personal knowledge and shared experience, is intended to awaken memory. Which then kindles empathy.

Those questions can be more effective on children who are willing to recognize what they have felt in the experiences of another, who will use that recognition to guide their actions. (Think of looking forward to the Golden Rule.) Those questions may be less effective on children who can only think of their present wants and feelings, who have forgotten or ignored their own past. (Think of looking back to the Pharaoh of Exodus.)

The Ten Commandments begin with a declaration of who God is. Throughout the Law of Moses, instructions to Israel are punctuated with the same kind of declaration. And the Law is also full of reminders of who the Lord's people are.

And the instructions and commands to the Lord's people include a warning: the power of God that delivered the Israelites from Egypt would also be used to discipline His own people if they forget who He is.

And forget that they, too, are sojourners.

I am a sojourner on the earth;

hide not your commandments from me!

—Psalm 119:19

The Lord watches over the sojourners;

he upholds the widow and the fatherless,

but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

—Psalm 146:9

He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

—Deuteronomy 10:18-19

“And you shall make response before the Lord your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there... And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders...’

And you shall set [your offering] down before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God. And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.”

—Deuteronomy 26:5a, 8, 10-11

The Law commanded respect and compassion and justice for the weakest among the Israelites, including the sojourners.

When Sarah died, Abraham went to the Hittites to negotiate the purchase of a cave that could be used as a burial crypt. Some of the language and the process of negotiation may be unfamiliar to modern ears, but Abraham's opening statement is clear: “I am a sojourner and a foreigner among you...”

And equally clear is the tone of respect with which the Hittites responded to Abraham. They did not resent his presence simply because he hadn't been born among them.

Joseph was not born in Egypt. But that did not keep the Pharaoh of his day from recognizing the wisdom which the Lord had given to Joseph. Instead of mocking Joseph, Pharaoh gave him authority and respect. But a different generation saw a Pharaoh come to power who had no respect—regardless of the reason—for the service of Joseph. That new Pharaoh instigated oppression and murder as national policy.

Moses fled from Egypt out of fear of violence. While in Midian, he continued to defend the helpless. He was welcomed; he married; he had a son. And he gave his son a name that acknowledged, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”

Those events are only part of the context in which we find Israel commanded to remember their ancestry and their own past. They were commanded to “love the sojourner” and to include the sojourner in their rejoicing at all the good gifts of the Lord.

All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,

for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

—Psalm 25:10

All the nations you have made shall come

and worship before you, O Lord,

and shall glorify your name.

For you are great and do wondrous things;

you alone are God.

Teach me your way, O Lord,

that I may walk in your truth;

unite my heart to fear your name.

—Psalm 86:9-11

In the path of righteousness is life,

and in its pathway there is no death.

—Proverbs 12:28

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

—Romans 5:8

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

—2 Corinthians 8:9

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

—Ephesians 5:1-2

Paul understood legalism and trusting in one's own accomplishments. And he understood that they don't work. But only after He met Jesus.

The “paths of righteousness” in David's “my Shepherd” song are good paths, right paths, and paths of life. And more. Because they are not just the paths that the Lord taught about or commanded. They are His paths. And not just because they belong to Him.

They are the paths on which He walked. They are the paths that reflect and reveal His character.

Saul of Tarsus had stumbled into a path that veered from the steadfast love of the Lord, that swerved into a path that breathed threats and murder instead of breathing peace and life. But, by grace, the Lord stopped Saul in his tracks.

By grace, Saul's eyes were opened. His learning became an instrument in the hands of the Lord instead of an accomplishment of his own. He became an apostle to the Gentiles instead of a barrier to their inclusion.

Through word and pen and example, he pleaded for both Gentiles and Jews to set aside division and to join him in walking the Lord's path of steadfast love and faithfulness.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

—Psalm 51:7

Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse,

and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.

Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you;

reprove a wise man, and he will love you.

—Proverbs 9:7-8

Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.”

—1 Samuel 15:15

Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him.

—1 Samuel 20:32-33a

Nathan said to David, “You are the man! ....” David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

—2 Samuel 12:7a, 13a

“Come now, let us reason together”, says the Lord:

—Isaiah 1:18a

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand

—Philippians 4:5

Paul asked the Galatian believers, “Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?“

A person's responses to questions or discussions—not to mention disagreements or corrections—reveal that person's heart and character.

Saul boasted about doing what he had been commanded. When Samuel asked him about the sounds of the animals, Saul began pointing fingers—“they” and “the people” spared the animals, but “we” obeyed. He even used sacrifice as a cover story. As his paranoia grew, he became jealous of the praise David received, he fantasized that the priests of Nob conspired against him and ordered their murder, and even tried to kill his own son.

When Nathan confronted David with the Lord's judgment on David's actions with Bathsheba and Uriah, the first words out of David's mouth were, “I have sinned...” And that is the context of David's song of confession that pleads for the Lord to make him clean like snow.

Snow, as a symbol of a cleansed condition, appears again in the word of the Lord through Isaiah. After rebuking the sinful and corrupt nation and its rulers for their violence, injustice, and indifference to the helpless, the message calls for reason leading to cleansing and obedience.

Paul pleaded with the Philippian believers to be reasonable. He not only asked those in conflict to “agree in the Lord”, he asked for another to help them.

And the snow is not just a veneer covering up the corruption underneath. It is the character of hearts and minds guarded by the peace of God in Christ Jesus.

He calls to the heavens above

and to the earth, that he may judge his people:

“Gather to me my faithful ones,

who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”

—Psalm 50, 4-5

“Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?

—Micah 6:8

And behold, a man came up to [Jesus], saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”

—Matthew 19:16-17

“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

—Luke 11:23

“And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges...’”

Luke 14:23a

Psalm 50 paints a vivid picture in language that has prophetic double meaning.

The Mighty One calls to heaven and earth to gather His covenant people. Perhaps those who first heard or read those words started thinking at this point of harvest and celebration. But the song continued.

The Lord speaks as a judge, telling His people that their sacrifices and ceremonies are offensive because of their actions and speech that showed hearts that had discarded His instruction. Their sacrifices resembled bribes more than humble, loving gifts. He rebukes them, reminds them, and calls them to remember. Even in their rebellion, His grace calls them to reconciliation.

Micah speaks to the injustice and greed of his time, responding to one who might ask, "What good deed can I do to fix things?" His answer calls them to remember what the Lord has required all along. He calls them to respond with hearts and humility. Centuries later, Jesus answered a similar question with an answer that also pointed back to the Father's long-standing (and long-suffering) instruction.

While Jesus was a guest at a Sabbath meal in the house of a leading Pharisee, He healed a man suffering from edema (a condition sometimes associated with heart problems). Jesus taught about humility and compassion. And when another guest spoke of feasting in the kingdom of God, Jesus told a sobering parable of a feast where the invited guests were too busy with their own affairs to attend.

But the feast wasn't cancelled. Instead, the host—to borrow words from Psalm 147—filled His house by gathering the outcasts.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy habitation of the Most High.

—Psalm 46:4

He opened the rock, and water gushed out;

it flowed through the desert like a river.

—Psalm 105:41

“For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.”

—Ezekiel 47:9b

And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him.

—Luke 5:13

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

—John 7:37-38

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city

—Revelation 22:1-2a

Last night's speaker reminded the audience that when people living in the first-century Roman world declared that "Jesus is Lord!" they were also saying that "Caesar is not."

I like my coffee with a certain kind of creamer. My wife does not. She likes hers with low-fat milk. This morning, while pouring her first cup, my mind was elsewhere and I was operating on muscle memory. So I reached into the refrigerator, took out the creamer, and added it to her coffee. And then realized what I had done.

I couldn't unpour the creamer. I couldn't add a little more coffee from the pot to dilute it, just as adding a little clear water to dirty dishwater would make it palatable to drink.

Several days ago, she read an article about the sharp decline in obstetric mortality after germ theory became understood and doctors started washing their hands between patients.

All of these have to do with contagion. As Paul put it in letters to Corinth and Galatia, “a little leaven leavens the whole lump.”

Israelites with contagious conditions were ceremonially unclean, excluded from close contact with others. But the touch of Jesus brought healing. Similarly, Ezekiel's vision of the water flowing from the temple revealed the healing power of God to overcome contamination.

The Israelites struggled to remember that their allegiance to the Lord had to be uncontaminated with little doses of the corrupted idolatry and practices of the nations around them. Only then could they be the Lord's witnesses to His truth.

The Lord cleanses and heals. It is His living water that brings life. And John's revelation warned against trying to add to it.

Behold, how good and pleasant it is

when brothers dwell in unity!

—Psalm 133:1

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one”

—John 17:20-22

And they all left him and fled.

—Mark 14:50

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

—John 20:19

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

—Ephesians 4:1-3

David knew what it was like to live in a divided country. He had experienced unjust persecution and betrayal and the toxic consequences of his own failures to honor God's commands. So, David was able to sing of the joy-giving, life-giving blessing of unity.

Jesus lived and taught in a time of divisions. Of coure, Pharisee versus Sadducee comes to mind, but there were other factions as well, some of which were willing to engage in violence and murder. It would be easy to understand someone urging Jesus to choose a side and work within it to spread His message. But He didn't do that.

He called people to Himself. And among His last words, before being murdered by those who claimed that they were doing it for their nation and their way of life, He prayed for all who would believe in Him—including us—to be one. Just as He and the Father were One.

When Judas showed up in the garden with an armed crowd to seize Jesus, the other disciples ended up running away. But, after Jesus was brutalized and crucified, after He had defeated death and left the tomb, Jesus came to where His disciples were hiding and proclaimed peace on them.

Paul lived in a time of division. He began as an eager participant in conflict. But then he met Jesus. He became willing to follow Jesus regardless of the political or economic or social consequences to himself.

David rejoiced over unity. Paul prayed for unity. Jesus prayed for His people to be one. He offered peace to those who had abandoned Him.

Do we believe that He meant what He said?

Do not forsake me, O Lord!

O my God, be not far from me!

Make haste to help me,

O Lord, my salvation!

—Psalm 38:21-22

The Lord is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

—Psalm 145:8

“And [the younger son] arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him...

But [the older son] was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him”

—Luke 15:20, 25, 28a

“And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

—Luke 18:7-8

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

—James 1:19-20

We don't need a tachometer to measure the speed of a snail or a tortoise. But we do need one for an automobile engine or other power source that exceeds what human eyes can detect.

Five of the Psalms in the ESV pray for the Lord to “make haste”. Two more plead for Him to respond “quickly”. But we can't dismiss them as nothing more than requests of people who are hurting or afraid. Jesus asked rhetorically whether God would “delay long”, and then He reassured His disciples that God's justice would be given “speedily“. Luke's account uses the Greek word that is the root of the English words, “tachometer” and "tachymeter".

Human eyes may not see His response coming, or they may not understand the form it takes, but we have His assurance that it will come. Luke's gospel sets this assurance in the parable Jesus told to encourage them to continue in prayer without losing hope or courage.

In contrast, the Lord is slow about other things.

The Israelites quickly forgot their trust in the One who had rescued them from Egyptian slavery. His demonstrations of power had “executed judgment” on the Egyptian idols. But the Israelites were quick to accept a golden calf as a substitute. The Lord could have destroyed them as ingrates. Instead, He declared His character to Moses—“slow to anger”—in language that continues to echo through the Law, Prophets, and Psalms.

And, as James reminds his readers, if that is the character of the Lord, how could His children do anything other than follow?