Peter Misselbrook's Blog
Jun 16 2019 - Psalm 73 – Prospering wicked

Psalm 73, like Job, asks why bad things happen to good people and good things to bad people.

The psalmist sought to live a life pleasing to God, but around him he sees many whose lives are preoccupied with looking after number one and they are prospering at it – look at the description of them in verses 4-11. He has been tempted with envy of them (vv. 2-3); why can't he enjoy the prosperity they enjoy? So he voices his complaint in verses 12-13:

This is what the wicked are like –
    always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.
Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
    and have washed my hands in innocence.

There have been times when I have heard Christians tell me that to be successful in this business or that you have to cut corners and be less than honest in the quality of your workmanship or the handling of finances and declaring of profits. Everybody else acts this way and if you don't you will lose out.

Two things need to be noted from this psalm. Firstly the psalmist says that he was envious and was tempted – his "feet had almost slipped" (v.2). He was tempted, but he did not follow their example.

Secondly, he voices his complaint not to God's people but to God himself. He says if he had spoken to fellow believers of his feeling that there was no benefit to living a godly life it could have acted as a snare to them, encouraged them in envy of the wicked and to abandon trust in God (v. 15).

We need to be very careful of how we share our doubts and fears with fellow Christians. It is always good to share such thoughts with a mature fellow Christian, seeking their help, their counsel and their prayer. But to share such thoughts with young Christians who are learning to follow Christ could be a snare to them. We need to watch our own words and conduct that they do not discourage or become a stumbling-block to others, particularly to those young in faith.

The psalmist tells us that his complaint found its resolution when he entered the sanctuary of God (v. 17). There the psalmist would have been made aware of the awesome holiness of God. He would have been reminded of the reality of human sin that demanded God's judgment and of the sacrifices that alone enabled sinful human beings to stand in the presence of a holy God.

Now he realises that those who live for themselves may prosper in life and die rich, but will, in the end face the judgment of God (Psalm 73:18-20, see also Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Luke 16:19-31). Trusting in the atoning sacrifice, and seeking to please God, the psalmist is assured that God is always with him (v. 23). God's Spirit will be his counsellor, encouraging and redirecting him when he is tempted to envy the ungodly. In the end, God will welcome him into glory (v.24). So this is now the testimony he gladly shares with all God's people in verses 25-26:

Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart
    and my portion for ever.

Father God, we thank you for Christ's perfect atoning sacrifice for our sins. We thank you that, risen from the dead, he is with us always. We thank you for your gift of the Holy Spirit to be our counsellor and guide. Keep us faithful in following the Lord Jesus, knowing that though we may not have the earthly riches which some others seem to enjoy, we have an inheritance of glory which far outweighs all that this world can offer. Help us to have a testimony like that in verses 25 and 26 of this psalm, a testimony that will encourage others also to trust in you.

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Jun 16 2020 - Romans 11:13-36 – The riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God

In Romans 9-11 Paul has been surveying God’s great plan of salvation that spans human history and embraces both Jew and Gentile. This is the story that stretches from Adam through Abraham and Israel in the Old Testament to find its focus at last in Jesus the Christ. This is the story that is now being played out in the world through the ministry of Paul and the other apostles. In the latter part of chapter 11 Paul focuses particularly on his own experience as an apostle to the Gentiles.

Previously, the Gentiles lacked faith in God and had no part in his covenant promises. But when Jesus the long promised Messiah appeared, the Jews rejected him; they became faithless and disobedient. None of this took God by surprise; it formed part of God’s purpose so that the Gospel message of Christ crucified might be preached to the Gentiles.

Luke records something of how this happened in the Book of Acts. Paul travelled from city to city searching out the Jewish synagogues and preaching in them concerning Jesus Christ. When the Jews rejected his message he turned his back on the synagogue and proclaimed the message to Gentiles (see Acts 13:45-49; 18:5-7; 28:27-29). Through Paul’s preaching, Gentiles who were once faithless and disobedient received mercy from God and, as they came to faith, were incorporated into God’s covenant people.

And what God has done for the Gentiles, says Paul, he can do also for disobedient Israel. They are faithless now, just as the Gentiles were previously; they also, through the mercy of God, will be drawn to Christ in faith and numbered again among his covenant people, now defined in Christ. They can be grafted back into the olive tree. Then God’s saving purpose will be complete for he will have redeemed for himself a people from every nation and people-group. The promise to Abraham will at last be fulfilled that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 13:3b).

In all of this, Paul is not outlining a defined programme, from which we can draw out detailed predictions concerning the future. Rather he is laying down a clear principle: all people, whether Jew or Gentile, have been faithless; the only way for anyone to be reckoned as part of God’s family is through the mercy of God and through faith in Jesus Christ. This is the one message of the Gospel that applies equally to Jew and to Gentile.

Paul concludes this argument with a wonderful doxology:

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor?”
“Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory for ever! Amen. (Romans 11:33-36)

We can do no better than to echo Paul’s “Amen”.

Father God, we stand amazed at your wisdom and knowledge: the wisdom that wove the fabric of the universe and filled it with your glory; the wisdom that planned our salvation; the paradoxical wisdom that sent your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to die upon a cross; the wisdom that raised him from the dead and gave him the name that is above every other name; your wisdom at work in the world by your Spirit; the wisdom that works all things together for the good of those who love you. We thank you that your saving plan has embraced us and lifted us from the dust of death to sit with Christ in heavenly places. Fill us with your wisdom and so work in us and through us that many more may be embraced by your love and join us in astonished worship.

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Peter Misselbrook