Skip to main content

Psalm 4:6-8

"There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!” You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."

    Good.  How do we define good?  How do we define success, happiness, joy, fulfillment, etc?  In God's terms, or in man's terms?  There are many who tell us that we will be happy if we just get that job or that possession.  They tell us that we deserve this "good" and that in it we will find ourselves truly complete.  Unfortunately, there are many in the Church who peddle the Gospel in the same manner, telling us that the joy and prosperity found in God are primarily defined by our checkbook and stress-free lives.  "If the Lord lifts the light of His face upon you," they say, "you'll never have another worry.  All your bills will pay themselves.  Your family won't disappoint you.  You'll have your best life now and forever."

    I'm afraid the Bible paints a different picture.  For starters, not every circumstance will be pleasant.  We are called to bear our crosses and to press through adversity.  What makes us different, however, is the presence of the Lord.  His presence doesn't always change our circumstances, but it does change how we deal with them.  He gives us joy that transcends circumstances.  He gives us rest that allows us to lie down and sleep despite the troubles around us.  It's not that we are blind to our problems, but with the knowledge of the Lord's sovereignty and the assurance that the things of this life are vanities we can find peace and safety.  This is what the grace of God produces in the life of a believer!  This is true joy!  This is what happens when the Lord lifts the light of His face upon His people!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Real Presence & Paedocommunion: A Deeper Rift Between Reformed Churches

You're going back to Rome! Theological disagreements within the Reformed world, especially those of the last half century, often devolve into these sorts of accusations.  As controversialists like Doug Wilson and Peter Leithart began to break away from the larger conservative Presbyterian and Reformed denominations, it became clear that the rift was deeper than semantics and systematic minutiae.  Much like the Reformation four centuries before, the Table was a primary point of conflict.   What does it mean?  Who may partake?  What do we call it?    These questions, along with a few more, divided Reformed brethren as the physical elements of our religion reflected deeper conflicts.  Good men began to understand that the problem wasn't just in our logos, but in our pathos and ethos, as well. Paedocommunion (hereafter PC) has been one of the hottest points of contention.  PC has always been normal to me as I grew up with it.  I underst...

Anglicanism, Paedocommunion, & Being Reformed

I consider myself Reformed.  I was baptized as a baby in a PCA church.  I grew up in a Reformed microdenomination that allowed its member churches to subscribe to any of the Reformed confessions (we subscribed to the Three Forms of Unity).  In many ways, whether I like it or not, I still think and act like a Reformed Presbyterian.   Some, however, would seek to deny me that label.  I suspect there are many reasons for this, but paramount among them is that I hold to Paedocommunion (hereafter PC), which, for some reason, is absolutely the worst thing ever to these people.  Some would go so far as to say that PC makes me a heretic, but they all agree that I am certainly not Reformed .   My recent engagement with these opponents of PC has caused me to reflect on what it means to be Reformed and what it means to be a Christian.  This online jousting has dovetailed well with some of my recent study, particularly  An Apology of the Church...

Some Thoughts on the 2024 Election

So, we had an election earlier this week.  Perhaps you heard about it. I have done my best to remain mostly silent on political issues this time around because I have found that fixating on such matters does little for my mental or spiritual health.  Also, no one cares what I think.  Nevertheless, here are a few thoughts on our recent election. 1) I didn't vote for Donald Trump, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not glad he won.  To be clear, that says more about Kamala Harris than about Donald Trump. 2) This election seemed much cleaner--much less suspicious--than the sordid affair we had in 2020.  This election didn't feature any poll workers tallying (discovering? conjuring?) votes behind closed doors in the wee hours of the night, messy mail-in voting, or voter turnout beyond plausible expectations.  The 2020 election had me convinced that we would never see another peaceful, uncontested election, but, as contentious as things were this year, it seems like...