Psalms is quoted in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament book. Obviously, it has much to offer. Have you ever thought about how it’s put together? With 150 psalms, you could be forgiven for not being aware of the structure of the book. Have you ever noticed, for example, that the Book of Psalms is actually made up of five books (Psalms 1-41; 42-72; 73-89; 90-106; 107-150) that most scholars believe are related to the five book of Moses? So just as we have five books of Moses to read, we have five books of Psalms to pray and sing. This is minor, though. Missing the forest for the trees in the Psalms is far more problematic in other ways because it teaches some crucial lessons about how to approach life and what to expect from it.
Over the last number of weeks, we have been looking at John 6. Just one day after the feeding of the 5000, the crowds became offended at Jesus’ teaching and largely walked away, never to return. They grumbled about Him, argued with Him, and ultimately decided that they knew better than Jesus did. Their final recorded words, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it” (John 6:60), stand as a warning to all who would reject Jesus because they’re offended at what He says. While few Christians today are offended by Jesus’ claims to be the “bread of life” (v. 35) or the “bread that came down from heaven” (v. 41), many are offended by another teaching of Jesus in this same passage. The teaching that people find so offensive, today, is the idea that no one trusts in Jesus unless God enables them to do so. Let’s look at the text again and see if that’s what it really says.
In February, I attended the Work as Worship conference organized by RightNow Media. It was a one-day event with a dizzying line-up of world-renowned speakers. I’ve also been reading in this area in preparation for a new series I’m starting in June entitled, “Let God Transform your Career.” I’d like to share some of the things I learned from the conference, but I’d also like to ask for your help. Would you take a minute to answer five short questions to help me make the upcoming series as meaningful as possible? Click here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Y88QLW5
Let me share with you some of the lessons I learned from the speakers.
Sometimes, it feels like the people in biblical times had an inside scoop on faith and spirituality. We imagine that walking with Jesus and witnessing the events of his life, firsthand, would make us feel closer to Him. Yet often those people we envy are anything but models of faith. The disciples, for instance, astound us with their confusion, resistance, and lack of trust. There’s an important reason why. We need revelation more than we need experience. Take the episode of Jesus walking on the water. If we were there, it would have been memorable. But we may not have heard everything. We may not have understood everything. And even if we saw and heard everything, we may not have known what to make of it. We have something better than a view of this event, sitting by the 1st c. Sea of Galilee. We have revelation. God has given us in the gospels perfect accounts, not only recording the necessary historical details but giving us an authoritative interpretation of what we’re supposed to learn from them. Understanding this helps us to know how to read them.
On Sunday, we were away in Brampton serving at Bramalea Baptist’s missions conference. I preached and Jennifer sang in their morning services and Jennifer sang again in the evening at their short-term mission fundraising event. The reason for our involvement was their Japan focus. Specifically, they’re sending two teams to Japan to serve in two cities with which I have a deep connection. The first, Toyama, was the place where I was baptized and served initially teaching English as a new believer and recent university graduate. The second, Tsukuba, was where Jennifer and I served to plant a church. It’s exciting to see God continuing to raise up people to support the work of the gospel in these two cities.
There were three take-aways for me from the day of ministry.
Last week, I attended the regional conference of The Fellowship. Sam Allberry, of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, spoke in four sessions on, “Jesus, Sexuality and The Good News of the Gospel.” About the same time that he began to investigate Jesus and the Bible, Sam began to realize that he was attracted to men. He ended up trusting Jesus and developed deeply held biblical convictions that led him to a life of celibacy. Now an Oxford-trained pastor and author of “Is God Anti-Gay?” he is often invited to speak at conferences and universities on issues related to Christian sexuality. Regularly speaking in front of people from the LGBT community, Sam has learned to not only articulate Scripture, but to do so with love, compassion and sensitivity. Let me share some of what I learned.
Jesus said that the Scriptures pointed to Him but for a long time, I wasn’t sure how. It seemed as if the Bible mostly told stories about people like Noah, Moses, and David. How could they also be speaking of Jesus? I came to learn that one of the ways that the Old Testament points to Jesus is by laying down patterns that foreshadow Him. Those parallels can be seen clearly in the account of Daniel in the lion’s den.
I was someone who avoided the Psalms. I couldn’t figure out what to do with them. They don’t contain great stories or many commands, principles, or warnings. And there’s lots of repetition and emotion that feels like it gets in the way while you’re reading. But as I’ve continued to learn about them, I can now say that I love the Psalms. Let me share three things that helped me along the way.
People often assume that the temple is just an Old Testament church and essentially the same as the building Christians go to on Sunday, or they think it’s so foreign to their experience that they can’t relate to it at all. The temple is such a prominent theme in Scripture that having a sense of what it means and why it’s so significant helps in understanding the Bible's message.
Almost everybody has heard of the story of David and Goliath. It’s so well known that it’s become part of the English vocabulary and a way of referring to any showdown involving an underdog facing insurmountable odds. But what is the story about? What does it mean? And how do we apply its message? Getting these questions right can help open up our understanding of many other parts of Scripture. Let’s consider the message as it’s told in 1 Samuel 17.
