Thirsting for the Living God

Berean Baptist on April 29, 2016

My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? (Psalms 42:2)

The 42nd Psalm begins the second division of the Book of Psalms. From here through chapter 72, the psalms correspond to the book of Exodus. The major theme and key word for this section is deliverance.

There are so many great verses in this chapter that it is hard to pick a single one for fear you have done injustice to the rest. However, like most of the Bible, each verse is its own well of depth, so we must choose for the short term which one to discuss. I choose to concentrate on verse 2 which contains one of the beautiful expressions in the Bible. The psalmist said, “My soul thirsteth for God, the living God…” You might suppose “the living God” would not be an often repeated phrase in scripture for surely nothing is clearer than the fact we serve a living God. The first chapter of the Bible does not announce the existence of the living God, rather it is assumed. God is written all over the heavens, so do we really need a chapter that explains there is a living God?

Going back to the thought of deliverance, this phrase “the living God” appears in the book of Joshua as the Israelites were ready to cross the Jordan River to attack the fortified city of Jericho. This is the point where they would begin the conquest of Canaan. In front of them was their first obstacle. How were they going to get an army across the river when it was at flood stage? In chapter 3 verse 10, Joshua explained that they were about to see the evidence of the living God, or as a direct quote, “the living God is among you.” The evidence was that when the priests that carried the Ark of the Covenant stepped their feet into the waters of the Jordan River, the river would immediately stop flowing and they would cross on dry ground. This was no small feat—a miracle at any time—but especially since at this time of year the river overflowed its banks. A torrent of water cascaded down the channel making it impossible to cross. To stop the water at their crossing point, meant that God must also stop all the tributaries from flowing as well. In the 16th verse, this is what happened. Joshua said, “The waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.”

The significance of the phrase “the living God” in Joshua is that they were about to confront an enemy that also had their gods. The enemy was fortified and certainly more warlike than the children of Israel. One of the fears of Israel when they attempted to conquer Canaan was their chariots of iron and their plenitude of horses. Israel did not have these and were at a great disadvantage—except for the living God. These were no match for the living God. The gods of the Canaanites were dead gods of stone and their horses were mere creatures that God created with the spoken word. He could destroy them all with the same.

This is the kind of genuine deliverance that causes this section of Psalm 42 to correspond to the theme of this division. Trust in the living God is our great hope. The living God ensures the reality of our faith. This is the God that we shall see—as Job said, “In my flesh, shall I see God” (Job 19:26). He ever lives and is working in the world to bring us to Him.

The psalmist said in this verse that his soul thirsted for God. How do we satisfy this thirst? There is only one way—we drink from the wells of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus said: “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38). Living waters from the living God—what can be more satisfying?

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Faithful Friends

Berean Baptist on April 18, 2016

 

Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. (Psalms 41:9)

As I read the 41st Psalm, I am reminded of John’s words in 1 John 2:5-6: “But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” Psalm 41 is another psalm that gives a glimpse into events in the last week of Jesus’ life. Perhaps we can call it coincidence that we would read so many psalms like this that so closely parallel our Sunday morning series in Matthew.

The connection between 1 John 2 and Psalm 41 becomes apparent to me as we see the integrity of Christ despite the false actions of His friends. In verse 7, there are whispers and plots of harm. In verse 9, a trusted friend who sat at Jesus’ table turned against Him and betrayed Him. This is an obvious reference to Judas who received only goodness and love from the Lord. Judas brought Him down, or so he thought. However, as we saw in Psalm 40 last week, the resurrection was Christ’s triumph. In this Psalm He says, “Mine enemy doth not triumph over me” (v. 11).

Where do we find the 1 John connection? In verse 12, Jesus said: “And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face forever.” Those that truly love the Lord have this same kind of integrity. As John said, we desire to walk as He walked. If we do, charges of evil against us are always false charges just as they were false when hurled at Him. When betrayed by a friend, which sometimes happens, it is not because we deserve it. We have kept God’s word by loving our brother as we do ourselves.

In the last week of Jesus’ life, He was set upon by those who had no real cause against Him. The constant questions intended to entrap Him, the denial of His authority and earlier claims that the good deeds He did were actually works of Satan, were so outside the pale of reason that the most skeptical should have said, “Look for something else. We know this cannot be true.” Nevertheless, the charges stuck in their mind and when the betrayal of the trusted friend came there was no doubt as to the outcome of His trial.

His integrity didn’t really matter to them. No matter how justly He walked they were going to crucify Him. This would be a major concern if it was the accusers that were the final judge. They were not. Jesus stood justified before God because of His perfect obedience to His Father. God would cause Him to triumph in that integrity.

This is what I am saying to you today. When you walk the way Christ walked and you know you have been obedient to His commands, how people judge you does not really matter. God will vindicate you at the last day because you stand in the perfect righteousness of Christ.

As a pastor that must preach on unpopular topics, I think about things like this. I will be accused by some who do not like what I preach. If I do not compromise the truth, I have no fear because God will stand by me. I do not want to be overly cryptic, so let me just conclude by saying, I hope faithful friends remain faithful friends even when telling them the truth is unpopular.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

The Promise of the Resurrection

Berean Baptist on April 12, 2016

I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. (Psalms 40:1-2)

In last Sunday morning’s message, we had the opportunity to study Psalm 110 in which David declared Jesus to be the sovereign Lord. In the Gospel of John, chapter 5 Jesus gave a wonderful exposition of the resurrection, and then He said there are witnesses that testify to the truthfulness of His words. John the Baptist was one of those witnesses. He was a truly remarkable prophet that had the unique privilege of announcing Jesus as the Lamb of God. Jesus also said the Father bears witness of Him, but that witness is only received by those whom the Father will reveal the Son. A third witness in that passage is the scriptures. Jesus said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (5:39).

With the command to search, we would expect to be able to go to the Old Testament and find Christ. This is why Jesus took the Jews to Psalm 110 where David bore testimony to His Lordship. Our congregational reading today takes us to another place where Jesus is found in the Old Testament psalms. The entire 40th Psalm is about Christ, but verses 1 and 2 are the particular focus of my article today. These verses speak of the resurrection with verse 2 being a personal favorite: “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” These are words of praise as Jesus acknowledged the Father’s promise. In the eternal covenant of redemption between the Father and the Son, the Father promised to bring safely home all those for whom Christ would die. The first fruit of this promise is that Christ would be resurrected—a critical event without which the promise fails. The resurrection of Christ was the Father’s stamp of approval on the redemptive work of the Son. When this promise was fulfilled, heaven must have thundered with praise because at this point redemption was forever sealed.

However, there was never any doubt this would happen. Heaven was already populated with the souls of the patriarchs and the prophets and all the people of God that died prior to the resurrection. Because God is timeless, a promise made in eternity past is as certain as if it had already happened. When you read scriptures like Psalm 40, you can see yourself. If you are a believer, you know you are as safe for heaven as if you were already there.

Many people wonder how Christians face bad days with a smile. They wonder why peace fills our heart when they struggle with so many things that burden them to despair. The interesting irony is that we face the same life struggles they face. We have job issues, financial concerns, family disappointments—and yet these things do not rule us. Our happiness is not determined by how well a stock portfolio is doing or whether Junior got accepted to Harvard. We have already risen with Christ and we know that when He shall appear we shall also appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:1, 4).

Contemplating the certainty of the resurrection will keep our thinking straight when the cares of life start to become too heavy. Christ was in the horrible pit, but the promise kept Him waiting patiently. There was a time limit on the grave—three days. There is also a time limit for you. Wait patiently for it. Redemption is nigh.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Take Some Time to Think

Berean Baptist on April 4, 2016

Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. (Psalms 39:5)

Last week we read the 38th Psalm in which David was very troubled over sin in his life. Apparently this sin was accompanied by a terrible sickness which only heightened his anxiety. He was dealing with the mental pressure of being out of fellowship with the Lord as well as the physical pain of being sick in his body.

As we move into the 39th Psalm, David paused to reflect upon the brevity of life and how spending our time accumulating riches and those things that will pass away is nothing but vanity (v. 6). C.T. Shedd, who was a missionary in Africa in the late 19th century, wrote a famous poem with this line: “Only one life, twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” C.T. Shedd lived that line. He gave up an enormous fortune and a beautiful home to go to Africa to serve Christ while living in an old run down wooden shack. Some of you may remember his name from our outreach training. He also said, “Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.” Every Christian should take into consideration how brief our lives truly are. James said your life is like a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away (James 4:14).

As I read this Psalm, I was struck by David’s comment in the first verse: “I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.” David was struggling with his condition; he understood it was not God’s fault, but he was terribly tempted to let out a word of complaint. At the very least he wanted to give expression to his grief, but he was afraid if he said the wrong thing or if the wrong person heard it, it would bring reproach upon the Lord.

Have we stopped to consider how words spoken wrongly, in anger or disgust, can harm others? Have you considered that giving vent to anger with the tongue can seriously damage your testimony? Words often bring more pain to people than anything you can do to them physically. We may never live long enough to make up for the hurt we do by speaking the wrong thing. We must think carefully before speaking especially in front of those who do not know the Lord.

I believe David was considering this and thinking carefully. This short life affords us time to reach only a few people. Comparatively speaking, we have little influence in a world filled with billions of people. However, the ones we do influence ought to receive the best impression of us they can. C.T. Shedd and others like him thought if there is to be any influence it ought to be that which leads people to Christ. This is why he was not willing to sit still in the lap of luxury when he could spend his time and money reaching people for Christ.

David said in verse 3 that he was musing about such things—about life and so on. “Muse” means to think deeply. He was thinking deeply about these perplexing problems. Isn’t it interesting that Satan would rather see you “amusing” yourself rather than musing? “Amuse” literally means “without thinking.” We spend far too much time in amusement, don’t we? We amuse ourselves and simply do not think about what matters. “Only what is done for Christ will last.” Spend a little time thinking about that.

Pastor V. Mark Smith