We must come to terms with this in our own lives.  Do you find that the world treats you as a stranger?  If not, is this because you are not living a godly life like you should?  Jesus says in John 15:19, 20 that this is what disciples of Jesus Christ can expect — the world will hate us because it hates Him!  God’s Word teaches us that when we live a life of conviction out of God’s Word the result will be fierce opposition.  Where do you find this stiff opposition in your life? 

The Psalmist also prays because he knows he is weak.  We saw that the weakness he identified in himself was spiritual blindness.  This is a great danger for us.  The danger is that the greatness of God and our calling to serve Him are eclipsed by our sinful desires much like what happens in a lunar eclipse.  The danger is that something in our lives becomes bigger than God and His Word.  The great danger we face is that we forsake our convictions and the truth of God’s Word for sinful desires.  The danger for the psalmist is that the opposition would drive him away from serving God so that the opposition became bigger than God in his own thinking.  Is there anything in our lives that has become bigger than God so that we are blinded to our calling to serve God?  May God protect us so that we do not become blind to Him and His truth.

So the Psalmist goes to God in the awareness of his weakness while under attack.  He receives blow after blow.  Yet, he takes his cause to God in prayer.  He does not soften his stand or compromise, but he turns to God in prayer.  Is this where you turn daily?  How is your prayer life right now?  May God use this word to strengthen your prayer life this week.  There can be no spiritual growth with out it.

What should we pray for?  Let us pray for us and our children what the Psalmist prayed for.  He prayed for spiritual protection.  He prays in verse 17 that God will spare his life so that he may devote himself entirely to Him.  What a prayer this is.  Is this your reason for living each day?  Is this why you get up in the morning – that you may live and devote your life to the God of your salvation? 

Second, the psalmist prays for spiritual illumination — “Open my eyes…”  He wants God to open his eyes to see the wondrous things of His Word.  There are wondrous things revealed in the Word.  We have seen wondrous things with our eyes — a beautiful sunset over Lake Michigan, mountain views while hiking, and many other things.  But they pale in comparison to the truth about God and our salvation revealed in the Word.  Let us pray that God would open our eyes to see the wondrous things of His Word.

As we read the Word and prayer, the result will be a white-hot passion for God’s Word.  Here is something to examine in ourselves.  Do we have a white-hot passion for God’s Word?  May God give this to us because a passion for God’s Word leads to a passion for God and for godly living.  The word of God then is our delight and counselor, as the last verse says.  It brings joy because it gives the only comfort that there is life and in death — we belong to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ.  And this Word is our faithful guide in all of life.  It never lets us down because in it is found the perfect counsel of the King of kings. 

May God give us continued growth through a steady intake of the Word seasoned with prayer.

Pastor Eriks

This is an amazing work of God.  The ”babes and sucklings” of the text are young children.  The text is referring to young children who are just beginning to make sounds and form words.  As they learn to put words together to speak phrases and sentences, they also begin to sign and pray.  Through those words they sing and pray God’s excellent name is praised.  These children of the text do this because they are covenant children.  They are children of believers in the church in whom God has worked so that they have the love of Jesus in their hearts.  This praise comes from the lips of children who know God and love God already as children. 

Let us remember how this applies to our lives.  First, this shows the importance of bringing our children to worship as soon as possible.  On the one hand, we don’t want them to be a distraction to others, but on the other hand we want to teach them at a young age to worship by sitting still and being quiet in the worship services.  We want this because God has ordained that these children praise Him.

Second, this Word of God reminds us that the focus of our homes should be praising the excellent name of God.  When you boil it down, life in our homes will come down to one of two things: praising God or serving self.  This text teaches us that the singular focus of our homes must be praising God.  In such a home family worship and church worship are a priority.  In such a home fighting and harsh words are not tolerated.  In such a home there is a focus on serving God and doing His will in all of life.  May God give us this focus in our homes.

There is one other outstanding work of God we see in the text — God ordains this praise of our children to silence the enemies.  The enemies we face are three: the wicked world, Satan, and our sinful flesh.  God uses the praise of children to silence these enemies.  Why?  God demonstrates His awesome power by using weak means – ”weakest means fulfill His will, mighty enemies to still” (Psalter #15).  The idea here is that God uses children on the front lines of the battle to turn away the attacks of the enemy.  Amazing!

How does God use the praise of children to overcome the enemy?  He does this as our children express unwavering trust and confidence in God.  Satan works on us in afflictions and hardships to doubt the goodness of God.  But God uses children to remind us of God’s care.  They say things like: “Grandpa is now in heaven” at the funeral home when we are weeping.  They say things like, “God will take care of us,” if dad loses his job.  God also uses their singing and the songs we know to strengthen us.  God uses music to fortify us.  When good Christian music is sung and listened to it drives the enemy away from our hearts and lives.  This is why it is so important that we listen to the right music.  The music of this world allows the enemy access to our hearts and distorts the way we think. 

What an amazing thing God has ordained — that children mouths praise Him.  May God use this word to impress upon us as parents, grandparents, and church the importance of teaching our children to sing and to know God’s Word for God uses this for the preserving and strengthening of His church.

Maybe some women struggle with reading the passage because the standard is so high.  But remember that God does not demand perfection from you.  Don’t be discouraged by the passage, but see what you are by the grace of God and what you must aim for by the grace of God.  God defines for us what the true beauty of women in the church is — “a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.”  The true beauty of a woman is not found on the outside, but it is this spiritual grace found in godly women.  This is what sets mothers in the church apart from mothers in the world.  The Lord has saved them and worked in their hearts the true fear of Him so that mothers willingly give themselves in the service of God by training their children in His ways.  May God give the mothers, wives, and women of the church grace to be women who fear Him. 

Proverbs 31 also reminds us, as children and husbands and fathers to give thanks for such godly women that God provides.  Verse 28 says, “Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.”  Children and husbands, is this what you do?  So easily we complain about the food that is prepared or that our favorite jeans are not washed or that the house is a mess.  This is not how we should treat the wife and mother God has provided.  When is the last time you thanked her for the meal she prepared and for all the work she does around the house?  Husbands, when is the last time you praised your wife for her godliness and her dedicated work in training the children?  Hopefully, it was yesterday.  But such praise and thanks should not come only once a year in the words of a “Hallmark” and a bouquet of flowers.  Let us praise and thank the mothers God has given.  Let us give thanks to God for the mothers He has provided.   

And mothers, thanks for the work that you do!  Many times we take for granted all that you do, but it does not go unnoticed before God.  The calling you have is difficult, yet God issues this beautiful promise in I Timothy 2:15, “Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.”  May God give you strength and grace for your high calling!

Our comfort cannot be found in the escapes and diversions of this world.  Let us consider in this week the things of this world that we may use as an escape from the pressures and hardships of life.  The world turns to food, the TV, the internet, shopping, and many other things to find comfort.  But these things provide no true comfort.  They only provide an escape and diversion for a short period of time.  As Christians, we should not be turning to these things.

The only true comfort is found in Christ.  The phrase, “in Christ,” is found often in the NT epistles written by Paul.  We found it nine times in Ephesians 1, which we read Sunday night.  This phrase beautifully expresses the personal, living relationship we have with Christ.  We belong to Christ!  This is our identity because this is the defining relationship of all of life.  In this relationship Christ is our representative Head.  We also have an organic, living relationship with Him, in which we live out of Him like a branch lives out of a tree.  But there is more to this relationship.  It is an intimate relationship of love and friendship in which we know Him, love Him, serve Him, worship Him, and honor Him because He knows us, loves us, speaks to us, and died for us.  Our relationship to Christ is more intimate than any other relationship we have because His life and His Spirit are in us.  What a relationship this is.  We find comfort in this relationship we have with Christ because of God’s sovereign grace.

We have a great and only comfort in Him because of the spiritual blessings He gives to us (See Ephesiand 1).  We are elected unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:4, 5).  We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace (Eph. 1:7).  We are delivered from all the power of the devil so that He makes us ready and willing to live unto Him.  And we have a wonderful inheritance in Him (Eph. 1:11-14).  What a comfort to have these blessings.  Whatever difficulties and trials we face, may we see daily these benefits we have in Christ.  Then all our difficulties and trials will be put into a proper perspective.  My difficulties do not take away what I have in Christ.

We also find our comfort in the sovereignty of God.  From the rise and fall of governments, to tomorrow’s weather, to the hairs that fall from my head, the universe is completely under God’s control.  At every moment of every day it is a true saying that God is accomplishing His purpose.  What a great comfort this is.  When our lives seem out of control and we don’t understand why certain things are happening to us, God sweetly speaks to us of His sovereignty: “Take heart.  I am in complete control.  All my ways are good and right, all my decisions are best, and I will not rest until my plan is complete.”  What peace, joy, and consolation the truth of God’s sovereignty brings to us.  You can read how this truth brought peace to David in a difficult time in his life in Psalms 3 and 4.

The great struggle for us on a daily level is to live out of the truth of this comfort we have in Christ.  May we learn to see our lives in the light of what we are and what we have in Christ.  This truly is our only comfort in life and in death.  May we carry with us the well-known words of Question and Answer 1 of the Heidelberg Catechism.

Pastor Eriks

The elders have chosen Psalm 119:105-120 as the theme for our family visits this year.  Each year a team of two elders visits each of the homes of the congregation to encourage with the Word of God.  What a great blessing this Reformed practice has been for our homes and for the unity of the church.  May the Lord bless the visits again this year.

Verse 105 emphasizes the power of God’s Word to illuminate.  Have you ever slept in a strange place and had to get up in the middle of the night?  If you have, you know what it is like to stumble around in the dark not knowing your way.  Maybe you stubbed your toe or ran into something.  I have done even in my own home.  This pictures our lives without the illuminating power of God’s Word – we are lost in the darkness of sin.  We need the light of God’s Word because without it there is only the darkness of sin (Cf. Psalm 19:8; Proverbs 6:23; II Peter 1:19).  In the Word, God has given to us powerful light for our lives.  It is a powerful because it is the inspired, infallible Word of God.

The Word illuminates our way in this world.  It shows us what we need to know to live as His people.  There are four things specifically that the Word of God illuminates:1) temptation and sin.  The Word exposes the sins of our hearts and lives.  It also shows us the way in which we must not go.  2) The word illuminates the only way of deliverance from sin, which is Jesus Christ.  This is true because the central message of the Word is Jesus Christ, Who is the Light of the world.  3) The word illuminates the right way for us to live, which is the way of thankful obedience to God.  4) The word leads in our times of suffering and affliction, showing to us that God has a purpose for this affliction.

The Word is the only guide that we can depend on in this life!  The false guides of feelings, reason, the majority opinion, and superstition will only lead into darkness and away from Christ.  What a gift God has given to us in His Word.

We also saw in this section of Psalm 119 that the Word produces resistance in our lives.  When you confess God’s Word and live God’s Word, you will find opposition in the world.  Have you experienced this?  Maybe you have co-workers that mock you.  Maybe family members avoid you or won’t speak to you because you stand in the truth of God’s Word.  The Psalmist speaks of this opposition in verses 107-110, when he speaks of the affliction he endured and the traps that the wicked have laid for him. 

But this very Word that brings opposition also provides spiritual strength to face this opposition.  This is true because God’s presence, perspective, peace, and power are found in the Word.  In times of affliction and hardship, where do you turn?  Do you turn to the Word or to the things of the world?

Because the Word provides illumination and spiritual strength in our lives, this emphasizes the importance of being in the Word.  The Psalmist makes the vow before God that he will be in the Word.  In the entire Psalm, he is saying that he will study, learn, memorize, and meditate on God’s Word because the Word provides illumination, strenght, and joy.  Knowing this, may we be a people who love to study the Word.  Have you spent time in the Word today?  Has your family spent time in the Word?  Have we as parents brought the Word to our children?  Do we meditate on the Word? 

When we are in it, the Word will bear the fruit of lives that are ordered by it, in which we live to serve the One Who died for us and rose again.  May our resolution be this: I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end (Psalm 119:112).  May this Word of God remind us of our daily and weekly need for God’s Word to light our way in this life.

Pastor Eriks

Today we remembered the resurrection of Jesus Christ! We gathered for worship, as those who believe the resurrection of Jesus Christ. One of the proofs of Jesus’ resurrection is the 10 post-resurrection appearances of Jesus recorded in Holy Scripture. The one we considered this morning was Jesus’ appearance to Thomas and the other disciples for the purpose of strengthening Thomas’ faith. We need this strengthening of faith as much as Thomas because we can be faithless instead of believing.

Just as it was for Thomas, unbelief is a problem for us in our lives. This does not make us unbelievers. Instead, as believers by the grace of God, there are moments when we fail to believe the Word of God. Unbelief is failing to believe the Word of God when it clashes with what is seen. This was Thomas’ struggle. Jesus told the disciples that he would die and rise again. But Thomas could not remove from his mind the figure of the dead Jesus hanging on the cross. Thomas failed to believe Jesus’ resurrection although the other disciples told him that they saw him and although he heard Jesus’ own words. Have you experienced times when what we see clashes with what God says in His word and you have failed to believe?

Remember the three characteristics of unbelief we saw: 1) unbelief demands conditions to believe something. Thomas said I must see, hear, and touch to believe. Have you ever demanded that God prove to you that He is doing all things for your good? Jesus says, “Be not faithless, but believing.” 2) Unbelief is a stubborn refusal to believe. Thomas refused to believe the resurrection, saying, “I will not believe.” How do we stubbornly refuse to believe? Have you ever said that a situation in your life can never turn out for good? 3) Unbelief manifests itself in a refusal to fellowship with others in the church. Has it ever happened that we did not want to worship with the church because it was hopeless? Let us examine where have we been faithless and not believing.

In contrast to this unbelief, we learned two important lessons about faith. First, the object of faith is Jesus Christ. Thomas did not have touch the hands of Jesus. He saw His Savior Who died for his sins. So also, in the word we see our Savior Who was wounded for our transgressions and who rose again. He is our triumphant and victorious Savior. Second, faith comes for us by the working of the Spirit through the Word (Romans 10:17). We don’t see Jesus physically. But we believe because the Spirit has worked in our hearts by the Word. What an amazing work of grace! Just as Jesus came to strengthen Thomas’ faith, may our faith be strengthened also.

What joy the resurrection of Jesus brings to us. The world promises happiness and joy, but it does not last. It is not true joy. Believing the resurrection makes us happy. In fact, the happiest people should be those who believe the resurrection. There may be many circumstances that bring us sorrows and tears. But the resurrection of Jesus brings us great joy because it declares to us that our salvation is accomplished and we also will be raised from the dead. May the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the hope it brings to us give to us great joy in this week to serve the living God no matter what hardships and afflictions we face.

Pastor Eriks