How to Become an Immovable Object

Psalms 125:1

Those who trust in GOD are like Zion Mountain:

Nothing can move it, a rock- solid mountain

you can always depend on.

First, the passage refers to those who trust in God in contrast to obviously those who do not trust in God.  Those who trust get something that those who do not trust do not get.

Second the object of trust is God; nothing else, nothing and, just God.  If you put your trust in something else, this verse will not be true.

Third, those who trust in God are like Mt . Zion, which is to say that they are solid as a mountain, firm as a mountain, permanent as a mountain.  Nothing can move it.

Trust in God results in an immovable object, because of God's character, not our trust.

“For as the earth bursts with spring wildflowers, and as a garden cascades with blossoms, So the Master, God, brings righteousness into full bloom and puts praise on display before the nations.” (Isaiah 61:11, The Message) 

There is nothing quite like seeing a profusion of wildflowers in bloom, or a garden cascading with new blossoms.  We were hiking once in the Grand Tetons and came upon a huge clearing right about the tree line.  It covered acres and acres and was literally bursting with wildflowers of every color, red, blue, purple, yellow, orange, and white.  It was stunningly beautiful and a sight that I remember clearly after all these (15) years.

Isaiah chooses an apt metaphor here for in the same way that wildflowers bloom, God brings righteousness into full bloom and puts praise on display before the nations. I imagine that this means that when God brings righteousness to bloom he does it spectacularly and obviously.  You can't miss it and it's stunningly beautiful and obvious for all to see.  Not all will want to see it, but all will see it.  Such is the nature of God's righteousness and praise.

Our job?  To be one of those wildflowers and exhibit God's righteousness and declare his praise.

Rebuking Nature

“He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”” (Matthew 8:26–27, NASB95) 

I'm struck by Matthew's use of the word "rebuke" here.  The word in the Greek means "to express strong disapproval of someone" or "to speak seriously, or warn."  It is used of Christ when he rebukes demons (Matt 17.18), or the disciples when they rebuked people who were bringing their children to Christ.  However, we also see it used on what we would consider inanimate objects as here.  It must have been a strange sight to see Christ rebuke the winds and the sea, as if they were misbehaving little children.  Indeed, the disciples express astonishment that when Christ rebukes the wind and sea, they obey him!

All of this demonstrates that Christ did not just claim authority over men, but over nature as well, and although most men did not acknowledge his authority, all of nature did—which is astonishing in itself, inanimate objects recognized and obeyed God, though most men neither recognized, nor obeyed him.

Perhaps the wind and sea have something to teach us here.  

My End is in God's Hands

Matthew 6:27

And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

Christ to the multitude at his great Sermon on the Mount.  How well he illustrates here the application of Ps. 139.16:

Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;

And in Your book were all written

The days that were ordained for me,

When as yet there was not one of them.

If God has ordained our days —and he has—then what good will it do to start worrying when they might end.  The end is in God's hands (as well as the beginning and middle for that matter).  

Christ enjoins us to live here in light of this grand truth.  God controls all things, so stop worrying about when we might die.

"One Long, Obedient Response"

Psalms 119:34

Give me insight so I can do what you tell me--

my whole life one long, obedient response.

The Message paraphrases a little freely here but does get to the point of what is important.  The psalmist asks for insight for the purpose of obedience.  The NASB translates it:

Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law

And keep it with all my heart.

It is a good thing that we desire our lives to be one long, obedient response. This is good for us and it honors God.

May we seek with the psalmist insight and understanding into God's ways and commands, and may our highest joy be obedience to him.

"Sing, Barren Woman"

Isaiah 54:1

"Sing, barren woman, who has never had a baby.

Fill the air with song, you who've never experienced childbirth!

You're ending up with far more children

than all those childbearing women." GOD says so!

A prophecy of return from exile and the work of the suffering servant.  Certainly it applies to the coming New Covenant when through the seed of Israel will come Messiah who is the Suffering Servant.  This is certainly the way Paul applies this passage:

Galatians 4:27-28

For it is written,

“ Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear;

Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor;

For more numerous are the children of the desolate

Than of the one who has A husband.”

28 And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.

The coming of the Suffering Servant would cause the barren woman (Israel) to rejoice for through Messiah they would end up with untold numbers of children of every tribe and tongue and nation.

Upending Our Expectations

Isaiah 53:1

Who believes what we've heard and seen?

Who would have thought GOD's saving power would look like this? (The Message)

So unexpected was Christ's advent that only a few understood what was going on. Who would have thought God's saving power would look like this?  Shouldn't God come in power and might to defeat the Roman armies? Shouldn't he impress everyone? Nope.  God's saving power looked like a baby in a feeding trough.  And so God delights in upending our expectations.

"Who out there Fears God"

Isaiah 50:10

Who out there fears GOD,

actually listens to the voice of his servant?

For anyone out there who doesn't know where you're going,

anyone groping in the dark,

Here's what: Trust in GOD.

Lean on your God!

This is one of those "we must just trust" passages which is both bewildering and comforting.  It would be nice if God explained everything that he does to us so that we could understand it, but that is not the way that God works (probably because we cannot understand things he does because we are not God). Instead—and this is the comforting part—God calls us just to trust in him (while listening to the voice of the suffering servant, which is Jesus—see Is 53).

So from this passage we take several things:

1. We ought to fear God

2. We ought to listen to the voice of his servant

3. We ought to trust in God when we do not know where we are going

In other words: We must just trust in God.

God's Wondrous Works

Psalms 111:4

He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;

the Lord is gracious and merciful.

God causes his works to be remembered and for good reason.  They demonstrate his power and divine nature.  Indeed, from this verse it would appear that the psalmist is saying that the Lord is gracious and merciful by causing his works to be remembered.

Since Paul says that God has been clearly seen since the creation of the world in what has been made, it makes sense that he is gracious and merciful in his works because they reveal to us his existence.

Soli Delo Gloria 

God will Win

Revelation 17:14

They will go to war against the Lamb but the Lamb will defeat them, proof that he is Lord over all lords, King over all kings, and those with him will be the called, chosen, and faithful. "

God wins!

In the cosmic battle of good vs. evil, God will win.  This is where all of those psalms that call down curses on God's enemies begin to make sense.  If the enemies of God will not lay down their arms and surrender, then calling for his enemies to lose is calling for God to win. That is a good thing; a just thing; a desirable outcome.

Lay down your arms, you who are rebels against God and his good and wise ways, or face the terrible consequences.

The God who Hides Himself

Is. 45:15 Truly, you are a God who hides himself,

O God of Israel, the Savior.

This is one of the characteristics of God that frustrates us to no end.  Why doesn't he reveal himself more clearly?  Why is he nowhere to be found as the wicked seem to prosper in their wickedness?  Why are e faithful so often under pressure, stress, and even persecution?  Where is God?

It's somewhat comforting that followers of God have struggled with this truth since all the way back to the psalmists, so Isaiah is expressing a well understood truth here.  We gain dependence on God because of this, which is for our good.  We learn to trust.  We learn to walk by faith. We learn that we must just trust, though it isn't an easy lesson.

Grace

Psalms 103:10

He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve,

nor pay us back in full for our wrongs. (The Message)

And glad we are that he does not.  This verse is the very definition of grace—unmerited favor.  We all sin.  We are all broken. Christ came to heal the brokenness and reconcile us with our father.

"With Wisdom at Your Side"

Psalms 104:24

What a wildly wonderful world, GOD!

You made it all, with Wisdom at your side,

made earth overflow with your wonderful creations. (The Message)

If you do not believe that there is a God, that is your fault.  It is not God's fault.  Atheists like to say that "extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof" therefore God cannot be proved to exist.  However, proof of God's eternal power and divine nature are everywhere, demonstrated through what has been made.  Men are just willfully blind to it as they come up with ever more unlikely explanations for,the obvious design in the universe.  

You made it all, with Wisdom at your side.

Just so.

Don't Have a Stingy Heart

Give freely and spontaneously. Don't have a stingy heart. Deut 15.10, The Message.

God's people were to be generous with each other.  They were to give freely — without expecting anything in return—and ungrudgingly.  Don't have a stingy heart, The Message paraphrases.  This admonition is repeated in the New Testament (1 John 3.17), so the Christian community ought to (and does) reflect the Jewish foundation of supporting the poor in their community.

The way to give freely and spontaneously is to cultivate giving in one's heart and life, by being quick to give.

The ESVSB comments here: "This law does not apply to the poor outside Israel. The cause of the fellow Israelite's poverty is not the issue, even if it is the result of squandering or foolishness. The command is internal: you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand. True obedience stems from the heart, and it may be costly to the Israelite in giving what is needed. The verbs open and lend are emphatic. Christians are also to be generous toward one another (cf. 1 John 3:17 )."

And I, God of Israel, will not Leave Them Thirsty

Isaiah 41:17

"The poor and homeless are desperate for water,

their tongues parched and no water to be found.

But I'm there to be found, I'm there for them,

and I, God of Israel, will not leave them thirsty.

God's heart is for the poor and homeless; the less fortunate; the oppressed.  His promise here is that he will not leave them thirsty.

A couple of good nuggets here.

First, if we are homeless and poor, it is a strong promise onto which we can cling.  What is better than having Creator-God on your side when you are powerless and oppressed?

Second, we need to get onboard with where God's heart is.  Who knows that bringing water to the poor and homeless isn't us fulfilling this promise as an ambassador of God.

Mountains Praise Their Maker

Psalms 98:7-8

Let the sea and its fish give a round of applause,

With everything living on earth joining in.

8 Let ocean breakers call out, "Encore!"

And mountains harmonize the finale--

One of the cool things that one sees in the Scriptures again and again is how the authors—especially in the psalms—write about nature as if it is living and conscious like human beings.  In this passage we find the sea and fish praising God and the ocean breakers weighing in with an encore, along with mountains; all praising God for his power and majesty in creation. 

The writers of scripture personify inanimate objects as if they were living and conscious.  In regards to creation this is true.  All of creation points back to a wise and transcendent creator, powerful beyond imagination.  

To paraphrase John Piper, "God shouts in the gold of the sunset and in the deep blue of the sky; he shouts in the beauty of he night sky and in the majesty of soaring mountains; he declares in the power of the sea that he is God, and that he is worthy of praise."

Deep Depravity

Revelation 9:20

The remaining men and women who weren't killed by these weapons went on their merry way-- didn't change their way of life, didn't quit worshiping demons, didn't quit centering their lives around lumps of gold and silver and brass, hunks of stone and wood that couldn't see or hear or move.

At the end of the age people will get harder and harder hearts.  So hard that even when they see God's wrath at work (as seen in the previous verses), it will not change them. They will not change their lives, they will keep,worshipping demons; keep being idolaters.

This is deep depravity.

Our duty is to keep preaching the gospel no matter what, and praying that God will keep calling people to faith. It's just going to get harder.

Throw the Book at the Arrogant

Psalms 94:1-2

GOD, put an end to evil; avenging God, show your colors!

2 Judge of the earth, take your stand;

throw the book at the arrogant.

The Jewish perspective on their relationship with men who opposed God (and therefore them) was one of being plaintiffs at God's bar of justice. They wanted God to rule against his (their) enemies and assign heavy damages.  Throw the book at the arrogant (The Message).  This may read a little harsh until one understands that either God wins or his enemies (the arrogant) do. When the writer calls for God to punish the arrogant he is putting himself firmly into God's camp.  He is on God's side.

Our perspective (the New Testament) is a little different, but at the end of the age will read much the same.  We want God to win (he will) and his enemies to lose (they will).

"Dear Assyria..."

Isaiah 37:26

"'Haven't you gotten the news

that I've been behind this all along?

This is a longstanding plan of mine

and I'm just now making it happen,

using you to devastate strong cities,

turning them into piles of rubble

God to Assyria.  All that they thought they were doing and had accomplished was of God for his purposes.  In light of that fact how foolish the Assyrian messenger looks as he tries to intimidate Hezekiah.  

This is the first deity of a city-state that claims sovereignty, not only over his own people (Judah) but also over those who were attacking Judah!  This must have seemed like utter foolishness to the Assyrians.  The God of Judah thinks he has power over what we do even when it doesn't involved Judah? Laughable.

True.

Either God Wins, or His Enemies Win

Revelation 6:9-10

When he ripped off the fifth seal, I saw the souls of those killed because they had held firm in their witness to the Word of God. They were gathered under the Altar, 10 and cried out in loud prayers, "How long, Strong God, Holy and True? How long before you step in and avenge our murders?"

A couple of thoughts here.  First notice that those who are calling for justice were killed because they had held firm in their witness to the Word of God.  They were faithful to God and they were killed.  God did not prevent this.  So much for the health and wealth gospel.  

Second notice that they were killed for their stand on the Word of God. Interesting that things always seem to come down to this.  Men do not want to hear what God says because it condemns their actions and calls them to turn from their sin.  

Finally, those who are killed are calling for God to act as the supreme judge that he is. This is reminiscent of the Old Testament approach to God where it is as if those who have been killed are plaintiffs at the bar.  They call for justice against those who have killed them, against those who hate God and all that he stands for.

O Lord God we would see all men come to faith in you.  However, if men won't come to faith, if they continue to oppose you. We understand that either they will win, or you will win.  We side with you.

So Much For My Incredible Importance

Deuteronomy 7:7

GOD wasn\'t attracted to you and didn\'t choose you because you were big and important-- the fact is, there was almost nothing to you.

Deuteronomy 7:7

It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,

The Message goes a little broader than I would like on this verse but does get the general point.  God did not choose Israel because of any intrinsic worth in her; not because she was great in number; not because she was naturally religious; not because he saw their potential.  God chose Israel because he chose Israel; it was God\'s good pleasure to do so.  Can I explain this? Um...no.  Dodd I need to explain it?  Nope, if I did the scriptures would explain it.  I need to know it, but not understand it.

Here is the humbling truth of our salvation: Just when we think that we were smart enough to recognize our need for Christ, and humble enough to acknowledge it; and grateful enough to come, we read:  Ephesians 2:8-9

Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It\'s God\'s gift from start to finish! 9 We don\'t play the major role. If we did, we\'d probably go around bragging that we\'d done the whole thing!

Just so.