Children of a Singing God

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. (Mark 14:26)

Can you hear Jesus singing?

Was he a bass or a tenor? Was there a down-home twang to his voice? Or was there an unwavering crystal pitch?

Did he close his eyes and sing to his Father? Or did he look into his disciples’ eyes and smile at their deep camaraderie?

Did he usually start the song? Or did Peter or James, or maybe Matthew, do it?

Oh, I can hardly wait to hear Jesus sing! I think the planets would be jolted out of orbit if he lifted his native voice in our universe. But we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken; so, Lord, go ahead, do it! Sing!

It could not be otherwise but that Christianity be a singing faith. The founder sang. He learned to sing from his Father. Surely they have been singing together from all eternity. Don’t you think so? Would not infinite eternal happiness in the fellowship of the Trinity sing?

The Bible says the aim of our singing is “to raise sounds of joy” (1 Chronicles 15:16). No one in the universe has more joy than God. He is infinitely joyful. He has rejoiced from eternity in the panorama of his own perfections reflected perfectly in the deity of his Son.

God’s joy is unimaginably powerful. He is God. When he speaks, galaxies come into being. And when he sings for joy, more energy is released than exists in all the matter and motion of the universe.

If he appointed song for us to release our heart’s delight in him, is this not because he also knows the joy of releasing his own heart’s delight in his own image in his Son by his Spirit in song? We are a singing people because we are the children of a singing God.

John Piper 

Bible Study

15 May you be blessed by the LORD, who made heaven and earth! 

16 The heavens are the LORD's heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man. 

17 The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any who go down into silence. 

18 But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the LORD!  - Psalm 115:15-18

1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! 

2 Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" 

3 Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. 

4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 

5 They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. 

6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. 

7 They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. 

8 Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.  - Psalm 115:1-8

Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.  - Psalm 124:8

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 

2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. 

3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 

4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 

5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. 

6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 

7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 

8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.  - Psalms 121

You Have 3 Problems

BIBLE MEDITATION

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God” 1 Corinthians 1:18

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

I once met a lawyer on an airplane. We began to talk about what we like to read. I said, “I read newspapers, books, journals, devotional studies, but primarily the Bible.”

He said, “If you don’t read any further than that, how do you know what to talk about when you speak to people?”

I said, “Sir, man only has three problems: sin, sorrow, and death.”

He answered, “There are more than that.”

I replied, “No, only three.”

“Oh,” he said, “there are other problems.”

I said, “All right, tell me another.”

He thought for a long time, came back, and said, “Man only has three problems.”

That’s true. And the cross of Jesus Christ is the only answer to those three problems. You give me all of the wisdom of this world—but there is no other answer apart from the cross.

ACTION POINT

The Jews look for a sign; it is the Cross. The Greeks want wisdom; it is the Cross. To this world it is foolishness, but to God, it is not foolishness. Now, thank God for the message of the Cross. If mankind really has only three problems, when you think of yours, what category do they fall into? Jot down a list of what you consider right now your top ten problems. In prayer bring that list before the Lord. Surrender them to Him, ask Him to speak to you, and listen for His direction.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

You Were Made for God

“For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.” (1 Samuel 12:22)

The name of God often refers to his reputation, his fame, his renown. This is the way we use the word “name” when we say someone is making a name for himself. Or we sometimes say, that’s a “name” brand. We mean a brand with a big reputation. This is what I think Samuel means in 1 Samuel 12:22 when he says that God made Israel a people “for himself” and that he would not cast Israel off “for his great name’s sake.”

This way of thinking about God’s zeal for his name is confirmed in many other passages.

For example, in Jeremiah 13:11 God describes Israel as a waistcloth, or belt, with which God chose to highlight his glory, even though there were times when Israel was temporarily unfit. “For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.” Why was Israel chosen and made the garment of God? That it might be a “name, a praise, and a glory.”

The words “praise” and “glory” in this context tell us that “name” means “fame” or “renown” or “reputation.” God chose Israel so that the people would make a reputation for him. God says in Isaiah 43:21 that Israel is “the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”

And when the church came to see itself in the New Testament as the true Israel, Peter described God’s purpose for us like this: “You are a chosen race . . . that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

In other words, Israel and the church are chosen by God to make a name for him in the world. This is why we pray first and foremost, “Hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9). This is why we pray, “Lead us in paths of righteousness for your name’s sake” (see Psalm 23:3).

When we speak of being a God-centered people, remember, this is because we are joining God in his God-centeredness. And on this side of the cross, that means being a Christ-dependent, Christ-exalting people. “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake” (1 John 2:12). “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).

John Piper 

For His Glory

23 Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,

24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD." - Jeremiah 9:23-24

For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." - Mark 8:38

Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!  - Psalm 105:3

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.  - Psalm 23:3

9 "For my name's sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. 

10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. 

11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.  - Isaiah 48:9-11

I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.  - Isaiah 42:8

"I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.  - Isaiah 43:25

"For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. - Malachi 3:6

but you are the same, and your years have no end.  - Psalm 102:27

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?  - Numbers 23:19

Bible Study

23 Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,

24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD." - Jeremiah 9:23-24

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?  - Numbers 23:19

9 "For my name's sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. 

10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. 

11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.  - Isaiah 48:9-11

20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. 

21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 

22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 

23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 

24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." 

25 The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. 

26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. 

27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. 

28 Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; 

29 let him put his mouth in the dust- there may yet be hope; 

30 let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults. 

31 For the Lord will not cast off forever, 

32 but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; 

33 for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men. 

34 To crush underfoot all the prisoners of the earth, 

35 to deny a man justice in the presence of the Most High, 

36 to subvert a man in his lawsuit, the Lord does not approve. 

37 Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? 

38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? 

39 Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? 

40 Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD! 

41 Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven: 

42 "We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven. 

43 "You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, killing without pity; 

44 you have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through. 

45 You have made us scum and garbage among the peoples.  - Lamentations 3:20-45

Paul’s Salvation Was for You

Formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. . . . I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:13–14, 16)

Paul’s conversion was for your sake. Did you hear that? Here it is again: “I received mercy for this reason, that Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.” That’s us — you and me.

I hope you will hear this very personally. God had you in view when he chose Paul and saved him by sovereign grace just the way he did.

If you believe on Jesus for eternal life — or if you may yet believe on him for eternal life — Paul’s conversion is for your sake. The point of his conversion happening the way it did is to make Christ’s incredible patience vivid for you.

Remember that Paul’s pre-conversion life was a long, long trial to Jesus. “Why are you persecuting me?” Jesus asked on the Damascus road (Acts 9:4). “Your life of unbelief and rebellion is a persecution of me!” And yet Paul tells us in Galatians 1:15 that he had been set apart by God for his apostleship since before he was born. That’s amazing. It means that all his life up to the point of his conversion was one long abuse of God, and one long rejection and mockery of Jesus — who had chosen him to be an apostle before he was born.

That is why Paul says his conversion is a brilliant demonstration of Jesus’s patience. And that is what he offers us today.

It was for our sake that Jesus saved Paul when and how he did. To “display his perfect patience” to us (1 Timothy 1:16). Lest we lose heart. Lest we think he could not really save us. Lest we think he is prone to anger. Lest we think we have gone too far away. Lest we think our dearest one cannot be converted — suddenly, unexpectedly, by the sovereign, overflowing grace of Jesus.

John Piper