Worth a Look

Links worth a look:

Genesis 1&2: Are You Missing the Point?

How King David Reminds Us of Jesus

What the Eucharist Means to Me - Robin Parry

Why You Can't Pit Jesus Against His Bible

Evangelism in the Workplace

Feeling Shame is Not Repentance

A Song of Thanksgiving

   David's song of thanksgiving (from 1 Chronicles 16

    Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;
        make known his deeds among the peoples!
    Sing to him, sing praises to him;
        tell of all his wondrous works!
    Glory in his holy name;
        let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
    Seek the LORD and his strength;
        seek his presence continually!
    Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
        his miracles and the judgments he uttered,
    O offspring of Israel his servant,
        children of Jacob, his chosen ones!
   

Pursuit of Fleeting Pleasures

Psalm 51 is King David's confession of his sin after his affair with Bathsheba. In verse 4 he says "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight."   The following comments on this passage come from Tony Reinke, quoting Rick Gamache's sermon “Whiter Than Snow”

I believe what David is saying in verse 4 [Psalm 51:4] is that all sin is a preference for the fleeting pleasures of the world and the flesh over the everlasting joy of God’s fellowship. This is why the Christian life is a life of repentance (like Martin Luther said), not because every time we sin we lose our status as God’s children and have to get saved all over again. Our status never changes. We are always God’s children, we are still declared to be holy even when we sin, we are still the heirs of his Kingdom.

But our sin affects our relationship with God. Our sin breaks our fellowship with God. David realizes that before he ever committed adultery with Bathsheba, he committed spiritual adultery against God. Why did he need her? Why was he willing to murder his own friend for her? It is because before David ever sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah, he lost the joy of his salvation. That is why he asks for the joy to be restored [Psalm 51:12].

We sin because we forget God’s steadfast love and abundant mercy. When we are not ravished by him, we forget the superior pleasures that there are in God and give ourselves to the inferior pleasures of sin. And this is why David says, “Against you God, you only have I sinned.” He goes deep with his confession because he knows repentance is the way back to fellowship with God.

I think it is absolutely amazing and very telling, given what we know about the situation, that David never mentions sexual sin in Psalm 51. He’s not mainly praying that the Lord would provide him with good accountability. He’s not mainly praying that God would give him self-control and protect his eyes and his mind. Those are all good things. But David does not mention them here because his sexual sin — and every sexual sin — is the symptom of the disease not the disease. Sexual sin is a symptom of lack of fullness of joy and gladness in Jesus. It’s a symptom of a lack of being ravished by the love and kindness and mercy and goodness and beauty and excellence and majesty and glory and honor and power of God.

Grace for the Sluggish Heart

What do you do when your heart is sluggish, and you feel somewhat Worship Challenged.   Here's some good counsel from Bryan Mowrey at Confluence to follow the example of King David.

I find David in the Psalms to be incredibly helpful. David is a man well aware of God's grace, but there were times in his life where he just forgot, and he needed to remind himself of God's goodness, which is exactly what Psalm 103 is all about. This Psalm starts out, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits." David is essentially saying, "Come on soul. Why are you so sluggish? Why do you sleep before this God? Wake up soul! Remember His benefits, which are many." Then David begins to list out all of the benefits he can remember: He forgives sin, heals diseases, redeems, crowns with love and compassion. He satisfies our desires with good things, justice for the oppressed, He has made His ways known. He is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. Will no accuse, will not harbor anger forever, and will not treat us as our sins deserve...thank you Jesus!

David, in this midst of reminding himself of all God's benefits, can no longer contain His worship and begins to encourage everything around him to bless the Lord. "Bless the Lord all you nations! Bless the Lord all you angels! Bless the Lord all you birds; see creations, beasts of the field, moon, sun and stars! Let everything and everyone bless the Lord!"

So, if you find that your heart is sluggish toward God, take a moment to remind yourself (like David) of all of God's grace in your life.

The Company of the Good Repenters

Christians have been called "believers, " disciples," and "Jesus followers." But have you ever been called a "repenter?" According to Timmy Brister at Heaven – Home of Gospel-Embracing Repenters « Provocations & Pantings we should embrace that title.

Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. Because heaven is a prepared place, our Christian lives should be characterized by rejoicing and anticipating being with the Lord. Because heaven is for a prepared people our Christian lives should be characterized by repentance and turning away from ourselves. Therefore, the Christian life is both one of rejoicing and repentance, at the same time. In fact, it could be said that, though we mourn over and hate our sin, our repentance should be joyful knowing that God has promised bring to fulfillment that which he began in us, namely the glorification of His Son in us. There is no genuine joy without thorough repentance, and genuine repentance ought to bring about increasing joy as sin is displaced and we draw nearer to Jesus.

We often call Christians “believers”. “We are a gathering of believers . . .” but Christians are also “repenters,” so why don’t refer to a gathering of repenters? Our response to the gospel at conversion is both – a repenting faith or believing repentance, and our response to the gospel from that moment on is the same. The more we behold Jesus by faith as seen in the gospel, the more we are transformed into His image from one degree of glory to another. If there are no degrees of glory being experienced on earth, then what, pray tell, would such a professing Christian claim to experience in heaven? The very degrees of glory we experience in the daily transformation of our lives through repentance and faith are meant to be a foretaste of the fullness of glory to be seen when we are “taken up into glory.” To miss it here is to forfeit it there.

In my study of the life of David in Samuel and Chronicles, I have concluded that the major difference between David and Saul, the difference that made Saul a failed king and David a man after God's heart, was that David was a good repenter. Saul, on the other hand, was like the character Fonzy on Happy Days; He could not say that he was wrong.

Martin Luther was right when her wrote as the very first of his 95 Thesis: "Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance."

May I always be found in the company of the good repenters!

First Temple-Era Water Tunnel Revealed in Jerusalem - Jewish World - Israel News - Arutz Sheva

Found an interesting archeology article at First Temple-Era Water Tunnel Revealed in Jerusalem - Jewish World - Israel News - Arutz Sheva

(IsraelNN.com) A tunnel built thousands of years ago – and which may even have been used during King David's conquest of Jerusalem – has been uncovered in the ancient City of David, just outside the Old City and across the street from the Dung Gate.

Renowned Israeli archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazer, who is leading the dig, revealed the findings from the discovery Thursday morning at an archaeological symposium at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Mazer, who also uncovered King David's palace, has led the world in ancient Jerusalem findings. Some of her other discoveries have included proof of another Biblical story, in the Book of Jeremiah. A completely intact seal impression, or "bula," bearing the name Gedaliahu ben Pashur was uncovered. The bula is actually a stamped engraving made of mortar. Mazer also found a second such impression not far away, as as well as the remnants of a wall from the prophet Nechemia.

The archaeologist said there is a high probability that the tunnel is the one referred to as the "tsinor" in the Biblical story of King David's conquest of Jerusalem (Samuel II, 5:6-8; Chronicles I, 11:4-6).

"The new discoveries in the excavations in the City of David illuminate the ancient history of Jerusalem and the reality described in the Bible," she noted.