Tag: Numbers

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Guilt Of Conscience And Relief

MelodiesOfHeavenOne

Psalm 38.1, 22
O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath! Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation! 

The psalms anticipate Christ with brilliant clarity and longing. Because of this Isaac Watts, the 18th century theologian, hymnodist, poet, and preacher, drew from them at length in his works. One of Watts’ most famous songs, Joy to the World, recasts Psalm 98 in common measure.

In his book Sacred Song in America, Stephen Marini notes that one of the reasons Watts’ works are so enduring is that they balance emotional subjectivity and doctrinal objectivity. “Watts’ voice broke down the distance between poet and singer and invested the text with personal spirituality.”

Watts’ work from the Psalms brings insight while making overt what the psalmists allude — Christ at the center of every longing, joy, and cry.

This week we’ll look at five works from Isaac Watts’ book, The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament. Today, Psalm 38:

Amidst thy wrath remember love,
  Restore thy servant, Lord;
Nor let a Father’s chast’ning prove
  Like an avenger’s sword.

Thine arrows stick within my heart,
  My flesh is sorely pressed;
Between the sorrow and the smart,
  My spirit finds no rest.

My sins a heavy load appear,
  And o’er my head are gone;
Too heavy they for me to bear,
  Too hard for me t’ atone.

My thoughts are like a troubled sea,
My head still bending down;
And I go mourning all the day,
Beneath my Father’s frown.

Lord, I am weak and broken sore,
  None of my powers are whole:
The inward anguish makes me roar,
  The anguish of my soul.

All my desire to thee is known,
  Thine eye counts every tear;
And every sigh, and every groan,
  Is noticed by thine ear.

Thou art my God, my only hope;
  My God will hear my cry;
My God will bear my spirit up,
  When Satan bids me die.

My foot is ever apt to slide,
  My foes rejoice to see ’t;
They raise their pleasure and their pride
  When they supplant my feet.

But I’ll confess my guilt to thee,
  And grieve for all my sin;
I’ll mourn how weak my graces be,
  And beg support divine.

My God, forgive my follies past,
  And be for ever nigh;
O Lord of my salvation, haste,
  Before thy servant die.

Today’s Readings
Numbers 4 (Listen – 6:11)
Psalm 38 (Listen – 2:14)

Melodies of Heaven
Part 1 of 5, read more on TheParkForum.org

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Crying at the United Nations

Psalm 35.1
Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me! 

  • March 2013 — Sarin gas attack on the city of Aleppo. 19 dead.
  • August 2013 — Sarin gas attacks on two suburbs outside Damascus. Over 200 dead.
  • April/May 2014 — Chlorine attacks on three villages in Idlib. 13 dead.
  • March 2015 — Chlorine attacks on four villages in Idlib. 6 dead.

These are the documented chemical weapons attacks on the Syrian people by their president, Bashar al-Assad.
After delegates from the U.N. viewed video from the most recent chlorine bombing Samantha Power, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., told reporters “if there was a dry eye in the room I didn’t see it.”

The President of the Syrian American Medical Society, Zaher Sahloul, added, “Clearly they were affected by what they have seen in the videos and what they have heard, many of them spoke outside the diplomatic language and many of them have said that this is outrageous and the perpetrators should be brought to justice.”

If modernism were capable of bringing peace to the earth we would have seen it by now.

If secularism were capable of bringing peace we would look to Europe, who would be well on the way.

If man’s religious longings were capable of bringing peace we wouldn’t be in this predicament in modern culture anyway.

In a world reeling from — and trapped in — the pain and brokenness of sin, God must fight for us. David, the psalmist, sees this and cries out in Psalm 31. Injustice has gained the upper hand and only the transcendent justice of the world’s creator is sufficient to restore peace.

Because of our place in history we can see what David could not. “A great spectacle is it, to see God armed for thee,“ Augustine remarks in his book, Expositions on the Book of Psalms. God has heard our groaning under the weight of sin, and he has not left us alone. He sent his son to step in harm’s way on our behalf — to die, that we might live.

Prayer
Father, our hearts cry out like David’s — not only at the grotesque injustices that plague our world, but at the daily injustices which cost each of us so greatly. Only you can bring an end to our pain. Only you can dry the tears of our eyes with the hope that what is lost will be restored. Draw us to Jesus, the first fruit of the resurrection.

Today’s Readings
Numbers 1 (Listen – 6:21)
Psalm 35(Listen – 3:21)

Resting in Faith
Part 5 of 5, read more on TheParkForum.org

This Weekend’s Readings
Saturday: Numbers 2 (Listen – 3:47); Psalm 36 (Listen – 1:29)
Sunday: Numbers 3 (Listen – 6:01); Psalm 37 (Listen – 4:21)