righteous

Our Righteous King.

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Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.] The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. – Psalm 145:13-17 ESV

Psalm 145

When a king reigns, he does so over everyone in his kingdom. Even over those who reject him as their king. A good king provides protection for all. He is to enforce the laws of the kingdom over all, regardless of their status or economic standing. As a king, David knew these things well. He realized that his role as king, while accompanied by wonderful benefits, also came with formidable responsibilities. He couldn’t help but compare his own reign with that of God; and when he did, he realized that God’s Kingdom was far greater in scope and size. His responsibilities were far more extensive. David’s kingdom was tiny and insignificant in comparison. And yet, God was faithful in all His words and king in all His works. Everyone looked to Him to provide their food and fulfill their desires, whether they acknowledged Him as King or not. David recognized that it was God who opened His hand and satisfied the desires of every living thing. Speaking of His own heavenly Father, Jesus said, “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45 ESV). God is gracious and merciful to all. His grace is the favor He shows to those who don’t deserve it, which would include ALL mankind. His mercy is the incredible patience He shows to those who deserve His wrath. In spite of the fact that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Roman 3:23 ESV), God has shown mercy. He has patiently put up with the sins of men over the centuries and even sacrificed His own Son in order to provide a way for men to be restored to a right relationship with Himself.

The Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His works. Unlike human kings, God always does what is right. He always keeps His word. He doesn’t lie, deceive, renege on a promise, or act unjustly. We may not always understand His actions, but we can never question His integrity. He is righteous in all His ways. Sometimes is appears otherwise. Based on what we see happening around us, we can easily conclude that God is either indifferent or incapable of doing what needs to be done. It can appear as if the wicked are winning. The psalmist felt that way and cried out, “Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve! O Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult?” (Psalm 94:2-3 ESV). Ethan the Ezrahite wrote, “How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire? Remember how short my time is! For what vanity you have created all the children of man!” (Psalm 89:46-47 ESV). There are times when it feels like God is either out of control or out of ear shot. It seems as if He is not listening to our pleas for help or seeing the gravity of our situation. But God is a righteous King. He is in complete control of the circumstances – all the time. Yes, it may appear as if the wicked are prospering and the unrighteous are getting all the breaks, but God knows exactly what He is doing. He is not fooled or duped by the ways of men. He knows men’s hearts. He knows that “there is none righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10 ESV). No one deserves the benefits of rain or crops. No one has earned God’s favor through their acts of righteousness. The fact that any of us exist at all is a testimony to the enduring patience of God.

Paul makes a compelling argument concerning God’s righteous rule and gracious dealings with mankind. “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?” (Romans 9:20-24 ESV). Who are we to question God? What right do we have to doubt the actions of the Creator of the universe? The very fact that God allows the wicked to continue to exist is a reminder of His patience and remarkable love. The fact is, God has shown all of us mercy – He has not given us what we so richly deserve – condemnation and eternal separation from Him. Instead, He has graciously allowed some to enjoy the wonders of His grace and the benefits of His Son’s sacrificial death on the cross. “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8 NLT).

Our King is a righteous, loving, gracious and merciful King. His ways are always just and right. His actions are unquestionably good and His decision are always proper and appropriate. We may not understand what He is doing. We may not even like what He is doing, but we can rest assured that it is always for the best. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.

Romans 9:16-33

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The Mysterious, Yet Merciful Ways of God

Romans 9:16-33

Concerning the Gentiles, God says in the prophecy of Hosea, “Those who were not my people, I will now call my people. And I will love those whom I did not love before.” – Romans 9:25 NLT

Paul has been emphasizing the point that God shows mercy on whomever He so chooses. And he knows that this difficult-to-understand reality about God is going to cause some of his readers to cry, “Foul!” They’re going to wrestle with the apparent fairness of a God who chooses some and not others. And in doing so, they will really be questioning the justice of God. But if God ever failed to be just, He would cease to be God. Yes, from our limited perspective, it would appear at times that God is acting in ways that are inconsistent with His character. But we can’t always see the bigger picture. We don’t have the ability to see what God is doing behind the scenes, orchestrating events and even sovereignly ordaining the affairs of men to accomplish His divine will. Paul uses the example of Pharaoh. Over and over again, God had spared Pharaoh, in spite of his open rebellion against God and his ongoing resistance to release the people of Israel from captivity. God would have been just in punishing Pharaoh for his stubborn opposition and open insolence, but God spared his life so that He might accomplish His will for the people of Israel. God always has a purpose behind His actions. What may appear to us as unfair and unjust can always be written up to the problem of our own limited perspective.

It is so easy for us to question God’s motives and doubt His goodness based on what we see. As human beings, we over-value our own importance, and under-appreciate God’s sovereign will. We look up from our restricted vantage point here on earth and shake our fist at God, demanding that He explain Himself. Which is why Paul uses the analogy of a potter working with clay. “When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory” (Romans 9:21-23 NLT). The potter has the right to do as he wishes with the clay. He need not ask for permission or take a vote. He fashions the clay, forming it into vessels of various kinds, to be used according to his own purposes and plans. The same is true when it comes to God’s interactions with mankind. God has created us and He is fully just and right to do with us as He sees fit. Paul has clearly indicated that all men stand as guilty and condemned before God and worthy of death. All men and women have sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard. And yet, God has chosen to redeem some. He has chosen to show mercy on some and not on others. The very fact that God shows mercy on any should blow us all away. That God would extend His grace and mercy to Gentiles, when it appeared all along that His chosen people had been the Israelites, should show us that God is anything but unfair. Remember that God’s mercy and grace are always undeserved and unmerited. No one has the right to demand God’s goodness or should expect to receive God’s grace. Jew and Gentile alike, stand as guilty before God. “No one is righteous—not even one” (Romans 9:10 NLT). “No one does good, not a single one” (Romans 9:12 NLT). Even the nation of Israel, the chosen people of God, were undeserving of God’s love and mercy. In spite of all that God had done for them, they continually and openly rebelled against Him. Yet, while He would have been justified in destroying them for their rebellion, God regularly preserved a remnant of them, so that His divine will could be fulfilled. God would have been fully just had He decided to destroy the entire nation, but He had made a promise to Abraham, and His divine character required that He keep that promise.

As Gentile believers, we stand before God as fully righteous and restored to a right relationship with Him, not because we deserved it or somehow earned it. We weren’t trying to keep God’s righteous standards, and yet we were shown mercy and received His grace. The Jews spent generations attempting to keep God’s righteous law in order to make themselves right before, but failed time and time again. But God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem both Jews and Gentiles. Neither group deserved to be shown mercy. Neither group was worthy of God’s grace. “But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)” (Ephesians 2:4-5 NLT). The very fact that God saves any of us should amaze and astound us. Somehow we have mistakenly assumed that God can be good only if He saves ALL. But we fail to remember that God would be fully just and right if He destroyed ALL. All men are deserving of death. All have sinned and fallen short of His glory. All are under a sentence of death. But God, in His mercy, has chosen to redeem some. He has graciously provided a way of escape for a remnant. And rather than rejoice in that amazing display of grace, we mistakenly and ungratefully question His goodness and fairness. And yet, the very fact that the Jews of Jesus’ day rejected Him as their Messiah and refused to accept Him as their Savior and as the Son of God, opened up the door so that we as Gentiles might be recipients of the Good News and the grace of God through Jesus Christ. Unfair? Hardly. Difficult to understand? Most certainly. But amazing grace nonetheless. God’s ways are not our ways. He is God and He does not need to report to us or explain Himself to us. Like a lump of clay, we are in no position to question the motives or mind of God. “Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back?” (Romans 11:33-35 NLT).

Father, while I may not always understand Your ways, I am growing ever more comfortable with them. I still question how and why You do things at times, but I am learning to trust You because You know what You are doing. You are God and I am not. You have a perspective that I do not. What appears as unfair to me, is right, just and holy from Your vantage point. The day will come when I am finally able to see things the way You do. “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity” (1 Corinthians 13:12 NLT). In the meantime, give me a growing trust in Your sovereign, divine and holy will. You know what is best and You can be trusted at all times. Amen.

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Proverbs 28

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Law-Lovers.

“God detests the prayers of a person who ignores the law.” – Proverbs 28:9 NLT

The verse above contains a pretty serious statement. It should grab out attention and make us question what it means to ignore the law. What law is he talking about? And what does it mean to ignore it? You and I certainly don’t want to find ourselves in the position where God detests our prayers. We don’t want to find ourselves crying out to God only to have Him refuse to hear or answer our prayers because of the fact that we have ignored His law. This Proverb, while a collection of independent wise sayings, does have somewhat of a theme. Most of the verses can be tied right back to the Ten Commandments, the original Law of God given on Mount Sinai to Moses during the days of the Exodus. Here they are:

  1. You must not have any other god but me.
  2. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens of on the earth or in the sea.
  3. You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
  4. Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
  5. Honor your father and mother.
  6. You must not murder.
  7. You must not commit adultery.
  8. You must not steal.
  9. You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.
  10. You must not covet.

If you notice, the first four regulate our relationship with God, while the last six deal with our human relationships. Now if you go back to Proverbs 28, you will see that most, if not all, of these verses have to do with our outlook on the law of God and its impact on our relationships with others. Throughout this Proverb you see contrasted the wicked and the righteous or godly. One group rejects the law of God while the other embraces and obeys it. “To reject the law is to praise the wicked; to obey the law is to fight them” (Proverbs 28:4 NLT). God’s law is the standard for all life on this planet. How we treat Him and how we relate to one another is contained in the law. It gives us the basis for all our interactions. Without a standard, everyone does what is in their own best interests and according to their own set of self-centered rules. It leads to corruption, graft, greed, abuse, neglect of the poor, and justification of all kinds of harmful actions. We are warned, “Those who trust their own insight are foolish, but anyone who walks in wisdom is safe” (Proverbs 28:26 NLT). To walk in wisdom is to live your life according to God’s terms, in obedience to His law or standard for life. God cares deeply about our human relationships. He wants us to treat one another with care, concern, respect, dignity, love, and honor – because all mankind is made in His image. But when we reject God’s law and disrespect our parents, murder out of hatred or for personal gain, take another man’s wife, steal what belongs to someone else, discredit another human being, or desire what they have more than we desire a relationship with them, we are fools. We lack wisdom because we are rejecting the conditions for life given to us by God Himself. It results in “moral rot” as described in verse 2. It leads to abuse and oppression. It becomes contagious, leading even good people to do bad things. It causes men to justify their actions and to reject accountability for the wrongs they commit.

The Ten Commandments begin with four statements about honoring God. We are to treat Him with respect, dignity, and honor at all times. As Proverbs 1:7 says, “Start with God – the first step in learning is bowing down to God; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning” (Proverbs 1:7 MSG). Our relationships with men are all based on and dependent upon our relationship with God. Wise rulers are those who know God and honor Him with their lives. They live according to His rules and don’t rule based on their own set of subjective standards. Wise parents are those whose households are God-honoring, where He is lifted up and held as the standard for life. Wise young people obey the law because they love God. Wise vendors don’t try and take advantage of their customers in order to make a buck, because they love God and know that dishonesty is dishonoring to Him. The wise commit sins, but immediately confess them to God, because they know He sees and they value their relationship with Him more than any pleasure their sin may provide.

Loving the law is simply loving God. It is obeying His Word because you trust Him. It is doing what He says because You recognize that He knows best.

Father, You did not leave us here to do whatever we want to do according to our own set of subjective standards. That is what leads us to sin and causes us to harm one another. You have provided us with Your standard for living and You have given us the rules for governing our relationships with one another. But it all begins with our relationship with You. Help us to trust You more, and to rely on the fact that Your law is good, holy and right. Amen.

Ken Miller

Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org