Count on God’s blessing in Jesus Christ (Numbers 6:24-26)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon on January 4, 2009

As you start off another new year, I want you to think about this. What can you count on for the New Year? As you think about this, let me tell you a story:

Although one of the smartest people ever lived famed scientist Albert Einstein had more trouble finding his way home from work than unlocking the secret of atomic power. One evening while Einstein sat deep in thought aboard the train that brought him home each night, the porter was collecting tickets. As the porter approached Einstein, he rummaged around in his coat, through his pockets, his shirt and everywhere he could think of, but couldn’t find his ticket.

The porter told, “That’s okay, Dr. Einstein, I know you ride this train every day. I can collect tomorrow.” To this Einstein replied, “That’s fine for you, young man, but how am I supposed to know where to get off the train without my ticket?”

I am glad that I can find a similarity in being forgetful with Dr. Einstein who depended on his ticket to where to get off. As you envision this year, what can you count on?

This morning, I want you to know that you can count on God this New Year. If 2009 is anything like 2008, we can expect unexpected surprises, the good and the bad. All aspects of our lives will be touched by the prolonged recession, the global conflicts and wars around the world, the changes that will be brought by the new administration. It is uncertain time and that makes it more important to know that you can count on God.

When we talk about counting on God, it is important to have right encounter with God. We get into trouble when we start formulating our own understanding about God with our own feelings. If I start on the assumptions that God is angry, grumpy and is out to catch me when I screw up and punish me for it, that he is removed, uninvolved and uninterested about my life except advancing his own agenda, or that he is irrelevant and archaic all because the way I feel about him, I would not want to know God nor count on him.

I want you to know that you can count on God not because you feel like you can count on him, but because God says you can count on him from his own word.

Open your Bible to Numbers 6:22-26. Let’s consider together why we can count on him for the New Year.

1. Count on God’s blessing in Jesus Christ.

There is a very strong connection between Numbers 6:22-23 to Leviticus 9:22. In Leviticus, Aaron emerges from the Holy of Holies after sacrificing the sin offering, the burn offering and the fellowship offering. That is when he lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them (Leviticus 9:22) with the blessing recorded in Numbers 6:24-26. So, what you see here is the priestly blessing by Aaron taking place after sacrifices of offerings were made to God.

And the offerings were made in a particular order in Leviticus 9. (1) Sin offering or guilt offering: (2) burnt offering: (3) fellowship offering and grain offering (along with drink offering). The order is important. First God dealt with sin through sin offering; second, the worshipers committed to God wholeheartedly through burnt offering and grain offering; and third, fellowship/communion was established between the Lord, the priest and the worshiper.[1] God prescribed these sacrificial offerings for the Israelites in order to forgive their sin, for their devotion to him and for peaceful relationship between him and the people. When these offerings of forgiveness, devotion and fellowship were carried out, that is when Aaron pronounced the blessing upon the Israelites.

From the book of Hebrews, we see it clearly that it is Jesus Christ who came as high priest (Hebrews 9:11) and as the mediator of a new covenant (Hebrews 9:15) who did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood (Hebrews 9:12).

Blessing only flows from what God purposed in his Son, and how Jesus Christ, his Son, carried out his redemptive purpose at the cross. In other words, you cannot entertain God’s blessing for you apart from Jesus Christ’s sacrificial offering of his life, his blood on the cross. It is Jesus who makes forgiveness of your sin, devotion of your life to God and fellowship with God and people possible. Only on what Jesus has accomplished for you already can you count God’s blessing!

For the Israelites to enjoy God’s blessing they needed to trust in God-ordained and prescribed offerings to deal with their sin, divided heart and broken relationship. In the same, to enjoy God’s blessing, we need to turn to Jesus who is the perfect Lamb sacrificed to deal with our sin, our divided heart and broken relationship.

2. Count on God who wills for your good and is committed to keep you.

Numbers 6:24, “The Lord bless you and keep you.”

When you find yourself in Jesus Christ you can count on God’s blessing. God’s blessing speaks to his will. What’s God’s will for you who are in Christ? The priestly blessing shows God’s will for your good. So, when you hear, “The Lord bless you!” what you need to hear is that God wills for your good. Apostle Paul talks about said in Romans 6:9-10, “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” In Christ, you are no longer an object of God’s wrath; in Christ, you are saved. The Lord bless you. The Lord wills for you good.

A commentator says, “Blessing is his idea, his purpose. It is not something his people must beg for, but it is the outreaching of his grace.”[2] God is not greedy with his blessing, only determined to give to those beg really hard. No, if you are in Christ, God’s stance toward you is not crossing his arms in greed, but that of posture of blessing. God wills, is determined to have you walk in his blessing and enable you to live in his abundant purpose for you.

Not only God wills for your good, he is committed to keep you, safeguards you. Jesus said in John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” The good shepherd who laid down his life is according to Paul in Romans 8:34, “Christ Jesus, who died- more than that, who was raised to life- is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” This you can count on that Jesus is fighting for you, praying for you to succeed in God’s purpose, in his blessing. He promised, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” in Matthew 28:20. The one who promises his presence forever in your life is committed to safeguard you to the end of the age. That you can count on!

3. Count on God’s presence and his favor.

Numbers 6:25, “the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.”

Do you remember what happened to Moses when he came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands? Exodus 34:29 says that although Moses wasn’t aware, his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. So, when you hear the blessing of God making his face shine on you, it is about his commitment to draw near you, be present in your life, to speak clearly to you. He won’t have to scream at you because he will be near you to speak to you. Again, it is Jesus who said in John 10:15, “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” Count on God’s presence in your life.

You can also count on God’s favor upon you. Some of you have worked for difficult bosses who are not easy to please, whether you do a good job or not, because they are unreasonable in their demand, unkind, rude and unsupportive. You walk away from them feeling like they aren’t interested in seeing you succeed at your work; their interest isn’t about your professional growth. Well, the blessing for God to be gracious to you promises that you won’t have that problem with God. God’s blessing to be gracious to you is a promise to show you favor. You will not have to earn his favor because his favor is given to you in Christ. You don’t say and do things hoping that God will be favorable to you. No, he is already committed to be favorable to you in Christ. You say and do things not to earn God’s favor, but as your thankful responses to God for showing you favor in Christ.

4. Count on God’s smile and peace.

Numbers 6:26, “the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

To turn his face toward is God’s promise to smile on you. It speaks to God’s pleasure and affection for you.[3] Again as it was with God’s favor, you cannot earn God’s pleasure, his affection. He gives you his pleasure, his affection, his smile on you in Christ. When you sin, you come to Jesus and received God’s forgiveness through Jesus’ blood, and God smiles on you. When you are doing what’s right before God, God smiles on you because it is through the life of Jesus Christ and power of the Holy Spirit you are growing in holiness. From being justified to being sanctified, from being delivered from darkness to walking in the light, being delivered from Satan to walk in the Spirit, God smiles on you because how the life of Christ bearing good fruits of the Holy Spirit. So, God’s promise to smile on you is his commitment to be pleased by the life of Christ within you. So, if you want to fine smiles on God’s face you need to remain in Jesus.

To give you peace is God’s commitment for the year 2009. Again, I emphasize to you that peace is not what you earn by doing the right things. God’s peace is given to you. Peace he promises is the quality of life you will enjoy when you follow Jesus as your Shepherd, as your Lord, your Savior. Sometimes, doing the right thing can cause whole lot of troubles in your life. Stephen from Acts did what was right when he accused the Jews of having betrayed and murdered Jesus (Acts 7:52). But, what he got was execution by people throwing stones at him. While being stoned to death, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” and falling on his knees and crying out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:59-60). What I see is man of great peace who entrusted himself to God and who interceded for those who were stoning him to death. I highlight this to make sure you know that God’s promise for peace is what he is going to give you when you follow Jesus.

5. Benediction!

Numbers 6:27, “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

“They” meaning this prayer of blessing from v. 24-26 will put God’s name on the Israelites. Having God’s name on you is another way of saying God’s blessing is on you. So, NLT translates it, “Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them.”

As such as, I would like to pronounce this prayer of blessings on you, and as I do, may God himself come now and bless you richly.

• The Lord bless you and keep you...

In Christ God wills for your good and wills to keep you.

• The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you...

In Christ God promises to be so near you that you feel the warm of his face and show you his favor.

• The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace...

In Christ God is pleased with you, he smiles on you, and grants you peace.

---

[1] Barker, Kenneth L. NIV Study Bible (Fully Revised): Leviticus. 150-152. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1985, 1995, 2002.

[2] Allen, Ronald B. “(b) The Aaronic Benediction (6:22-27)” In The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Volume 2. 754. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1990.

[3] Allen, Ronald B. “(b) The Aaronic Benediction (6:22-27)” In The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Volume 2. 755. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1990.

Coming of Christ (Isaiah 52.7-12; John 1:1-14)

Cornerstone Mission Church - Christmas Message on 12/25/2008

My sister’s family treated us to few days up in Wisconsin Dells to one of the indoor water theme parks. We made it there on Monday evening. And, I took my kids and my sister kids to water raft rides. I don’t know if you’ve been to one of those indoor water rides, but it is quite amazing. You go up what must be endless stairs for few minutes and finally get to the top where you get to descend on a round shaped raft down through a tube; well it is all over in 10’s of seconds. The tube begins inside the building, winds down outside the building, and finally enters back into the building. And, the raft simply winds down inside and through the tube and dumps you on the lower pool.

I’ve never been on these things at night, not alone on one of the coldest winter days thus far. As soon as raft takes off in splash, it quickly descends down inside a tube and in a matter of a second or so you are in this complete pitch darkness that blinds you and disorients you. And because you are in this pitch darkness, you cannot anticipate turns. And, you end up feeling dizzy… Well, I tried to be tough and I am sure none of the kids knew how I felt. But, I tell you, all I wanted after few twists and turns in pitch darkness inside the tube was a glimmer of light. That’s all I needed to get myself together, just a flicker of light at the end of the tube.

The absolute worse was when I sat down with my back facing downward. Something about going downward with quick twists and turns in complete darkness made me feel dizzy and nauseated. In complete darkness, I just couldn’t get my sense of direction. Man, did I want that light or what? Just to think about it gives me headache and makes me all dizzy. Kids were just fine. Perhaps, this is a sign of my aging. Now, don’t go around thinking that I was afraid of the ride, because I wasn’t, all right? Uh hum! I just didn’t like how riding down in pitch darkness made me feel all disoriented, dizzy and even nauseated. What made it all better was when there was light; it helped me regain my sense of direction.

Today’s world feels like descending down inside a pitch dark tube in a raft with your back facing downward. No one ever imagined just a year ago, or even six months ago, we will be where we are today with economic downturn. Some think that we haven’t hit the bottom yet. Other words, expect more bad news ahead of us well into the year 2009, perhaps stock market hitting 6000 level, rising unemployment rate at all time high, credit woes, businesses suffering. Then, there are two wars that our nation has been fighting. Although scaling down the military deployment is a possibility in Iraq, situations in Afghanistan are getting worse; it demands more troops and fear of repeating Russia’s unsuccessful occupation in Afghanistan is real. And, if you didn’t know already the long time dictator president Lansana Conte of Guinea died last Monday prompting unrest and another military coup. It is potentially explosive situation. Our Sarah and others who planned to take off for a Vision Trip with Teachus Mission to Guinea cannot leave any more. The world we live in today feels like dizzy, disoriented and discouraging downward descent inside a pitch dark tube with unexpected twists and turns. And, it is now more than any other time in recent history when people are looking for the real source of hope, the glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

For the Israelites, they felt like they were in this pitch dark and dizzying and discouraging descent when they were deported from the Promised Land as captives into the exile. There in the foreign land, Isaiah 52:7 lets us know that they yearned for good news who would proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Down the pitch dark tube of descent under the rules of foreign kings of Babylon, what else could be constituted as good news, then to hear, “Your God reigns!” So, they yearned for the Lord to return (8), to comfort his people (9b), to redeem Jerusalem (9c); they yearned to see the salvation of… God (10). And, they heard good news, “you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be you rear guard.” Thus, they saw the light at the end of the tunnel. No longer were they confounded and disheartened in the pitch dark tube of descent for the Lord returned. So, there was this great celebration of God’s coming, God breaking into their wasted places of Jerusalem.

This coming of the Lord, breaking into the world of the exiles foreshadowed the coming of God in Christ Jesus. John puts it this way in 1:9, “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world,” the world wrapped up in the pitch dark tube of descent. It came about when the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us (John 1:14), the Word, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth, his name is Immanuel, “God with us,” Jesus Christ! As it was when the LORD went before the Israelites and was their rear guard, it is Jesus who lights the way for us. Jesus is the light that stops the pitch dark tube of descent.

When apostle Paul asks this question in Romans 8:35, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” he doesn’t assume that we Christians would be shielded from the pitch dark tube of descent. But, what he says is although we may be considered as sheep to be slaughtered… we are more than conquerors through him who loved us, namely Jesus Christ (36-37). His conviction is this, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

So, this morning, be encouraged, be strengthened in Christ’s advent. He came because he loves you. God’s plan is not to take away every problem and pain you are facing today as so many of us falsely hope for. No, he has better plan than zapping away our problems and pains. His plan is to make us warriors, conquerors, overcomers in the love of Jesus Christ. That is what Advent of Christ means today!

Count on God! (Psalm 89)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon December 21, 2008

I’ve been thinking a lot about keeping promises this past week and this led me to think about my childhood. Growing up I never really knew what my dad did for living. All I knew was that he worked for different companies and he also traveled a lot. That was good enough for me. But, there was something I felt very strongly about. Maybe it was being a youngest child thing; I thought that it would be really cool if my dad would bring home something special just for me. So, before he left for his work in the morning, or before he left for his business travels, I would stop him and ask him if he would get something for me; I can’t remember what I asked from him… perhaps toys like transformers kits, battle ships, microscope, things that boys would enjoy. But, most of the time, it didn’t have to be anything specific; I just wanted him to remember me and bring home something special for me. That’s what I really wanted, special gifts from dad.

Whenever I asked him to remember me and bring home something special, he never failed to promise to do so. But the problem was that my dad too easily forgot his promises to me. I kept asking him thinking that if I asked him enough, he would eventually remember me and get me something special. But, at some point, I stopped asking him because I stopped expecting, stopped hoping… because I stopped trusting his promises.

As I thought about my dad’s broken promises, I began thinking about my own promises to my kids. And, God highlighted a very specific promise I’ve made to Mikayla. I’ve always thought that it would be really cool if I could have daddy and daughter date, nothing special, but just a time alone with each of my girls. Few months back I took Abby out for a breakfast at Egg Factory and it was fabulous. Well, the next in line was Mikayla. But, things got busy and I keep postponing it. And, Mikayla kept on asking when I was going to taker her out for daddy and daughter date. I would say to her something like, “Soon, I will take you out soon.” But, I didn’t keep my promise. And, guess what? Just like how I stopped asking my dad for something special from him, Mikayla stopped asking me about our date. Man, the very thing that I didn’t like about my dad, here I was doing exactly the same thing. I asked her on Friday during dinner about how she used to ask about our daddy daughter date, but she stopped asking me about it. I asked her why she stopped asking me about it. Her response was, “Well, I didn’t think it was going to happen.” Man! It hurt! She gave up on me because I didn’t keep my promise to her, because I kept on forgetting.

Think of your relationship with your dads. Have you stopped asking him because you’ve stopped expecting from him, you’ve given up on him to keep his promises to you? Perhaps, you internalized it by saying to yourself that it is your fault. Or, you are really angry and bitter about it. How about your relationships with others? Have others stopped asking you because they’ve stopped expecting from you because your tendency to forget and not carry through your promises to them?

Now, when we make promises to others and others make promises to us, I would like to think that our intention is to keep our promises. But, what I realize is that all the good intention in the world does no good if it is not carried out. Intention with no action is nothing but an empty promise that does nothing but hurts people.

Now, think about your relationship with God. Have you stopped asking him earnestly? Have you stopped expecting from him? Do you think of God as a faulty bow who doesn’t deliver what he has promised? Perhaps, self-loathingly you ask yourself, “Why should he pay attention to me? Why should he care for me? Well, I am nobody.”

What is wrong with our generations? Why are we so jaded about anyone keeping their promises, not alone keep our own promises? What does our current historical economic meltdown say about our generations? It speaks to deeply cowardly, deceptive, and defective human hearts that cannot think and feel beyond themselves. It speaks to the lack of promise keepers, who take their own words very seriously because they take God seriously. Are you a promise keeper? Do you stand out as dependable, trustworthy, promise fulfilling person when everyone else falter around you? Are you a countercultural promise keeper no matter how hard it gets?

Psalm 89 speaks powerfully to the jaded generations who cannot fathom people who keep their promises. The psalm is going to show you how you can stand out as counterculturally dependable and trustworthy people when you count on God!

1. Count on God because he is loving, faithful, powerful as our King

When you read through Psalm 89 over and over again, you cannot fail to notice how deeply the psalmist known as Ethan the Ezrahite counts on God.

Right off the bat, I am blown away by the way the psalmist counts on God. Listen to his declaration from verse 1 and 2; to say, “I will,” speaks to Ethan’s determination. This is what he is going to do and nothing’s going to stop him. Verse 1, “I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.” Why sing of the Lord’s love? Why make his faithfulness known? Why should you count on God at all? Verse 2 tells why. It is because God’s love stands firm forever and he established his faithfulness in heaven itself.” God’s love is never fickle, but is constant and rock-solidly dependable. His faithfulness isn’t the stuff of earthly qualities, but of heavenly quality that you can always count on.

V.5 -8, he asks a question repeatedly, “Who is like the Lord? Who is like you?” The heaves praise him (v. 5), the council of the holy ones (v. 7), the who’s who of the saints fear him, for he is incomparable (v. 6), he is most awesome (v. 7), he is mighty (v. 8).

Talking about power, he peppers v. 9-13 with image of his great power. Surging sea with waves mounting up which symbolizes crazy chaos beyond control like the economic meltdown domino has nothing on God; God rules and he calms it (v. 9). Rahab, the mythical monster of the deep is crushed and slayed by God (v. 10). As the Creator, he claims the heavens, the earth and all that is in it, the north and the south as his possession, his creation; even the inanimate mountains tall and short alike sing for you at his name (v. 11-12). His arm, his hand, his right hand, powerful, strong, and exalted (v. 13)! Righteousness and justice define his authority, his throne (v. 14). But, he dispenses righteousness and justice by carrying them out in love and faithfulness. Verse 18 tells us to count on God because he is our shield and our king!

2. Count on God because of his promise to David

Verse 19 through verse 37 speaks to God’s covenant with David, his promise to David. For the psalmist this was one of the greatest sources of his confidence in God.

God calls David his warrior with God given strength (V. 19), my servant and his anointed one (v. 20). God’s going to sustain him and strengthen him. And, for this reason, the anointed David will subject his enemy (v. 22). God’s going to crush and strike down David’s foes (v. 22). God’s faithful love will be with David and God’s going to give him strength… that is what the image of exalting horn means in v. 24. God affirms his eternal love and his unfailing covenant, his promise with David (v. 28). God’s everlasting promise to David is that he is going to establish David’s throne as long as the heavens endure (v. 29).

V. 30-37, God reaffirms his commitment to ensure, to establish David’s throne firmly, his line of posterity and kingship to continue forever even in the cases of David’s sons forsaking God and all that God stood for. God promised to decisively to deal with the sins of the bad kings after David. You read Kings and Chronicles and you realize the depth of apostasy and rebellion by the sons of David. Yet, God says in v. 33, “but I will not take my love from him nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.” There it is again, God’s enduring love and his everlasting faithfulness. If there was ever question about what God was going to do with the line of David, God says in v. 36-38, “his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun; it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.”

To count on God meant trusting God’s intention, his promise to carry out his plan to continue the line of David.

3. Count on God through lament

To count on God’s intention to carry out his promise is all good except when things don’t look like God is doing what he said he would do. It’s like when the promises by us and by others taste like rotten fruits.

When your reality seems to betray the promises from God what do you do? V. 39 to 51 speak to the reality that doesn’t match with what God had promised in the past. The reality as the palmist perceived was dark and gloomy and destructive. Where did the confidence that Ethan count on God? How can you keep counting on God when the realty casts doubts on God’s promises?

The test of faith is in those crucible moments that shake the core of what you thought was your secure trust in God.

It is not possible to pinpoint the exact circumstance that the psalmist was in, but it was pretty bad. Perhaps, it was during the time of last two kings of Judah in the awake of Babylonian exile. Or, perhaps it was during the time of exile. Whatever was the circumstance that the psalmist was in it was bad enough to shake his faith in God.

All that was said about God’s eternal love, his faithfulness, his power, his covenant promise to continue the line of David, it all felt irrelevant to the psalmist because the current realty seemed to betray God’s promise. God promised for enduring line of David, but the kingdom of Judah collapsed and the king of Judah was no longer, but an exile among many. What was the psalmist to do?

Let me tell you what the psalmist did. Ethan chose to lament. To lament is to express grief, pain. It is about being honest. It is opposite of stuffing it in, pretending everything is fine when it is not, putting smiles on your face when your heart is stricken with disappointments and hurts. To lament is to admit your pain, your disappointment, your confusion to God. And, this is what Ethan chose to do.

God said he would establish the line of David forever but now it was as though God was rejecting, spurning, getting angry with David and his posterity (v. 38). It was as though God was renouncing his covenant with David when psalmist witnessed how David’s throne got defiled by the invasion, how the walls of Jerusalem and the strongholds crumbled to ruins in the hands of the enemies, how the kingdom of David was plundered away. No longer commanding any respect, the line of David was scorned by the neighbors. Ethan is grief; he is hurt! And, he is letting God know he is hurting! ‘God, it appears as though you are exalting the right hand of David’s foes and make them rejoice over the demise of David’s line. It is as though you render the sword of David powerless and you withdraw your support for him in battle. You promised to establish his throne forever, but now it appears as though you are putting an end to it. You set David upon his throne, now it looks like you cast it to the ground. I don’t get it! Why does it feel like you are hiding yourself forever? Why is that all I feel now is your wrath burning like fire?’

Do you know what it is like to be honest with God like this? Why is that do we put on a smile on our face when pain is deep? Is it because we think that God cannot take the heat from us, that somehow we might hurt God? Is it because somehow we got this idea that being brutally honest with God is not what Christians do?

It is so important to you know that God can take your lament, he can handle your grief, pain, anger. He says bring it on whatever is that you have in you that has been eating inside of you. Don’t play nice Christian! God isn’t impressed when you put up fake smiles when it is time to express your hurts! Don’t stuff it in, but express to God! God wants you to know that he wants to hear you.

If you don’t choose to lament, whatever is inside of you will get rotten and it is going to poison your thinking, your relationship with people, but most importantly it is going to position your relationship with God. Instead of drawing near to God, you are going to stray away from him if you don’t choose to express your feeling honestly to him.

4. Count on God through lament that acts on truth

Now, to think lament as simply dumping your bad feelings on God and nothing more is not accurate. If lament was simply unloading your toxic feelings to God and nothing more, it won’t help you to deal with the real issues that have caused such feelings in the first place.

Ethan began and carried his psalm with his heartfelt trust, his deep confidence in God’s love, faithfulness, his power, righteousness and justice. But, v. 38, the tone changes completely from joyful confidence to the tone of doubts, pain, confusion… But, the thing about this psalm is there is no relief to the miserable circumstances. Ethan’s lament created this incredible tension between God’s promises and apparent reality of God’s unfulfilled promises. And, there is no resolution. There is no easy answer to the crisis of faith! The tension continues on.

So, from circumstantial point of view, nothing has changed. The line of David appears to have ended; the throne of David no more. No more kings in Judah, no more nation of Israel. Exile continues. Jerusalem remains in ruin. Nothing changed in the course of this psalm when you look at from circumstantial point of view.

But, look how Ethan ends his psalm in v. 52, “Praise be to the Lord forever! Amen and Amen.” Tension remains between God’s promises and his unfulfilled promises, problems remain. But, what Ethan chose to do is to praise God.

Again, I remind you that Ethan did not skip the lament part. He honestly expressed how he felt about the situation. And, God heard him. Nothing changed circumstantially, but radical adjustment took place in his heart when he took his heart to God and wrestle with him. God renewed his faith in him.

What I see is here how lamenting empowered Ethan to trust God again. He moved from being overwhelmed by feelings ungrounded in truth to now being centered, being grounded in the truth of who God is. It happened because he became honest with
God. It happened because he recounted God’s promises.

When you put together the truth about God and being honest before God what you get is faith that is purified through fire.

Conclusion

It has past months since I promised to Mikayla to have a daddy and daughter breakfast with her. This week God’s has convicted me about this. I don’t want to follow the footsteps of my dad who was terrible at keeping his end up. When my children grow old and when it is time for me to say goodbye, I want them to remember me as a father who loved them, who was faithful, who kept his word. It is not good enough to have mere good intention. All the good intention in the world would do no good if it is not back up by action. All my good intention to spend time with my girls as their daddy will not mean anything if I don’t follow through. I can blame it on forgetfulness. But, forgetfulness only shows that I don’t care enough. Caring enough is remembering!

So, I remembered and Saturday morning I took Mikayla to Panera. We had a fabulous time. Lyn was gracious to make it possible for me to keep my promise to Mikayla. If I as a mere human dad can remember my promise to my child and get my acts together to keep my promise to my girl, how much better would our heavenly Father be at keeping his promises?

Although Psalm 89 gives no resolution to the tension between God’s promise and delay in his fulfillment, we as a reading who lives now knows that God has fulfilled his promise to David. The throne of David, the line of David didn’t end in exile. Just in four days, we will celebrate the birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, a descendant of David, who carries the line of David now as the exalted King, Savior.

1 Samuel 1-2:11, When you are disappointed, to whom do you turn to?

Judges 21:25 closes the book of Judges; “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” We saw how this affected the life of the Israelites. When the people of God rejected the kingdom of God, that is God’s sovereign reign over them, they did as they saw fit. The outcome was the inability to tell right from wrong, disastrous moral decays and confusion, lost of many lives…
In contrast, the book of Ruth told a completely different story about Naomi, Ruth, Boaz, and God. These two women experienced great difficulties in life, loosing their husbands, relocations, struggling to survive during and after the severe famine. They did not do things as they saw fit; they turned to God and God turned things around for them. Instead of emptiness, bitterness, childlessness, hungry stomach, they experienced fullness in life, joy, new life and wellbeing.
Now, we turn to the books of Samuel. Judges was about people doing things as they saw fit without regard to God’s rule over them. The stories told in the book of Samuel focus on this; establishment of the kingship in Israel under the leadership of Samuel, a last judge.
Initially, there was no break between 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. It was one book. But, in the 15^th century A.D., Samuel was divided into two parts; this division is first seen in the first printed Hebrew Bible called the Bomberg edition published in 1516-1517 in Venice.
Also, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, called LXX, Septuagint instead of dividing Samuel into two parts, it grouped Samuel with the book of Kings. So, together, they were called “Books of Kingdoms.” So, Samuel and Kings were known as 1, 2, 3, and 4 Kings. This emphasized the big change that occurred after the period of Judges, going from no kingship to fully established kingship in Israel.
The books of 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel obviously bear the name of Samuel, the last judges. He played an important role in the history of Israel, going from without kings to kings.

Hannah and Peninnah (1 Samuel 1:1-8)

The story of Samuel begins with the birth account of Samuel to his childhood ending in 4:1. Today, we are going to consider the story of his birth.

We are introduced to his parents in verse 1 and 2, Elkanah and Hannah. Verse 2 says that he had two wives, Hannah, and the other Peninnah. Their names relates to their current situation. Peninnah means, “prolific” while Hannah means, “charming.” It is likely that Elkanah’s first wife Hannah, who was charming, meaning he was beloved, was not able to conceive and give birth; so, Elkanah got his second wife, Peninnah according to the custom of the time. His second wife Peninnah was prolific in having children.

Let me say few words about polygamy in the Old Testament. In the big picture of the Bible, polygamy was never intended as God’s ideal for marriage. Genesis 2:24 tells us that marriage is between one male and one female. Adam and Eve were monogamists. However, after the fall, the marriage institution suffered from the effect of sin. In the New Testament, we see no examples of polygamy. Jesus emphasized God’s original intention and design for marriage as “the two shall become one flesh,” according to Mark 10:2-12. The church leaders were told to be the husband of only one wife (1 Timothy 3:2, 12; Titus 1:6).

In the Old Testament, the impact of polygamy was negative on family lives. In Abraham’s case, there were great discord and jealousy between his wife Sarah and the maid Hagar (Genesis 16:5). In David’s case, his sons from the various wives fought among themselves for the throne (2 Samuel 5:13; 13:22-33). And, in the case of Solomon, his 700 wives and 300 concubines turned his heart from the LORD (1 Kings 11:1-8).

It is likely that Elkanah got Peninnah as his second wife due to having no children with his first wife Hannah, as it was custom during the time. We see the strain in the relationship. Peninnah is described as Hannah’s rival. Verse 6 says, “because the LORD closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.” And, verse 7 continues, “This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat.” Whenever she would weep and not eat, her husband Elkanah would ask her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you so downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?”

This went on whenever the family made to Shiloh for their annual visit to the house of God, where they worshiped and sacrificed according to God’s law. It was during these yearly journeys to the house of God, Peninnah picked on Hannah, provoking and badgering her for not being able to have any child. Elkanah tried without success to comfort Hannah. As his beloved and favored, verse 5 says, “but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her though the LORD has closed her womb.”

Hannah before the LORD (1 Samuel 1:9-20)

What did Hannah do when she got depressed, picked on, provoked by her rival? We see in verse 9-11 that she took her sorrows, hurts, and pains to God. Verse 9 says after the meal at Shiloh, Hannah went before the LORD. There at the tabernacle before the LORD, verse 10, “in bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD.” This is a picture of godly woman. She was not fighting back, getting back at Peninnah. Hannah took the matter to the LORD. She poured her heart to the LORD.

There before the LORD, she made a vow in verse 11: “O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”

Verse 11, during her prayer, she felt led to make a Nazirite vow to the LORD. It was a vow of separation, complete devotion to the LORD. Samson before he was born was given also the Nazirite vow. But, we know what Samson did with his Nazirite vow. As we will see Samuel was vastly different person than Samson was. Her prayer tells a lot about this woman. Her payer tells us that she recognized that children were gifts from God. God is the one who enabled conception and childbirth as it was the case in Ruth. She knew God as LORD Almighty. Nothing was too typical for God; he saw herself as God’s servant. She knew that the God cared for her. She was a woman who also knew how to be thankful to the LORD.

(Verse 12-18) Hannah was praying silently, only moving her lips. Eli, the priest at the house of the LORD saw her and thought that she was drunk. Apparently drunkenness was not uncommon during the time of feasts. But, Hannah wasn’t drinking. According to verse 7, she wasn’t even eating anything at all, a self imposed fasting.

For Eli to assume that Hannah was drunk because she was moving her lips without praying aloud and weeping tells something about this priest’s spiritual insensitivity.

Contrary to his mistaken perception, Hannah told him that instead of having poured wine or bear into her mouth, she was pouring out her soul to the LORD. She was pouring out her great anguish and grief. She was far from being a wicked woman; she was a godly woman.

Verse 17, to this, Eli responded, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”

Things were different for her now. She poured her anguish, broken, grieving heart. She poured out her deep desire for a child to God. Having heard the priest pronounce the blessing over her prayer, it says in verse 18, “she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.”

Verse 19-20, we see how God answered Hannah’s prayer. The family rose early next morning and worshiped before the LORD before heading home. Elkanah lay with Hannah and it says, “the LORD remembered her.” The LORD came and answered her prayer, helping her to conceive and to give birth to a son. She named him Samuel, which sounds like in Hebrew word meaning, “heard of God.”

Hannah dedicated Samuel (1 Samuel 1:21-28)

In the follower year, the family of Elkanah was making another annual trip to the annual sacrifice to the LORD. This time Hannah told Elkanah she wished to stay behind. She told him, “After boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the LORD, and he will live there always.”
We see that Hannah did not make a rash vow that she would regret later. She knew in her heart that the child was a gift from God, a merciful response to her heartfelt prayer. She was determined to follow through with her vow to dedicate her son in Nazirite vow. What we see is a thankful woman who owed everything to the LORD.
It took about three years for women to wean their children from breastfeeding back then. So, it is reasonable to think that she kept him for three years to raise him up.
At the age of about three, still very young, she took Samuel back to the house of the LORD as she promised in her vow. There, she worshiped God and sacrificed to the LORD. She told Eli, “I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.”

Hannah’s Prayer and Praise (1 Samuel 2:1-11)
In verse 1-2, we see where Hannah put her trust in. Her trust was squarely in the LORD. Sherejoiced and delighted in the LORD who delivered her, who strengthened her. Her confession was this, “There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.” When she felt bitter with disappointment, she turned to God because God alone was the Rock, the sure foundation, her Cornerstone. Although circumstances might be shaky and heartbreaking, she wasn’t shaken by them. She remained strong, firm and unshakeable because her foundation was the Rock of her salvation.
In God, the Rock of salvation, she confessed, “those who stumbled are armed with strength, who were hungry hunger no more, who was barren has borne seven children” in verse 4-5.
God, the Creator, alone is sovereign “for the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s; upon them he has set the world” verse 8.
In this God, her Rock, her sovereign Creator, she found her confidence for the LORD guards the feet of his saints, verse 9.

Applications

When you are bitter because of your disappointments, to whom or what do you turn? Do what Hannah did!

• Take your disappointments to the Lord. He is strong enough to take your disappointments.
• Pour your heart out to the LORD. God knows your heart
• Trust God who is merciful and remembers you.
• Know that all gifts are from God and be grateful.
• Let your thankfulness motivate you to service to your God.

Sunday Sermon: Judges 1:1-2:6, Trust in the LORD and fight his battles

Time after time I am amazed by how God still speaks so relevantly to us through his timeless word. For a while, I would like us to journey together through the book of Judges from the Old Testament. I invite you to see for yourself that truly God speaks to us through his word.

The book of Judges spans from the time of Joshua’s death to the rise of monarchy, few hundred years long.

The generation who experienced Exodus under Moses’ leadership did not get to taste the Promised Land. They grumbled, complained, didn’t trust in God’s promise, didn’t remain in faithful covenant relationship with God, instead made for themselves a golden idol to worship, gave into the fear of men instead of trusting in God’s ability to fulfill his promise to them to give the Promised Land. When the spies that were sent out to scope out the Promised Land confirmed that indeed that the Promised Land was exceedingly good as the Lord promised, they didn’t hang on to God’s promise to give that land to them. Instead, they gave into the fear of reported giant dwellers in the Promised Land.

Caleb and Joshua who trusted in the Lord encouraged this generation under Moses’ leadership to trust in the Lord. Caleb and Joshua told them in Numbers 14:8-9.

“If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

How did they respond to Caleb and Joshua? Well Numbers 14:10 says, “the whole assembly talked about stoning them.”

To this God responded in Numbers 14:20-23, “as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times-- not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.”

So, this generation who witnessed the great and amazing miracles of God forfeited their calling to go out and possess the Promised Land. They wondered in the desert for forty years. They did not get to enjoy the promise of the Lord.

It was the following generation under Joshua’s leadership that got to advance into the Promised Land. This was the generation that grew up eating manna and quails God miraculously provided them. To Joshua and to this generation God promised in Joshua 1:4-5, “Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates-all the Hittite country-to the Great Sea on the west. No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

The condition for God’s promise follows in verse 6-9, “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Be strong and courageous says the Lord. Do not give into fear or discouragement. Why? It is because he promises his presence, his enablement to do his will! They were to find their strength, encouragement, courage, purpose in the Lord as they do the work of God.

Under Joshua’s leadership, this generation saw the great act of God. When they came to the edge of the Jordan’s waters, the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were told to go and stand in the river in Joshua 3:8. Verse 13 says, “as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord-the Lord of all the earth-set foot in the Jordan, its water flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.” So it happened in verse 17, “The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.”

There in the middle of the Jordan, each of the twelve men from the each tribe picked up a stone. These twelve stones were to remind them the remarkable miracle God performed in the midst of them. The twelve stones taken from the middle of the Jordan were then placed at Gilgal where the Israelites encamped. From this place under Joshua’s leadership, the Israelites conducted the military missions. Mark F. Rooker calls it “the centralized military base of operations to which the Israelites returned after their various military missions.”[1] Whenever they returned to Gilgal, they returned to be reminded again and again by the twelve stones, the great miracle God performed at the Jordan River.

In Joshua 13, we see that in Joshua’s old age, perhaps in his eighty’s, God reminded Joshua, “You are very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.” Then, God told Joshua in verse 6, “Be sure to allocate this land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have instructed you.” There were still the areas of the Promised Land that were to be taken and occupied. Yet, God had Joshua allocate the land to each tribe, to divide it among them as their inheritance.[2] And, then on, occupying the each portion of the land became the responsibility of each tribe, of course with only God’s help. With God’s blessing and his promise, and his enablement, each tribe was to go out and take their inheritance.

That is what we see in Judges Chapter 1. After Joshua having passed away, the allotted land, divided land remained yet to be fully taken by each tribe.

The very first chapter begins with the mention of the death of Joshua. This marks the beginning of the Judges period. We see that this generation groomed under Joshua’s leadership learned something well because they asked the Lord in verse 1 as to who were to go up and fight. When they asked the Lord, in verse 2, “The Lord answered.” Up to verse 19, we see how the tribe of Judah went about taking the allotted land.

Things seemed well, but verse 19 and on inform us that the things weren’t going too well. “They took procession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots.”

Verse 21 says, “The Benjamites, however, failed to dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.”

Verse 22-26 records the success the house of Joseph had in attacking Bethel. Verse 22 records that The Lord was with them.

But, from verse 27, we read the disparaging reports about the rest of the tribes. Verse 27, Manasseh did not drive out the people; Verse 29, Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites; Verse 30, Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites; Verse 31, Nor did Asher drive out; Verse 33, Neither did Naphtali among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land.

The chapter 1 was about the Israelites’ perspective on taking the Promised Land. From reading chapter 1, we get the sense that they failed to possess the Promised Land completely because the Canaanites were too resilient, because they couldn’t over come the chariots. This was the Israelites’ perspective on how things didn’t go well for them.

But, 2:1-5 reveals a different story. This is God’s perspective on how things didn’t go well for the Israelites. Why did the Israelites have difficult time possessing the Promised Land the Lord promised to them? Was it because God’s promise was not true? Was God to be blamed for their failure? Was God unable to deliver the promise?

God is not to be blamed for this failure. He told them in verse 1-2, “I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars” “Yet you have disobeyed me.”

Their failure to drive out the Canaanites was not because God was powerless to deliver his promise. It wasn’t because God abandoned them. It wasn’t because God wasn’t faithful to them and to his own promise. It wasn’t because the Canaanites were too strong. It wasn’t because they were better trained and equipped with the latest weapons. God can be counted. His words are trustworthy. He does what he says. God is not the reason for their failure. Nor, the strength of the Canaanites.

No, their failure to realize God’s promise was because of their own failure to remain faithful to God. God who called them out to be a people set out for him; God who acted mighty and miraculously to bring them out of the slavery under Egypt; God who provided them in the desert for forty years; God who never breaks his promise.

All that God asks is that his people remain faithful to his amazing grace, to trust him for their future, to trust him for their life, to trust him for the true meaning and purpose of life, to trust him for the victories against the enemies, to trust him for the victories against the destructive sinful behaviors, thoughts and emotions.

Instead of remaining in this God who mightily delivered them out of miseries, difficulties, bondages, they sought after the gods of other nations.

Let me make a couple of application from this narrative this morning.

1. Trust God in his term.

What is the consequence of their distrust and disobedience? God says in verse 3, “Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.” God would not be our Savior, our deliverer, our power on our own terms. He says if you want to experience my saving grace, power, deliverance, purpose, joy, then you got learn to trust me and follow me in my term. His term is Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29.

2. Trust God’s faithful and trustworthy character.

Our Christian journey always begins, continues in being immersed in the amazing person of God. God is faithful in what he promises to ou and what he purposes for you.

God’s purpose and his promise to you is not that you live defeated life, but that you live successful and prosperous life in doing his battle.

Learn to reflect and mediate on who God is through the life of Jesus Christ. Ask God to let his self-revelation make deeper impact on your heart, conscience, emotion. Ask God to help you encounter him and be amazed by who he is. So, that you simply find yourself on your knees and your head bow downed to adore him, to worship him.

3. Pick the right fights and the fight the battle with God’s help.

The key to successful spiritual life is to pick the right fights. Another word, you have to have the right cause for your life. God has the battles picked out for you. He wants you to come along side of him and participate in his kingdom fights.

Instead what we do is we waste our energy, time and passion on the things that will only last temporarily. How do you know when you are fighting the wrong fights? It is when the fights are to increase your comfort, pleasure, safety without God. Another word, if the fights serve your end, then they are wrong fights. The fights that God have in mind is the fights that you wage with God’s word in your heart and with prayer in your mouth, with love of Christ in your action. We are called to fight to love God deeper and love people deeper. We are called to fight against the darkness of the age that blinds people from seeing the true God in Jesus Christ. We are called to fight for the souls!

What kind of battles are you fighting? Are they God’s kingdom fights?

---

[1] NIDOTTE, Gilgal: Theology
[2] Deut. 31:7.