OT: “I will sing about the one I love, a song about my loved one’s vineyard: The one I love had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones, and planted it with the finest vines. He built a tower in the middle of it and even dug out a winepress there. He expected it to yield good grapes, but it yielded worthless grapes. So now, residents of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard. What more could I have done for my vineyard than I did? Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes, did it yield worthless grapes? Now I will tell you what I am about to do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland. It will not be pruned or weeded; thorns and briers will grow up. I will also give orders to the clouds that rain should not fall on it. For the vineyard of the Lord of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, the plant he delighted in. He expected justice but saw injustice; he expected righteousness but heard cries of despair.” (‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭5:1-7‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

After preaching his sermons, Isaiah composed a song about a beloved vineyard owner and His vineyard to further communicate God’s disappointment with Israel. The Lord God was the vineyard owner and the vineyard was the house of Israel. In the song, The Vineyard Owner did everything possible and provided every resource necessary for the vineyard to produce good and useful fruit, but all the vineyard produced was wild and worthless grapes. The only thing left for the Vineyard owner to do was to stop pouring His efforts into the vineyard and hand the vineyard over to the elements unto its own destruction. That is exactly what happened to the Northern nation of Israel and then later to the Southern nation of Judah. Because of their consistent rejection of God’s word and ways, and their rebellion against God’s will, God removed His hand of blessing and protection, and gave them over to invasion and exile.

Centuries later, Jesus told another similar story about a vineyard in Matthew 21:33-44. In this story, the Vineyard owner (God) left his vineyard in the care of tenant farmers. Instead of honoring the Vineyard Owner, the workers tried to take over the vineyard for their own profit – even killing the Son of the Vineyard Owner in the process. In this story, the vineyard was the kingdom of God and the tenant farmers were the Jewish religious leaders. Jesus said that because of the Jewish leaders rejection of the Son, the responsibility for the kingdom would be given to those who produced the fruit of the kingdom.

That brings us to the current age. God’s vineyard is no longer limited to the Jewish people. God’s vineyard is the church, which includes people from every ethnicity and walk of life who have placed faith in and devoted their life to the Son. The Son has now gone away and He has given all of those in His vineyard the responsibility of not just tending the vineyard, but expanding the kingdom into all the world and bringing souls into the fruitful harvest. The question before us in this age of the church is, will we repeat history and prove to be unfaithful to the Father and the Son, or will we faithfully obey the Lord of the Harvest and produce good kingdom fruit?

NT: “But I will continue to do what I am doing, in order to deny an opportunity to those who want to be regarded as our equals in what they boast about. For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no great surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be according to their works.” (‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭11:12-15‬ ‭CSB)

Continuing the symbolism of the vineyard, the Corinthian church was a portion of God’s vineyard, and Paul was assigned to cultivate it, plant it, tend it, and make sure that it produced good kingdom fruit. However, there were workers, posing as agents of the Lord, who were trying to infiltrate the vineyard and sabotage all of Paul’s good work. Paul was not about to let these false prophets, deceitful workers, and agents of the enemy have their way. In defending his actions, Paul explained an important fact. Satan does not make himself obvious. He always veils his efforts within a righteous-looking exterior. He is a master counterfeiter, and so are those who work on his behalf. There are so many things that knock on the door of the church that appear to be good and righteous at first glance, but at the heart are deceptions of the enemy. How then, are we to guard the Lord’s vineyard from deceitful and destructive workers? We are to know and understand the God of the word and the word of God, and we are to rely on discernment from the Holy Spirit. By knowing God intimately and listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to identify counterfeits and protect our fruitfulness and the fruitfulness of those under our care.

Prayer: Lord, as a redeemed child of God in Christ, I am not only a son of God – I am also a worker in the family business. My job is to work in the harvest field, bring in a harvest of souls, and produce good kingdom fruit – both in my life and lives of those under my care. My desire is to be a faithful and productive worker. In order to do that, I rely on Your grace and submit to the work and leadership of the Holy Spirit in my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

NT: “I wish you would put up with a little foolishness from me. Yes, do put up with me! For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, because I have promised you in marriage to one husband — to present a pure virgin to Christ. But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if a person comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit, which you had not received, or a different gospel, which you had not accepted, you put up with it splendidly!” (‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭11:1-4‬ ‭CSB)

One of the challenges that Paul faced with the Corinthian church was that a group of Judaizers had implanted themselves within the congregation and were peddling a false gospel. In order to get the Corinthians to buy their teaching, they were doing everything they could to discredit Paul. If Paul defended himself against the Judaizers, they would say, “Paul makes everything about himself.” If Paul ignored the Judiazers’ charges and said nothing, they would say, “His silence confirms his guilt.” There was no way that Paul could win, so he asked the Corinthian church to bear with him as he engaged in some “foolishness.” However, His foolishness was not foolishness at all. His “foolishness” was his attempt at explaining his justifiable concern.

Paul had spiritually fathered the Corinthian church. He was the one who brought the good news of the gospel to them. He was the one who led them to salvation. He was the one who lived among them for a year and a half and carefully discipled them to maturity in Christ. The members of the Corinthian church were his spiritual children, and he was jealous for them. He wasn’t jealous of them – he was jealous for them, meaning he was passionate about their purity as a father is passionate about the purity of his daughter. As the Church is the Bride of Christ, Paul was passionate about the church that he founded remaining chaste and faithful to her Bridegroom. While Paul was away, “suitors” had come in to try and seduce the church away from Christ and into a false gospel, and he was not going to apologize for doing all that he could to keep the church faithfully committed to the Lord. Though the Judaizers appeared to be good and religious people, the force that was behind their efforts was the devil himself. Just as the serpent deceived Eve into denying God, the enemy of our soul is constantly trying to deceive us away from faith and life in Christ. Paul didn’t want to see the church seduced away from a sincere and pure devotion to its Savior and Lord.

The Greek word translated here as ‘sincere’ means not self seeking, simple, honest and free from pretense and hypocrisy. The phrase translated as ‘pure devotion’ has to do with chastity towards someone. There are no shortages of self-seeking “gospels” that seek to lure us away from the pure and unadulterated gospel of the Kingdom. There are a lot of religious beliefs and opinions that have a “Christ” that caters to our desires and preferences. Ultimately, Satan is behind all of them and intends to use them to seduce us, even if it is ever-so-slightly, away from faithfulness to our Bridgegroom, that we would worship and give our lives to a false god. Are we willing to study the word, will and ways of God and align our lives accordingly, or will we allow ourselves to be lured away from faithfulness to God, unto give ourselves to a religion that caters to our own desires and preferences? By living according to the word and the Spirit, we can maintain a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Prayer: Lord, there are many attractive gospels in the world that will make room for me to seek what I want instead of Your best desires for me. My desire is to remain faithful to You and to not be seduced away by the attractive and accepted beliefs of the day. Help me, as I stand on Your word and am led by Your Spirit, to remain faithful to You until the end. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

NT: “We, however, will not boast beyond measure but according to the measure of the area of ministry that God has assigned to us, which reaches even to you. For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we had not reached you, since we have come to you with the gospel of Christ. We are not boasting beyond measure about other people’s labors. On the contrary, we have the hope that as your faith increases, our area of ministry will be greatly enlarged, so that we may preach the gospel to the regions beyond you without boasting about what has already been done in someone else’s area of ministry. So let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. For it is not the one commending himself who is approved, but the one the Lord commends.” (‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭10:13-18‬ ‭CSB)

Measuring your effectiveness and the subsequent determination of the success or failure of your efforts is an important endeavor. Almost more important than the actual measuring itself is the means and standards by which you measure. If you measure using the wrong standards, you may think that you are a success, when you are actually a failure. There were some people in the Corinthian church who had determined their own standards of success… and of course those standards were based on things that they had already done. So, based on their own system of measurement, they were superstars while people like Paul were measured to be failures.

One measure that churches use to evaluate their effectiveness is numbers: how many members do we have, how much money have we raised, how many “conversions” and baptisms have we had. While those are good statistics to measure, they do not always indicate success in ministry. Instead defending his effectives in ministry, Paul listed the standards that he used (and that we should use) to determine success or failure.

First of all, since God is the one who called Paul into ministry and is the one who has called all of us into a certain level of ministry, the standards to measure effectiveness shouldn’t come from us – but should be based on what God has actually called us to do. Paul said that his measures would be based on the area of ministry that God had actually assigned to him. All of us, Paul included, have a primary assignment: to see souls saved and disciples made. A person raising his or her hand after an invitation for salvation has been given… or a person coming down the aisle after an alter call is not an indicator that the person has actually placed their faith on Christ and proclaimed Him as Lord. It is also not an indicator that the person has become a disciple. That is where tallies of membership and “conversions” fall short. What God is after are sincere salvations that lead to true disciples. Most of the time, our effectiveness can not be measured instantaneously. It will take time for us to see if our ministry has actually been effective in seeing souls truly saved and made into mature disciples.

God has also given all of us a sphere of influence to minister to. How well are we ministering to our sphere of influence – those people who are in our lives: our family members, our neighbors across the street, our co-workers, etc? Many times we want to escape the responsibility of ministering to our sphere of influence, and go instead to someplace where we aren’t known. In our church, we teach a concept that we call prophetic assignment. Prophetic assignment is being in the right place, at the right time, with the right people, doing the right things. How well are we living by prophetic assignment and actually doing the primary things that our Lord has commissioned us to do? Our effectiveness and success should be measured on those things. In doing that, we also need to make sure we are not taking credit for what someone else has done, but evaluating how faithful we are actually being at the task that we have been assigned.

Another measure of effectiveness is if God is actually glorified through our efforts. We should not be doing things to glorify ourselves. We should not be seeking praise and accolades. In everything that we do, the objective should be to glorify God. Paul quoted Jeremiah 9:24: “But the one who boasts should boast in this: that he understand and knows Me – that I am the Lord…” We don’t minister to people to grow our name and to build our kingdom – we minister to people to glorify God’s name and increase His kingdom.

The final measure that Paul mentions is this: Does the Lord actually approve of our work and commend what we are doing? What good is it to pat ourselves on the back and tell everyone what a great job we have done if the Lord doesn’t actually approve of what we have done or how we have done it? Are we actually doing what the Lord has called us to do? Are we actually going to the people whom the Lord has called us to minister to? Are we glorifying the Lord’s name and reputation instead of promoting ourselves? If we can truthfully answer yes to those questions, then there is a good likelihood that God would say to us, “well done, good and faithful servant.” Otherwise, we may be putting out a lot of effort, but not doing anything of value for the kingdom of God.

Prayer: Lord, I know that it is good for me to have a sense of how effective I am being in the things that You have called me to do – but it is important that I measure my effectiveness by Your standards, not my own. Help me to access myself honestly according to Your standards and be willing to change what I am doing when correction is needed. Ultimately, I want to be found faithful in the things you have asked of me and I want to glorify You in all that I do. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

OT: ““What are all your sacrifices to me?” asks the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings and rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I have no desire for the blood of bulls, lambs, or male goats. When you come to appear before me, who requires this from you — this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing useless offerings. Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons and Sabbaths, and the calling of solemn assemblies — I cannot stand iniquity with a festival. I hate your New Moons and prescribed festivals. They have become a burden to me; I am tired of putting up with them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will refuse to look at you; even if you offer countless prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. “Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from my sight. Stop doing evil. Learn to do what is good. Pursue justice. Correct the oppressor. Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause. “Come, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are crimson red, they will be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭1:11-20‬ ‭CSB)

Long before Isaiah lived, King Solomon wrote, “There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death (Proverbs 14:12).” Then, later, he wrote, “All a person’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs motives (Proverbs:16:2).” During Isaiah’s time, the southern nation of Judah had forsaken the ways of God and were pursuing their own ways, yet they were still practicing their religious rituals. Somehow, in their minds, they justified their rebellious hearts through their faithfulness to religious ritual. As long as they continued bringing sacrifices to the temple, the could continue living their lives the way they wanted.

God describes Himself, time after time through the scriptures as longsuffering and slow to anger, but even in His longsuffering, God had had enough of Judah’s empty, meaningless, hypocritical worship. Through Isaiah, God sent a very clear message to the people of Judah: God wasn’t going to put up with their feigned worship any longer. He would no longer accept their offerings… He would no longer listen to their prayers… He was done. For Him to hear their prayers and accept their sacrifices again, they would have to repent from following their ways and return to obeying the word, will and ways of the Lord God.

It can be easy for us to look back through history and point the finger of judgement at the people of Judah, but the Bible states that the stories recorded in scripture were examples to us, ultimately written for our admonition (1 Corinthians 10:11). Do we, in our day, attend worship services and entertain our senses through emotional and compelling worship events, yet go our own way and seek our own desires once the service or event is over? Do we merely hop from event to event trying to justify our “spirituality” and “intimacy” with Jesus, all the while refusing to obey the commandments of the Lord? Jesus told His disciples that those who truly love Him will obey His commandments. If we participate in passionate worship services but do not obey His commands, then our “worshipping” is just as empty and revolting to God as the meaningless sacrifices that were offered by the people of Judah in Isaiah’s day. The Lord’s word to us would be to cleanse our hearts, repent from our ways, and submit fully to the word, will and ways of God. Then our worship would once again become a sweet smelling incense to God’s nostrils and our prayers would once again be pleasing and acceptable to the Lord’s ears.

NT: “For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. And we are ready to punish any disobedience, once your obedience is complete.” (‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭10:3-6‬ ‭CSB)

Even though the Corinthian Church had reaffirmed their loyalty and acceptance of Paul, there were still people in the Corinthian church that were critical of Paul and were rebelling against his leadership. They basically said that Paul was all talk and no action… that he wrote big, but was actually puny in person. In response, Paul explained that though he may be small and meek in appearance, he was full of boldness and power. He also explained that though he was a flesh and blood person, his war was not against flesh and blood, therefore he did not engage in physical warfare. His warfare was against spiritual strongholds, arguments and pride. In order to engage those enemies effectively, he didn’t need to be intimidating in stature, for he was empowered with powerful and effective spiritual weapons from God.

The Greek word translated here as strongholds can mean the fortified reasonings and opinions that people rely on. The word for arguments means conclusions, judgements and decisions that have been made. Those proud things that Paul mentioned have to do with anything that has been given preeminence and priority over, or have been lifted up against the word, will and ways of God. Basically, our warfare is against the things that seem right to man but are contrary to God. Our warfare is against the opinions of society that run contrary to the word of God. Our warfare is against the relativism that seeks to lift itself up against the absolute truth of God. Our warfare is against the ideas of universalism that claim to be better than the redemptive plan of God that is declared through the gospel of Christ.

How do we battle those spiritual enemies that set up thought strongholds within people’s minds and our minds? We pull them down by the power of the Holy Spirit within us, and we submit them to the authority of the scriptures. We don’t mold our interpretation of scripture to align with our opinions – we submit our thoughts, opinions, conclusions, judgements and decision-making processes to the absolute truth of scripture. Ultimately, we ask the question, Are we obeying the word, will and ways of the Lord or are we living according to our own ways?

Prayer: Lord, You created me in Your own image and by doing that, You gave me free will and the ability to reason. I have the capacity to do things my own way apart from You – but true fulfillment, satisfaction, blessing and life is found when I willingly submit my ways to Your ways and follow your word, will and ways. Help me, by Your Spirit, to pull down anything in my life that seeks to have preeminence over You and submit those thoughts and ideas to You before allowing them to become a stronghold in my mind. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

NT: “Now the one who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will also provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the proof provided by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone.” (‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭9:10-13‬ ‭CSB)

Many people view the world’s resources as finite – meaning that there is a set amount of money to be had in the world. If someone is rich, then it must mean that someone else must do without. If I give of what I have, then what I give is lost to me. That is not the way God’s economy works. God’s economy works on the principle of exponential multiplication of seed time and harvest. When an apple seed is planted and germinated into a seedling, that seedling grows into an apple tree that is able to produce thousands of apple seeds, season after season. So is giving by faith in the kingdom of God. When we sow the seed that we have through faith-filled giving, the same God that provided the seed that we sowed will cause that seed to multiply and return to us a rich harvest. That one step of faith and obedience creates the capacity to to give even more… which then multiplies, increasing our capacity exponentially yet again. You can’t out-give God.

Paul referred to faith-filled giving as a ministry service. The word translated as “service” actually refers to the priestly service of offering sacrifices. Our faith-filled giving is an act of sacrificial worship that not only ministers to those who receive the gift, but results in overflowing praise and thanksgiving to God as people’s needs are met. In addition to that, as we give sacrificially and God multiplies the affect of our giving, both in our lives and the lives of the recipients, the grace and blessing that is realized becomes proof of God’s faithfulness and evidence for the gospel. As we are obedient to give in faith, God is glorified, the gospel of Christ is confessed and the kingdom of God is expanded on the earth. All of that happens because we are willing to part with some of our resources and sow a seed in faith.

Prayer: Lord, it is so easy to see the resources that I have as limited and finite. However, You say time and time again in Your word that You are able to infinitely multiply the resources that I release and sow with faith. Help me to not view the resources that I have through addition and subtraction, but to understand, by faith, the multiplicative potential that is available when I give what I have obediently in service to You and Your purposes. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

NT: “The point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. Each person should do as he has decided in his heart — not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.” (‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭9:6-8‬ ‭CSB)

Still on the subject of the special offering for the Judean Church, Paul wanted to make sure that the Corinthians honored their promise to give – but he also wanted to make sure that they were giving from the right motivation. During Jesus’s ministry, He talked a lot about money and generosity. How a person handles his or her money is often an indicator of the status of their heart. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21, Luke 12:34). When it comes to giving, Paul described 3 types of givers: 1) those who begrudgingly give out of obligation, 2) those who are coerced to give against their will, and 3) those who give willingly and cheerfully. The motivation behind giving is determined in the heart.

A willing and generous gift comes from a heart that is full of faith and submitted to the word, will and ways of the Lord. My personality tends to lean toward stinginess. I don’t like to be drained of my resources. I don’t ever want to get in a situation where I don’t have enough resources to meet what I need; so my natural tendency is to “hoard” what I have so that I will always have what I need. For me to become a willing and cheerful giver, whether it is monetarily, emotionally or temporally, I must first believe by faith that God is able to both replace and increase what I have expended through service to others. In Christ, there is no running out of resources – but the inflow of resources in my life is determined by the outflow of resources in my life. Gluttony is not allowed in the kingdom of God. The Lord will only get to us what He can get through us – and the only way that I can be a cheerful and willing reservoir of life and conduit of blessing, is if my spirit is broken and my heart is humbled through faith in and submission to Christ.

Psalms: “God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore the joy of your salvation to me, and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit. Then I will teach the rebellious your ways, and sinners will return to you… You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; you are not pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. You will not despise a broken and humbled heart, God.” (‭‭Psalms‬ ‭51:10-13, 16-17‬ ‭CSB)

David knew that his sin with Bathsheba and his corresponding murder of Uriah was primarily a heart issue. Somewhere in all of the success that God had blessed him with, David’s heart became lifted up and he was no longer satisfied with God’s blessings – he had to go and take what his flesh desired. His proud heart then led to a spirit that was not faithful and steadfast to the Lord.

When a horse trainer trains a horse to receive a saddle and rider, the process is called breaking. Before a horse is broken, it refuses to be ridden and cannot be led – it is wild at heart. Through the process of breaking, the horse comes to trust the rider and oftentimes develops an unbreakable bond with him or her. David allowed his spirit to go wild and his heart to become prideful. Sacrifices and burnt offerings cannot change a person’s spirit and heart – just like gifts given from a wrong motivation do not make a person generous. More than outward rituals and actions, God desires what is inward and unseen to the world. God wants our spirit to be broken towards Him – but He doesn’t want to do the breaking. He wants us to offer our spirit as broken to Him: a spirit that trusts the Lord completely in an unbreakable spiritual bond. God wants our hearts to be humble, but He doesn’t want to do the humbling. He wants us to offer our hearts to Him completely humbled and submitted to His word, will and ways.

The good news is that David’s prayer is answered for all of us through Christ. As we first come to faith in Christ, with a broken spirit and humbled heart, Christ will then fill us with His Holy Spirit and give us new life with a new heart of flesh. By His Spirit, He works in us to both will and do the things that both please Him and are good for us. Then He calls us to share His good news and teach what we have learned to others.

Proverbs: “The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.” (‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭15:8‬ ‭CSB)

Outward rituals, gifts and “sacrifices” are meaningless without the right heart behind them. In fact, several times throughout scripture (here included) God states that He despises feigned worship and empty sacrifices. God is always looking at our spirit and our heart. Those who outwardly offer sacrifices but have not sacrificed their heart are not pleasing to the Lord – but those who come to Him in prayer through a broken spirit and humbled heart are His delight.

Prayer: Lord, as someone who has spent his whole life in and around the church, it is easy for me to do what is expected of me outwardly without the right heart and spirit inwardly. I desire to be sincere from the inside out – to always stand worshipfully before You with a broken spirit and a humbled heart. Help me by your grace through the Holy Spirit to be a delight to You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Psalms: “Be gracious to me, God, according to your faithful love; according to your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion. Completely wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me. Against you — you alone — I have sinned and done this evil in your sight. So you are right when you pass sentence; you are blameless when you judge. Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me. Surely you desire integrity in the inner self, and you teach me wisdom deep within. Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Turn your face away from my sins and blot out all my guilt.” (‭‭Psalms‬ ‭51:1-9‬ ‭CSB)

The pre-script instructions for this psalm state that this psalm was written by David when the prophet Nathan came to him after he had gone to Bathsheba. One of David’s most well-known psalms was written in the midst of one of his most shameful experiences… and he wanted to make sure that everyone was very clear on the context of the psalm. That information in and of itself shows just how complete and sincere David’s confession and repentance was.

For background, while all of David’s men were off at war, David used his privileged position as king to have his way with Bathsheba, the wife of one of his most valiant soldiers. When Bathsheba ended up pregnant, he tried to coerce Uriah (Bathsheba’s husband) to sleep with her. When Uriah refused in honor of his fellow soldiers on the battle field, David had Uriah killed and took Bathsheba as his own wife. In the midst of all that scandal, the baby that was conceived ended up dying. It was a horribly wicked event in David’s life. David tried to cover it all up until Nathan the Prophet confronted David with everything he had done. At that moment, David knew that he couldn’t hide things from God. He was instantly convicted and wrote this psalm for all to hear. His days of hiding and covering up were over. The only way that he could be released from his sin was to bring the darkness in his life out into the light, confess, and repent.

In his confession and repentance, David first appealed to God’s love, mercy and compassion. He confessed the depth of his guilt, rebellion and sin and admitted that he had lost his integrity. Not only had he sinned against Bathsheba, Uriah and the people of Israel – he had sinned against his beloved Lord and God. David knew that there was no recourse for his actions, so he appealed to God to cleanse him, blot out the stain of sin on his life, and make him whiter than snow.

Many people, when they “confess” their wrongs, they offer excuses to try and justify their actions. One very common justification is, “I was born this way… I was born with these desires… I was born with these inclinations.” David acknowledged that he was conceived and born in sin – but that was not an excuse. It was stated as evidence that he needed God to deliver him… that he couldn’t do it on his own. David offered no excuses for his sin… he did it, it was wrong, and to go any further, he needed God’s cleansing and forgiveness. David’s worst moment of shame became an example to all of us of how to completely and sincerely confess, repent, and trust God for restoration. If David could be forgiven and restored, how much more can we be forgiven and restored in Christ. We just need to sincerely confess, repent, and ask for forgiveness.

Proverbs: “A fool despises his father’s discipline, but a person who accepts correction is sensible.” (‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭15:5‬ ‭CSB)

One of the reasons why David was considered a man after God’s heart and honored with the privilege of “fathering” the Messiah was because he did not despise his Father’s discipline. When Nathan confronted David, David could have become defensive and despised the correction. That would have made David a fool. Instead David accepted the correction, confessed and repented – and because of that, Jesus Christ is known to us today as the Son of David.

Prayer: Lord, Your word teaches that if I confess my sins, You are faithful and righteous to forgive my sins and cleanse me of all unrighteousness. In order to stay clean and free, I must stay out of the shadows and live in the light as You are in the light. May Your Holy Spirit convict me of sin and righteousness that I may quickly confess, rapidly repent and remain in fellowship with You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Psalms: ““Listen, my people, and I will speak; I will testify against you, Israel. I am God, your God. I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or for your burnt offerings, which are continually before me. I will not take a bull from your household or male goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills… Offer a thanksgiving sacrifice to God, and pay your vows to the Most High. Call on me in a day of trouble; I will rescue you, and you will honor me.” But God says to the wicked: “What right do you have to recite my statutes and to take my covenant on your lips? You hate instruction and fling my words behind you… You unleash your mouth for evil and harness your tongue for deceit. You sit, maligning your brother, slandering your mother’s son. You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But I will rebuke you and lay out the case before you. Understand this, you who forget God, or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to rescue you. Whoever offers a thanksgiving sacrifice honors me, and whoever orders his conduct, I will show him the salvation of God.”” (‭‭Psalms‬ ‭50:7-10, 14-17, 19-23‬ ‭CSB)

This psalm is attributed to Asaph, who was a Levite and one of the worship leaders in King David’s court. This psalm began with a summons from Almighty God to the people of His covenant, for them to appear before Him. This psalm is similar to the beginning of the book of Revelation, where Jesus, the Lord of the Church, had a message to the seven churches in Asia. God Almighty had something against the people of Israel that He wanted to address. Through Asaph, God brought a charge against the heartless worshipper and the hypocritical worshipper. Then he finished with a call for all to become true worshippers.

God spoke to the heartless worshippers first. He reminded them that He was not just a god, He was their God – personally, relationally and covenantally. This group of people was faithful to their religious rituals, and for that, God did not find fault. The issue that God had with them was the value they put on their rituals. For them, their religious ritual of offering daily sacrifices was everything… it was their sacrifices that brought them salvation… it was their strict adherence to the law and the law alone that brought them security. God reminded them that He didn’t need their sacrifices. The bulls and goats, rams and lambs that they offered had no value to God. He owned the cattle on a thousand hills. What God desired in worship was a surrendered and thankful heart that relied on Him completely and honored Him fully.

God then spoke to the hypocritical worshippers. They claimed to honor God and would quote His word when it suited them, but their hearts were evil and full of rebellion. They quoted God’s law in one breath, but would then turn around and deceive, malign and slander. Because they “got away” with their hypocrisy, they believed that God didn’t know or didn’t disapprove of their actions – but all the while God was building a case against them. To those people, God gave a stern warning: if they didn’t fully acknowledge God, they would be brought to ruin and no one would be there to rescue them.

Finally, God called all to true and sincere worship. True and sincere worship involves both love and respect, devotion and submission. True worship involves a heart of sincere thanksgiving that acknowledges God’s goodness and mercy in everything. A life offered in thanksgiving truly honors and pleases the Lord. True worship also involves wholehearted respect and submission to all of God’s word, will and ways. God the Father is searching for true worshippers that offer their lives to Him in true worship.

Prayer: Lord, I want to be the type of worshipper that You are seeking. Help me, buy your Spirit, to not get drawn in to worshipping worship, but to always worship You as my Lord, my Savior and my God. Help me to also have a deep conviction and commitment to Your word, Your will and Your ways and to live my life accordingly by Your grace. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

OT: “But beyond these, my son, be warned: there is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body. When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: fear God and keep his commands, because this is for all humanity. For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil.” (‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭12:12-14‬ ‭CSB)

After Solomon finished contemplating life under the sun, he ended his essay the same way he began it: “Absolute futility… everything is futile.” The physical things of this earth are temporary and all pass away and come to an end. Merely living life for life’s sake is empty and futile. Trying to get ahead in this life is an empty pursuit because everyone eventually arrives at the same end of their life and dies – no matter how hard they worked at being a good person. Meaning and purpose is found only when you look beyond this short-lived physical life to the eternal spiritual existence to come. After considering everything that life offered under the sun, Solomon’s conclusion to everything was this: “Fear God and keep His commands, because this is sum totality of humanity.” Our life under the sun will, at the end, be judged by God and our eternity will be affected by His assessment of how we stewarded our life.

God created humanity in His image. When God created humanity, He gave them a purpose: to have dominion, be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. That purpose only had meaning and value as man and woman remained in relationship with God – as His delegated authority on earth – as the bearer of His image and the carrier of His glory. We are not called to replicate ourselves and fill the earth with ourselves, per se; but to multiply and fill the earth with the authority, likeness and glory of the Lord expressed through us. How do we do that? By humbly fearing the Lord and keeping His commands. The Westminster Catechism states (and Solomon would have concurred) that humanity’s chief end is to 1) glorify God and 2) enjoy Him forever. When all is said and done, that is where the true and lasting value of life is found.

NT: “Now also finish the task, so that just as there was an eager desire, there may also be a completion, according to what you have. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. It is not that there should be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality. At the present time your surplus is available for their need, so that their abundance may in turn meet your need, in order that there may be equality. As it is written: The person who had much did not have too much, and the person who had little did not have too little.” (‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭8:11-15‬ ‭CSB)

Among the things that God commands is generosity – not a forced redistribution of wealth, but a grace and faith filled willingness to help others in need. When Paul wrote this letter, the Church in Judea was in great need. When Titus visited Corinth, he informed the Corinthian church of that great need, and the Corinthians responded by saying they were willing to contribute money to help. But the Corinthians never acted on that desire. In this letter, Paul reminded them of the willingness they expressed – but he also explained that willingness is not the same as doing. Many times, we judge ourselves by our intentions. We deceive ourselves into thinking that desire is the same as action. Just as faith without works is dead, desire without action is dead.

When it comes to generosity, God does not measure based on amount, but on faith, willingness, and action. As one commentator wrote, “God sees, not the portion, but the proportion. If we could have given more, and did not, God notes it. If we wanted to give more, and could not, God also notes that. (Warren Wiersbe – The Wiersbe Bible Commentary)” God is not after equal amount, but equal sacrifice. God is also after a gracious equality, where those that have an abundance graciously give to those who have lack, so that all in God’s family may have what they need. This is not God sanctioning Socialism or Communism – for those systems are not based on willingness and grace. If we have benefited from Christ’s willing and generous sacrifice to rescue us from our spiritual poverty, then we should be willing to graciously, faithfully and sacrificially give of our abundance (whatever that may look like) to rescue those in need from their physical poverty. When we do that, an amazing thing happens: when we give willingly and generously of the things that we have, instead of things having control over us, we obey the commands of God and our life takes on a whole new level of satisfaction, meaning and purpose.

Prayer: Lord, You created me for a purpose. My life only has meaning and that purpose only comes to fruition as I am reconciled and rightly related to You. For my life to have maximum value and maximum impact, I must life my life in complete worship to You. That is my desire. Work in my by Your grace through the Holy Spirit to see that desire become a reality. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

OT: “Send your bread on the surface of the water, for after many days you may find it. Give a portion to seven or even to eight, for you don’t know what disaster may happen on earth. If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain on the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or the north, the place where the tree falls, there it will lie. One who watches the wind will not sow, and the one who looks at the clouds will not reap. Just as you don’t know the path of the wind, or how bones develop in the womb of a pregnant woman, so also you don’t know the work of God who makes everything. In the morning sow your seed, and at evening do not let your hand rest, because you don’t know which will succeed, whether one or the other, or if both of them will be equally good.” (‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭11:1-6‬ ‭CSB)

When you remove the good and loving Creator God from the mix, life becomes fatalistic and nihilistic: we can do nothing about the outcome of our lives because everything is subject to fate, therefore every effort to improve or better ourselves is completely senseless and meaningless. I have actually spent time in and traveled through a nation whose people did not have a belief in a good and merciful God, but a belief in many self-serving gods that one must appease for any hope of a future. I have seen the empty look on its people’s faces as they slogged through their meaningless and hopeless existence on earth. Solomon was headed down that fatalistic and nihilistic path until he considered God and faith. Faith in the ever-faithful Creator God, Who established all of the laws of nature with the authority of His word, changes everything. With God in the picture, the future is no longer a meaningless inevitability. It is an unwritten adventure with the words, will and ways of the Creator as our guide. We can sow now according to the word, will and ways of the Lord God and expect a bountiful harvest in the future. We can step into risky endeavors with faith in God, knowing that as we fear Him, He will be faithful to fulfill the promises that He made.

Solomon illustrated taking risks with faith through two examples: a merchant and a farmer. A merchant places his faith in the law of investment and return. He could keep his grain to himself, but by doing that, he would never release its earning power. So the merchant loads his grain (bread) onto ships (the surface of the water), knowing that when the ships reach their destination, he will experience a return on the value of his commodity. In order to reduce his risk, he diversifies his investment into seven or eight ships. He does all of this in faith, and through faith he experiences a great return. The farmer sows his seed, trusting in weather patterns that he has no control over, and expects to reap a bountiful harvest. The farmer who withholds his seed because he is waiting for the perfect series of events to occur will miss his window of opportunity to sow and reap the later harvest. The successful farmer sows his seed and places his faith in things that he can’t control and doesn’t completely understand, knowing that harvest will come.

There are many complicated and complex things in life that we count on, but don’t fully understand and can’t fully control… things that God causes to occur faithfully through His absolute sovereignty. Are there things about life that are out of our control? Yes – but God is the Creator and ultimate Master of them all. And God is good, merciful, loving and faithful. Under His Lordship, our present has purpose and our future is hopeful as we place faith in His word, will and ways. So we faithfully sow and invest our lives today into God’s purposes, fully expecting by faith to reap a bountiful harvest and rich returns in the life-to-come.

Prayer: Lord, I thank you that the life You designed for me to live is neither fatalistic nor nihilistic. While there are things in life that I can’t control, my future is an unknown adventure written by the choices that I make today. Though I can’t see my future, I don’t have to go into the future blindly. You have given me Your word, Your will, Your ways, and Your Spirit to guide my path and lead my way. By sowing in faith according to Your leading, I know by faith that I will reap a rich and fruitful harvest. Help me to take the risks that are before me, as I place my faith completely in Your unwavering faithfulness. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.