1 Samuel 17:32-49, Psalm 9:9-20, 1 Samuel 17:57-58, 1 Samuel 18:1-5, 1 Samuel 18:10-16, Psalm 133:1-3, Job 38:1-11, Psalm 107:1-3, Psalm 107:23-32, 2 Corinthians 6:1-13, Mark 4:35-41
A). WHEN GOD IS ON OUR SIDE.
1 Samuel 17:32-49.
Things had reached an impasse in the territorial struggles between the invading Philistines and Israel. The valley of Elah (cf. 1 Samuel 17:2) was in the south of Israel, and the two armies were set in battle array facing one another, but neither side wished to engage in battle. The Philistines sent out their ‘champion’ to intimidate the Israelites: whoever won in man to man combat with him, he taunted, would carry the day for their whole army (cf. 1 Samuel 17:8-9)!
Significantly, ‘Saul’ and ‘all Israel’ were ‘greatly afraid’ (cf. 1 Samuel 17:11). Now Saul had been chosen to be the ‘king’ who would ‘go out before us and fight our battles’ (cf. 1 Samuel 8:20); and, incidentally, he stood head and shoulders taller than his compatriots (cf. 1 Samuel 9:2). So what an embarrassment to Saul when this stripling David was the only volunteer for the task (1 SAMUEL 17:32-33).
David’s speech may have sounded like so much pride, as his eldest brother actually accused him (cf. 1 Samuel 17:28); and Saul may have thought of it as nothing more than boyish brashness and bravado. But, for all that, David was the only one, on the day, who recognised the spirituality of the warfare in which he proposed to engage: “This uncircumcised Philistine… hath defied the armies of the living God” (1 SAMUEL 17:36).
David’s seeming boast about his slaying of the lion and the bear (1 SAMUEL 17:34-35) resolved itself in his acknowledgement that “it was the LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and the bear.” And He will, moreover, “deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine” (1 SAMUEL 17:37). At that, Saul granted his permission, and offered his blessing: “Go, and the LORD be with thee” (1 SAMUEL 17:37).
But Saul still lacked the insight and faith to believe that a mere shepherd boy could triumph unaided over the giant, and so sought to clothe the lad with his own armour, and with his own sword (1 SAMUEL 17:38). Was Saul already, though unconsciously, yielding the kingship to his successor? However that may be, the armour and the sword were inappropriate, and David put them off him (1 SAMUEL 17:39).
David returned to the familiar: he chose out “five smooth stones” from the brook and put them in his bag, and with his staff and his sling in his hands thus drew near the giant (1 SAMUEL 17:40). The Philistine also approached from the other side of the valley, his shield-bearer going before him (1 SAMUEL 17:41).
There is a certain amount of irony in the conversational exchanges between David and the Philistine. “Am I a dog,” asked the Philistine, “that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his “gods” (1 SAMUEL 17:43). David’s reply to this was, “you come to me with a sword, a spear, and a shield: but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (1 SAMUEL 17:45).
The Pharisee had continued, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field” (1 SAMUEL 17:44). To which David replied, “This day will the LORD deliver you into my hand; and I will take your head from you” (which he later did with the Philistine’s own sword - cf. 1 Samuel 17:51); “and we will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day to the fowls of the air, and the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And this assembly shall know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear, for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give you into our hands” (1 SAMUEL 17:46-47; cf. Zechariah 4:6).
As the Philistine giant drew nigh to meet David, encumbered no doubt with the armour and weapons about him, David hasted toward the army to meet him, took one stone and slang it at the one vulnerable place in the Philistine’s armour. The stone embedded itself in the giant’s forehead, and he fell forward on his face (1 SAMUEL 17:48-50).
The Apostle Paul wrote about spiritual warfare in these terms: ‘Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds’ (cf. 2 Corinthians 10:3-4). This much was already known to the shepherd boy David as he went out to face the Philistine giant all those centuries earlier.
With God on our side, who can be against us? (cf. Romans 8:31).
B). THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENTS OF THE LORD.
Psalm 9:9-20.
This Psalm opens as a song of praise and rejoicing in the LORD (Psalm 9:1-2). The Psalmist is particularly thankful for the LORD’s support in the face of wicked enemies (Psalm 9:3-5). The LORD ‘sits in the throne judging right’ (Psalm 9:4); ‘prepares His throne for judgment’ (Psalm 9:7); ‘judges the world in righteousness,’ and ‘ministers judgment to the people in uprightness’ (Psalm 9:8). “The LORD is known by the judgment which He executes” (PSALM 9:16).
The name of the LORD is to be praised (Psalm 9:2), and those that trust in His name shall not be forsaken (PSALM 9:10). The ‘name’ of the heathen, however, is ‘put out for ever and ever’ (Psalm 9:5). The enemy may have destroyed cities, ‘and their memorial is perished with them. But the LORD shall endure for ever’ (Psalm 9:6-7).
PSALM 9:9-12 forms a doxology. The Psalmist counts himself as one of “the oppressed” (PSALM 9:9); “the humble” (PSALM 9:12); the “troubled” (PSALM 9:13); “the “needy” and “the poor” (PSALM 9:18). But against this litany of woes he is able to see the LORD as “a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble” (PSALM 9:9); he is able to “sing praises to the LORD” who dwells in Zion, and to testify to the people of His doings (PSALM 9:11); and he recognises that, when the LORD makes an inquest for the blood of His saints, He will “remember them, and not forget the cry of the humble” (PSALM 9:12).
A personal petition seems to appear in the text with a startling suddenness: “Have mercy upon me, O LORD: consider my trouble” (PSALM 9:13a). Yet even in the midst of this anguish, the Psalmist remembers past deliverances, and addresses his petition to the One “who lifts me up from the gates of death” (PSALM 9:13b). We should acknowledge with the prophet of old, that ‘hitherto hath the LORD helped us’ (cf. 1 Samuel 7:12), and base our petitions on that historical fact. ‘Great is thy faithfulness’ (cf. Lamentations 3:22-23)!
Furthermore, the Psalmist does not only ground his present petition in the remembrance of past blessings, but also in the prospect of future witness: “That I may show forth thy praise… I will rejoice in thy salvation” (PSALM 9:14).
One way in which the praise of the LORD is “shown forth” is by His providential dealings with the wicked. Inexplicably to human eyes, the LORD causes the heathen to sink down into the pit of their own making, and to trap their own foot in the net which they have hid (PSALM 9:15). Thus He ensnares the wicked “in the work of their own hands” (PSALM 9:16). It is like the wicked Haman being hanged on the gallows which he had built for the execution of the righteous Mordecai (cf. Esther 7:10).
Beyond these past judgments against “the heathen” and the “wicked” is the future judgment: “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (PSALM 9:17). There is no excuse for individual outward wickedness: but there are also whole nations that “forget” God.
The Psalmist reassures himself – and his readers – that however it may be for those who “forget” God’ yet “the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever” (PSALM 9:18). Jesus’ people may go through trials and tribulations, but their hope in the Lord is not in vain, and will not disappoint them.
Another petition arises out of this reassurance: “Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight” (PSALM 9:19). Powerful enemies, giants in the land, all these are nothing to the LORD. Men, after all, are just that: not gods but “men!” (PSALM 9:20).
‘If God be for us, who can be against us?’ (cf. Romans 8:31).
C). THE LOVE OF JONATHAN AND THE RESENTMENT OF SAUL.
1 Samuel 17:57-58, 1 Samuel 18:1-5, 1 Samuel 18:10-16.
It was evidently quite difficult for Saul to recognise in the giant slayer the same young man who had been serving at court as his own personal music therapist (1 SAMUEL 17:57-58; cf. 1 Samuel 16:16-18). Now, however, Saul would not let David return to his family and his sheep, but detained him at court (1 SAMUEL 18:2). Perhaps either to mentor him, or to keep an eye on him.
However, Saul’s son Jonathan recognised in David a kindred spirit, and “loved him as his own soul” (1 SAMUEL 18:1). Then Jonathan and David made a covenant together, in which Jonathan seems to have done all the giving. The nature of that love appears in the fact that Prince Jonathan stripped himself of his royal regalia and gave it to David (1 SAMUEL 18:3-4).
This reminds me of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, where Jesus laid aside the insignia of His divinity and humbled Himself on our behalf (cf. Philippians 2:6-8).
When Jonathan later fell in battle, David described Jonathan’s love as ‘passing the love of women’ (cf. 2 Samuel 1:26). Significantly, in the Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament, the word used there for ‘love’ is ‘agape.’
‘Agape’ is the same word for love as is used of God’s ‘love’ for the world in John 3:16.
For now, there was harmony at court; and between the court and the people. David was an obedient subject to King Saul, “and behaved himself wisely.” Saul set David over the men of war, and David was accepted by all the people - including Saul’s servants (1 SAMUEL 18:5).
However, when Saul heard the acclamations of the people, he became jealous of David, and ‘Saul eyed David from that day forward’ (cf. 1 Samuel 18:6-9).
All this was a spiritual battle. The LORD had sought ‘a man after His own heart’ (cf. 1 Samuel 13:14), and found one in David (cf. Psalm 89:20). After David was anointed, ‘the Spirit of the LORD’ had come upon David. ‘But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him’ (cf. 1 Samuel 16:13-14).
On one occasion, “the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied” (1 SAMUEL 18:10). Perhaps Saul was unconsciously mimicking his earlier experience when the actual holy ‘Spirit of God’ had come upon him, and he had prophesied ‘among the prophets’ (cf. 1 Samuel 10:10-11).
The faithful David was on hand to play his harp to sooth the troubled king, as he had done so often before: but this time, ominously, “there was a javelin in Saul’s hand” (1 SAMUEL 18:10).
We have an insight into Saul’s troubled mind when he said, “I will smite David even to the wall with it” (1 SAMUEL 18:11). This bout of depression was so forceful that David’s playing had failed to pacify the king, but rather inflamed his anger; and he made two failed attempts upon his faithful servant’s life.
“Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul. Therefore…” Saul effectively banished David from the court, making him a captain over a thousand (1 SAMUEL 18:12-13). This may have been in order that David might die in action – but perhaps in his more lucid moments Saul also feared what he might personally do to David, rather than what David might do to him.
David, for his part, “behaved himself wisely” before all the people. However, Saul “was afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David because he went out and came in before them” (1 SAMUEL 18:14-16). It is, in effect, as if David was already king, even while Saul was still alive: because David was doing the job that the people had expected a king to perform: ‘to go out before us, and fight our battles’ (cf. 1 Samuel 8:20).
So, Jonathan confirmed the kingship of David by clothing him in the regalia of the Crown Prince; whereas Saul confirmed the kingship of David by putting him in the forefront of the battle.
In like manner, Jesus laid aside the insignia of His divinity and became man, and was placed in the forefront of the battle against death’s destructive power. By His death and resurrection, Jesus overcame death on our behalf: that we ‘might have life, and have it more abundantly’ (cf. John 10:10).
‘Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:57).
D). THE DEW OF HERMON.
Psalm 133:1-3.
I like the Scottish Metrical version of this Psalm:
“Behold, how good a thing it is,
and how becoming well,
Together such as brethren are
in unity to dwell!”
A good one to sing, perhaps, as we break bread together.
“Behold” calls us to look carefully, to look intensely. In the Greek of the New Testament, we are told that John ‘saw’ the grave clothes lying on Resurrection morning; but Peter ‘looked intently upon’ them (John 20:5-6). Or we could say, Peter ‘beheld’ them.
So, in our Psalm, what are we to look upon with such intensity? We are to look upon, to consider, “how good and pleasant a thing it is” for “brothers” (and sisters) to dwell together in unity. This applies on every level of life.
First, it applies on the level of kinship. It is more than just ‘nice’ if we can get on with our siblings. However, we are more familiar with negative examples: like Cain’s murderous, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ (Genesis 4:9); or the supplicant before Jesus who complained that his brother had not divided the inheritance with him (Luke 12:13).
In the Bible, Jonathan and David were only brothers-in-law, but their souls were ‘knit’ together in a mutual, covenant, love (1 Samuel 18:1; 1 Samuel 18:3).
Second, it applies on the level of community. As the bombs fell on London in the early 1940s, many were the acts of sheer human kindness between people in the same plight as one another. Similarly, in the times of distress caused by natural disasters elsewhere in the world.
Third, it is good and pleasant when nations and peoples can learn to get along with one another. But how can they, outside of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ? While any of us tolerate evil, none of us will ever get on!
And of course, fourthly, Christian people. Those who are born again are called upon to ‘bear one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’ (Ephesians 4:2-3). After all, we have but one God and Father, and one Lord (Jesus), and are all members of the same covenant family (Ephesians 4:5-6).
Our unity is found in our very diversity. We do not lose our individuality but live to serve one another. Like the voluntary sharing of the early church (Acts 2:45).
Now, how lovely is this?
“Like precious ointment on the head,
that down the beard did flow,
Even Aaron’s beard, and to the skirts,
did of his garments go.”
The reference is evidently to the anointing of Aaron as high priest. It sounds messy, but it is the aroma of unity. We have a much greater high priest, and our unity in Him is a matter of fact, not of boring uniformity.
Think of Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with costly oil, and how the fragrance filled the whole house (John 12:3). Jesus associated this act with His burial (John 12:7). And without His death and resurrection, there are no grounds for unity.
Then we have another illustration:
“As Hermon’s dew, the dew that doth
on Sion’s hill descend:
For there the blessing God commands,
life that shall never end.”
From Mount Zion, Mount Hermon is far to the north, on the border with Lebanon. So how does the dew of Hermon water Zion? Well, it is not meteorologically impossible, and has been known - although it is rare - for dew from Hermon to bring refreshment to Mount Zion during the arid summer.
But what a picture of unity! The melting snows of Lebanon watering Zion, even as Zion has sent the Gospel out to the wider world (including Lebanon). Or Paul’s churches elsewhere feeding the needy poor in Jerusalem (Romans 15:26).
Christians here, and Christians there, all one in Christ Jesus!
‘We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren’ (1 John 3:14).
And we should ‘pray for the peace of Jerusalem’, from whence our blessings came (Psalm 122:6).
E). WHERE WERE YOU?
Job 38:1-11.
After all the crying and sighing, moaning, and groaning of Job (and I do not blame him for it); after all the blaming and shaming, sharing and tearing of his ‘miserable comforters’ (Job 16:2): “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind” (Job 38:1).
We notice two things here. First, it was “the LORD” who answered. Literally, YHWH. This is the first time that this name has been used for God since the prologue (Job 1:6; Job 2:1). In the intervening chapters, Job and his friends refer to God with the more impersonal ‘El’ - perhaps not recognising that our God is a God who is near, as well as a God who is far off (cf. Jeremiah 23:23). As Christians, we are enabled to approach ‘the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Ephesians 1:3) with the intimacy of sons, addressing Him as ‘Abba’ (Romans 8:15)!
Second, it is only YHWH, the covenant LORD who is able to speak: not some impersonal ‘god’. Baal cannot speak: he cannot even hear, no matter how much his so-called prophets dance and prance and lance themselves (1 Kings 18:26-29). On that occasion, the LORD answered by fire (1 Kings 18:38); but on this occasion, by a voice “out of the whirlwind” (Job 38:1).
The LORD’s reply to the complaints of Job consists in a series of sixty questions of His own! [Have you noticed; Jesus also answers questions with questions (e.g. Mark 11:28-30)?] This is not in order for the LORD to accuse or condemn Job: Job has already been certified righteous (Job 1:1). No indeed, even in our questionings of God’s ways in our lives, the LORD still views us as the righteousness of God in our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-22): and the final testimony of the LORD after all Job’s questionings is that he is the one who is righteous rather than his companions (Job 42:7)!
Amid all our perplexities in life, the LORD is not lurking in the wings waiting to condemn us: instead, He is waiting at the gate, inviting us to take a walk with Him in the garden. So, any measure of rebuke in the words “Who is this?” (Job 38:2); “Where were you?” (Job 38:4), etc., is mitigated as we learn more of Him in this grand tour of Creation. So, gird up your loins, and listen to My questions, and see if you can answer them, says the LORD (Job 38:3).
I can remember walking with one gentleman, who would point out and name the flora and fauna (plants and animals) as we passed by. Or as a child, those family drives with our parents, having the beauty of the mountains, the sea - the trees even - pointed out to us. Yet did we ever really consider, ‘the LORD God made them all’?
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” (Job 38:4-7) distracts us from our perplexities and silences our complaints. It mutes the ‘science falsely so called’ (1 Timothy 6:20) which seeks to gag our faith by replacing inquiry with dogmatic theories. It humbles us, making us to stand in awe: for ‘He has done all things well’ (Mark 7:37).
Who was the ‘midwife’ who set the limits of the sea when it burst forth from the womb, and swaddled it in clouds and darkness, saying “thus far and no further” (Job 38:8-11)?
“Here your proud waves must stop” (Job 38:11) tells us that those limits were set from the creation of the earth: but also, in the scientifically observable reality of an eroding coastline, its times were set as well. Not only are all things created by the LORD, but they are also temporally upheld, kept, sustained, by the LORD: His works of Providence complement His works of Creation.
Thank You, LORD, for the wonder of Your Creation; for Your patience with us; for not condemning us; and for accepting us as we are in Christ Jesus. Please help us to hold on to our relationship with You no matter what befalls us. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
F). THE STORM A CALM.
Psalm 107:1-3; Psalm 107:23-32.
Psalm 107:1. This Psalm, from the outset, is a summons to thanksgiving. The LORD is good, and His mercy everlasting. We are perhaps quick enough to pray, to 'make our requests known unto God' (Philippians 4:6) when we are in trouble: but do we remember to give thanks, not only afterward, when all is resolved, but in faith DURING our struggles?
Psalm 107:2. Then it is a call to testimony: “Let the redeemed of the LORD say,” whom He has redeemed out of the hand of the enemy. Returning exiles, prisoners freed, folks whom He has healed, people who are aware of His deliverance amid the storms of life. All these are represented in Psalm 107:4-32, and they need to tell just how good, and how merciful the LORD has been in their varying situations of life.
Psalm 107:3. He has “gathered them out of the lands,” east, west, north, and south. From all points of the compass He has sought His own, and found them, and brought them home. Perhaps the church buildings are open again, and even if we still may not sing, let us at least share our testimonies and give thanks to the LORD!
Of the four pictures that the Psalmist uses, the one that resonates (vibrates sympathetically) with me the most is the fourth: “They that go down to the sea in ships” (Psalm 107:23). This is not just a seaman’s yarn, but a picture of the storms of life.
We set out in life, hopeful as any mariner. Like sightseers, we are admiring the view. The beauty of God’s Creation. The playing of the dolphins.
Ere long we begin to feel life’s billows. Suddenly, out of the blue, all is chaos! Look at “the waves” (Psalm 107:25)!
The sea billows roll. We are lifted up; we are cast down. Our soul “melts” within us (Psalm 107:26).
We reel back and forth, and stagger like drunkards. We are not drunk. We know not what to do: we are at our “wits' end” (Psalm 107:27).
Perhaps it is only then that we think to “cry out to the LORD” in our trouble. Then, we find, He brings us “out of” our distresses. In other words, we cry out to Him, and He answers favourably (Psalm 107:28; cf. Psalm 107:6; Psalm 107:13; Psalm 107:19).
He makes “the storm a calm” so that the waves are stilled (Psalm 107:29).
Jesus had been preaching and teaching from the deck of a ship (Mark 4:1). After the benediction, and at His command, the disciples (some of whom were fishermen) took Jesus ‘even as He was’ in the ship, and departed for the other side (Mark 4:36).
A great storm arose (Mark 4:37), and even those hardy fishermen were at their “wits' end” (Psalm 107:27). Such storms are not uncommon on this particular inland sea. Surrounded by hills, and lying low in the land, a storm can whip up at hardly a minute’s notice.
The fishermen were in their element, and within familiar waters, but this was one bad storm. All their skill and human resources left them with nothing but frustration and confusion. Yet our God is not a God of confusion, but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33).
The ship was ‘already being swamped’ when the disciples woke Jesus (Mark 4:37-38). Fear, disorder, and panic had taken hold upon them, whilst Jesus slept on in calm and peaceful repose. ‘Do you not care?’ asked the disciples.
Jesus was physically exhausted: it is not surprising that He had fallen asleep, on a pillow in the stern (Mark 4:38). This, incidentally, proves that Jesus is truly man. Jesus spoke with the voice and authority of God to still the storm and calm the sea (Mark 4:39).
“Then are they glad because they be quiet; so He brings them to their desired haven” (Psalm 107:30).
Now life is not always smooth sailing. There are the storms of life within us, and storms outside. But there is Another in the ship with us, who has promised, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’ (Hebrews 13:5).
As we touch the shore, let us “praise the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men” (Psalm 107:31).
Let us exalt Him also in this great congregation of which we are but a part (Psalm 107:32).
Let us “give thanks to the LORD for He is good: for His mercy endures for ever” (Psalm 107:1).
G). FOLLOW MY LEADER.
2 Corinthians 6:1-13.
In his earlier letter, Paul had spoken of himself and others as ‘God’s fellow-workers’ (1 Corinthians 3:9). The word for “fellow-workers” gives us our English word, ‘synergy’, which speaks of a combined effort, a co-operation with God if you will. It is not that God lacks anything: He could create, train, and grow Christians all on His own. But what a privilege for ministers to be involved in the formation of His creation, the nurturing of His ‘babes-in-Christ’ (if they will allow themselves to be nurtured and ‘trained up’ in the ways of the Lord).
In this later letter, Paul again employs the ‘synergy’ word (2 Corinthians 6:1a), indicating that he and others are workers-together, presumably with God, and perhaps even with the Corinthians (and ourselves?) if they (we?) will just get on board with the programme? Paul beseeches us, “that ye receive not the grace of God in vain” (2 Corinthians 6:1b).
Paul quotes Isaiah 49:8 where, in an accepted time, a season of grace, a day of salvation, Jesus is given as a covenant to the people of Israel; and faithful preachers are sent from Israel to restore the earth, so that the meek may inherit it. Whatever God may have done in our past, the word remains: “behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
The Apostle then does something that he has made it clear he does not appreciate in others: not for the first time, he BOASTS. This is with a purpose, as earlier indicated: ‘that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart’ (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:12).
When I was in Junior School, we had a game called ‘Follow My Leader’. Somebody was designated Leader, and the rest would all follow him or her, doing as they did. If they jumped, we all jumped; if they hopped, we all hopped; if they raised their right hand, we all raised our right hand; and so on.
Back in 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul said, ‘Be ye followers of me, EVEN AS I AM ALSO OF CHRIST’. Not so strange perhaps: earlier he had beseeched the Corinthians ‘Be ye followers of me’ (1 Corinthians 4:16); and urged his churches elsewhere, ‘Brethren, be followers together of me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us’ (Philippians 3:17); and in Hebrews we read, ‘Be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises’ (Hebrews 6:12).
However, following Paul and his companions is not the point, but being ‘Followers of God, as dear children’ (Ephesians 5:1); so that Paul can encourage, ‘Ye became followers of us, AND OF THE LORD, having received the word in much affliction, with joy in the Holy Ghost’ (1 Thessalonians 1:6).
In today’s passage, Paul continues: “We give no offence in anything, that the ministry be not blamed: but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God…” (2 Corinthians 6:3-4a).
The list that follows is not boasting of gifts, or accomplishments, but is a factual account of what the Apostles went through. Two lists of hardships (2 Corinthians 6:4-5; 2 Corinthians 6:8-10) surround a modest list of virtues in which everything which has violently been taken from them is restored “BY THE POWER OF GOD” (2 Corinthians 6:6-7).
The reading concludes with Paul’s affectionate appeal to the Corinthians: “Our heart is wide open. There is no restriction in our affections… Open your hearts also” (2 Corinthians 6:11-13). This complements the exhortation near the beginning of the chapter, “not to receive the grace of God in vain” (2 Corinthians 6:1).
Let us always be open to that grace, and to the daily manifestation of it in our own lives, and in the lives of others.
H). A STORM AT SEA AND A QUESTION OF JESUS' IDENTITY.
Mark 4:35-41.
There is an old joke that asks why the chicken crossed the road? The answer is obvious: to get to the other side. I suppose the same could be said of crossing the sea, crossing to the other side of the world, or crossing to a region such as the territory of the Gadarenes (Mark 5:1).
Yet, on this occasion, it was not an impetuous impulsive Peter who was determined to go to sea (John 21:3): but Jesus, who ‘must needs’ (cf. John 4:4) get to the other side (Mark 4:35).
To the Jews of Jesus’ day, the sea represented the realm of chaos: the element from which monsters arose (cf. Daniel 7:2-3). However, the thrones of such beasts are cast down, and brought under the dominion of the Son of man (Daniel 7:11-14).
Sea is also seen, when taken in a negative light, as an element of separation. If we look ahead into the New Testament, we can visualise the Apostle John as an exile in the Isle of Patmos, the sea separating him from his congregation in Asia Minor (Revelation 1:9).
From such a place he could see a new heaven and a new earth – and the first distinctive mark of this new creation was: ‘and there was no more sea’ (Revelation 21:1).
On the positive side, we see the sea parted for our redemption (Psalm 74:13). The Red Sea, like the demon (Mark 1:25), was rebuked (Psalm 106:9). The inland sea which separated Galilee from the country of the Gadarenes also had to obey the command of the Lord (Mark 4:39) - by which we may conclude that Jesus is truly God.
Jesus had been preaching and teaching from the deck of a ship (Mark 4:1). After the benediction, and at His command, the disciples (some of whom were fishermen) took Jesus “even as He was” in the ship, and departed for the other side (Mark 4:36). There is also added here another eyewitness detail: “and there were also with Him other little ships.”
A great storm arose (Mark 4:37), and even these hardy fishermen were at their wits end. Such storms are not uncommon on this particular inland sea. Surrounded by hills, and lying low in the land, a storm can whip up at hardly a minute’s notice.
The fishermen were in their element, and within familiar waters, but this was one bad storm. All their skill and human resources left them with nothing but frustration and confusion. Yet our God is not a God of confusion, but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33).
The ship was “already being swamped” when the disciples woke Jesus (Mark 4:37-38). Fear, disorder, and panic had taken hold upon them, whilst Jesus slept on in calm and peaceful repose. “Do you not care?” asked the disciples.
Jesus was physically exhausted: it is not surprising that He had fallen asleep, on a pillow in the stern (Mark 4:38). This, incidentally, proves that Jesus is truly man. Jonah likewise was summoned from sleep in a ship during a storm (Jonah 1:6).
Jesus spoke with the voice and authority of God to still the storm and calm the sea (Mark 4:39). The disciples had a fair idea who Jesus was, but had not sufficient faith to recognise that having their Master in the ship was, for them, enough (Mark 4:40).
Perhaps the disciples still did not understand. Perhaps the light was beginning to dawn. “Who is this,” they asked, “that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” (Mark 4:41).
For us, too, there might be times when chaos, fear, disorder, panic, and confusion seem to have taken hold of our lives. It seems that the ship of our lives is being tossed about in the storm, and is “already being swamped” (Mark 4:37). Where is God in all of this?
Yet if we have any idea of just who Jesus is - and who He is to us - we must know that He is with us, even in the storms of life. He speaks to the storm; He speaks to the disorder in your life; He speaks to the evil which threatens to overwhelm you. He speaks over you the word of His power and authority: “Peace, be still” (Mark 4:39).
