Psalm 92:1-6, Joshua 24:14-25, Galatians 6:11-18, Matthew 6:24-34.
A). THANKS AND PRAISE.
Psalm 92:1-6.
The designation “for the sabbath day” is both unique, and interesting. The sabbath was instituted in the first instance as a commemoration of Creation (cf. Exodus 20:11), but also in celebration of Redemption (cf. Deuteronomy 5:15). “O LORD, how great are thy works” (PSALM 92:5a) could refer to either, or both.
We open with the declaration, “It is good to give thanks to the LORD” (PSALM 92:1a). Perhaps our prayers are too often loaded down with petitions: but we should be thanking God for past benefits, even as we make our requests known to Him. Furthermore, if we are asking Him in faith believing, we can thank Him in anticipation of a favourable answer in accordance with His will.
“And to sing praises to thy name, O most high” (PSALM 92:1b). This is vocal, not silent. We can be vocal in the privacy of our own rooms, or as we go about manual labour. It is good, too, to be vocal with others (when we have opportunity).
Thus do we “show forth thy lovingkindness” EVERY morning, and “thy faithfulness” EVERY night (PSALM 92:2). Worship is not just for the sabbath day, after all. We may not have the benefit of the full Temple band (PSALM 92:3), but the sweetest praise of all comes from the contemplative heart of the believer, wherever and whenever we may lift up our voice in praise to the LORD.
“For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work” (PSALM 92:4a). As the popular chorus suggests, ‘He has made me glad! He has made me glad! I will rejoice for He has made me glad.’
It is a singular work of God in the believer that makes them appreciate the multifarious “works” of Creation, Providence, and Redemption. This is what it is to “triumph in the works of thy hands” (PSALM 92:4b).
As well as marvelling at the greatness of the LORD’s works, the Psalmist admires the depth and profundity of the LORD’s thoughts (PSALM 92:5). ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts,’ declared the LORD (cf. Isaiah 55:8-9). The exclamation of Paul is ‘O the depth! How unsearchable!’ (cf. Romans 11:33).
The failure of the unbelieving mind to grasp the things of God is highlighted here (PSALM 92:6). Even as God sees the downfall of His enemies, so we see the downfall of ours (cf. Psalm 92:11), because His enemies and ours are one and the same (cf. John 15:20a).
B). A CALL TO RECOMMITMENT.
Joshua 24:14-25.
Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, descendants of both Abraham and Jacob, and there they presented themselves before the LORD (cf. Joshua 24:1). Joshua recited the history of the dealings of the LORD with their nation thus far: beginning with the call of Abram, right up to their present possession of the land by the grace of the LORD (cf. Joshua 24:2-13). It may take a while, but the LORD always keeps His promises!
After this recital, Joshua called for a response. “Because of all this, give reverence to the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the idol gods which your fathers served before the call of Abraham, and even more recently in Egypt, and serve ye the LORD” (JOSHUA 24:14). In this way both our references to Abraham and to Jacob are called to memory: forsake the moon worship which Abraham left behind and forsake the impotent ‘gods’ of Egypt which the Almighty LORD so convincingly defeated just one generation ago.
The call of Joshua is not so much an evangelistic appeal, as we might be inclined to interpret it, as a call to recommitment on the part of those who are already recipients of the benefits of the LORD. The choice presented by Joshua is not so much, ‘choose the LORD or these other gods’ as “IF you will not choose the LORD, then choose which of these non-deities you will serve: the gods of the past, which failed - or perhaps the gods of the Amorites, who you have dispossessed.” Put that way, the choice is ridiculous: “As for me and my house, we WILL serve the LORD” (JOSHUA 24:15)!
When it is put like that, the people respond accordingly: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods” (JOSHUA 24:16). However, the wording of their argument seems to take only utilitarian considerations into account (JOSHUA 24:17-18). It is easy to make recommitments when all seems to be going well: but what about those other times which may yet befall us?
Perhaps they resented the suggestion, but Joshua stood his ground: “You CANNOT serve the LORD” (JOSHUA 24:19-20). Remember, it is not just Joshua, but the LORD Himself who is so insistent, for the whole discourse begins: “Thus says the LORD God of Israel” (cf. Joshua 24:2). It is the duty of evangelists and preachers not only to ‘get decisions’ for Christ, but to warn people that they cannot even begin to go forward in the Christian life if they intend to go on in their own strength!
It is in terms such as these that Jesus turned back some of His would-be disciples (cf. Luke 14:25-28). Still, people will persist, and sometimes we must take their professions of faith on face value. It was when the people insisted: “No, but we WILL serve the LORD!” (JOSHUA 24:21) that Joshua reaffirmed the covenant with them (JOSHUA 24:22-25).
C). GLORY ONLY IN THE CROSS.
Galatians 6:11-18.
As Paul draws towards the conclusion of his letter to the Galatians, he takes the pen into his own hand (GALATIANS 6:11) and emphasizes once more the issue between the Judaisers and himself. The motives of his opponents are suspect: to make a good showing in the “flesh” they try to force Gentile believers to be circumcised; but only so that they might not themselves suffer persecution for the cross of Christ (GALATIANS 6:12). Even though they, the circumcised, do not keep the law, they desire to have others circumcised that they may (possibly by keeping stats) boast in their “flesh” (GALATIANS 6:13).
All that is outward, fleshly, but Paul’s response is inward, spiritual: “God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation” (GALATIANS 6:14-15). In other words, outward ceremonies count for nothing: ‘you must be born again’ (cf. John 3:7).
“As many as walk by this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, EVEN upon the Israel of God” (GALATIANS 6:16). There is an ‘Israel after the flesh’ (cf. Romans 9:3-4a), but here those who walk by the rule of the Bible, and they alone, have peace and mercy upon them, and are called “the Israel of God.”
The Apostle stamped this epistle with his own authority when he said, “From henceforth let no man trouble me” (GALATIANS 6:17). "For," he argued, “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” The Greek word for “marks” is ‘stigmata’ - which also referred to the branding of a slave. That is how Paul viewed the wounds he sustained in the service of Christ.
Paul draws the letter to a close much as he began: with “grace” (GALATIANS 6:18; cf. Galatians 1:3). Indeed, the letter has been about the grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ throughout. Paul’s last word to the churches of Galatia, despite all the stern words he has had to say to them, is: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, BRETHREN. Amen.”
D). A QUESTION OF PRIORITIES.
Matthew 6:24-34.
MATTHEW 6:24. We must choose between “God” and “Mammon.” It is all a question of priorities. If we are a slave to the things of this world, then we cannot be an effective servant of the kingdom of God.
MATTHEW 6:25. “Take no thought” is an unfortunate translation. When Jesus says (literally) “be not careful,” He obviously is not sanctioning thoughtlessness, nor even carelessness. He rather means, “Do not be anxious.”
Jesus introduces a trinity of cares: what shall we eat; what shall we drink; what shall we put on? Our “life” (the word would be more literally translated “soul”) is more than all these. Again it is a question of priorities: what use is it anyway if we gain the whole world, but lose our soul (cf. Matthew 16:26)?
MATTHEW 6:26. If we study the birds, we might learn something of the providence of God: we might learn to trust Him. For they do not sow or reap or store in granaries, but God provides for them: and are we not better than they (cf. Matthew 10:29-30)?
MATTHEW 6:27. Which of us by fretting and worrying can add one inch to our stature, or one moment to our lifespan?
MATTHEW 6:28-29. And what about the flowers of the field? They labour not nor spin, and yet they are adorned better than Solomon in all his glory (cf. 1 Kings 10:4-5).
MATTHEW 6:30. Even such things, which would later be gathered with the grass as kindling for the fire, are under God’s care: so why should we doubt Him?
MATTHEW 6:31. So, “do not be anxious,” repeats Jesus.
MATTHEW 6:32. People who do not know God may prioritise these things: but we have a heavenly Father who knows that we need them - even before we ask.
MATTHEW 6:33. As for us, we must hold the things of this earth with a loose hand and prioritise our lives in such a way as to give precedence to the kingdom of God and the establishment of His righteousness (cf. Isaiah 9:7).
MATTHEW 6:34. We set our eyes, set our hearts, towards the advancement of the kingdom of God. We trust not ourselves to accomplish it, but we know the One whose righteousness is imputed to us and follow His lead. Rest assured, when He is in charge of our lives we need not worry about tomorrow today!
