[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (PTS) as a reading update (reflection) from one chapter of the Bible a day]
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"For it
flatters him in his eyes
For
one to discover his iniquity and hate it."
David is talking about someone who
is not saved. However, even as redeemed saints, we still aren't perfect.
Flattery, Flattering, and Flatterers are always lurking!
Instead of me reflecting upon this,
let's have the thinker Jonathan Edwards to the subject of flattery, this verse:
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1. Some flatter themselves with a
secret hope, that there is no such thing as another world.
2. Some flatter themselves that
death is a great way off, and that they shall hereafter have much opportunity
to seek salvation.
3. Some flatter themselves that
they lead moral and orderly lives, and therefore think that they shall not be
damned.
4. Some make the advantages under
which they live an occasion of self-flattery. They flatter themselves that they
live in a place where the gospel is powerfully preached, and among a religious
people, where many have been converted; and they think it will be much easier
for them to be saved on that account.
5. Some flatter themselves with
their own intentions. They intend to give themselves liberty for a while
longer, and then to reform.
6. There are some who flatter
themselves that they do, and have done, a great deal for their salvation, and
therefore hope they shall obtain it; when indeed they neither do what they
ought to do, nor what they might do even in their present state of
unregeneracy; nor are they in any likely way to be converted.
7. Some hope by their strivings to
obtain salvation of themselves. They have a secret imagination that they shall,
by degrees, work in themselves sorrow and repentance of sin, and love towards
God and Jesus Christ. Their striving is not so much an earnest seeking to God,
as a striving to do themselves that which is the work of God.
8. Some sinners flatter themselves
that they are already converted. They sit down and rest in a false hope,
persuading themselves that all their sins are pardoned; that God loves them;
that they shall go to heaven when they die; and that they need trouble
themselves no more. "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with
goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." (Rev 3:17).
— Jonathan Edwards
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"The wicked
borrows and does not pay back,
But
the righteous is gracious and gives."
I wish Christians would learn this!
But to be, in the words of Paul, "To owe nothing, but love."
Stephen Leacock's story, My Lost
Dollar is a good supplement to this verse. He said whenever he saw that guy who
had borrowed a dollar from him, he remembered that he borrowed from him!
That story is so good that it's
included in an English Syllabus of CBSE and many State Board of Education(s).
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BTW, there's a difference between
borrowing and asking!
God told Israelites to ask lots of
stuff from Egyptians before they fled away. [Plundering]. God commands the rich
to be generous.
A few years ago, I was watching an
Economics and Financial Documentary on how to reduce poverty in this world.
They propounded and evaluated all major theories and practices. And came to a
conclusion that we all know: "The poor should ask, and the rich should
be generous." That's the best way to reduce poverty, they concluded.
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Pay what you owe and be generous
that's the economics of a righteous man!
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"O Yahweh,
reprove me not in Your wrath,
And
discipline me not in Your burning anger."
When was the last time you suffered
directly as a result of your own doing? Remember Psalm 38. It will comfort your
soul! I thank David and God for this Psalm.
Somebody said, "Only God can
humble us without humiliating us."
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"I said,
"I will guard my ways
That I may not
sin with my tongue;
I will guard my
mouth as with a muzzle
While the wicked
are in my presence."
I was mute and
silent,
I refrained even
from good,
And my sorrow
grew worse."
Were there times when you found
yourself in a difficult situation but didn't want to act like those who don't
know God? You tried to avoid acting like them and set yourself to keep silent,
but it didn't help you, rather the worse it had become (v2). You aren't
alone. David went through it. Job also had experienced that (Job 16:6, also
chapter 7 is very much relatable to this Psalm)
For example, worry is a sin. And to
say "I am so worried" is an admission that you are sinning because
Christians aren't supposed to get worried. But if we don't say so, people may
not pray for us, excuse us, or help us. And so, we just act like those who
don't know the biblical God.
Or "I am angry, the network is
so horrible!" Well, we are called to be people of self-control, patience,
and slow to anger.
Ezra was afraid of the enemies. But
he didn't want to admit his fear before the King to ask for soldiers to escort
him, because it would look like his God was small. (Ezra 8:22). He fasted and
prayed like crazy, and God answered him.
Another man of God, Nehemiah, was afraid!
But he was politically wiser (being a politician). He never admitted his fear
but obtained a letter from the king to let him have a peaceful journey
(Neh.2:7).
How can we avoid sin from our
stupid tongue? Learn from David, Job, Ezra, and Nehemiah!
Some people love to publicize their
stupidity (sin) even through WhatsApp status updates "I am pissed off
today" etc. Crazy world.
There are times I don't want to let
my neighbor know that I am a Christian because I don't behave like a Christian
sometimes. When the internet got hang, sometimes, I felt quite relieving to
bang on my table and shout "Stupid Vodafone, Stupid Room!" And
certainly, I don't want anybody to see me acting like that. That's not cool!
That's not a gentleman’s. I don't want to bring reproach to Christ as His
follower. But Jesus tells us to be a light of the world, to be like a city on a
hill. And we want to be silent, hidden. David also knew and did that (v2).
When you are in a difficult
situation, when you want to hide, when you aren't christianly, read Psalm 39
and Job 7 and 16.
[13:22, 04/09/2021] S.R: Another
supplement for JMac fans:
MacArthur, his wife, and many of
his church members got Covid19. But he never admitted that those days. But he
didn't lie either. He just kept silent.
Before, he was on TV and the pulpit
telling that there's nobody in his church suffering from covid. When they got
it, he just kept silent. He stopped appearing on TV. He talked nothing about
covid for good or bad.
And then, after they have recovered
and after learning that their court case would be in their favor, last Sunday,
on the pulpit, he admitted that many of them got covid.
Perhaps he had been reading Ezra
and Nehemiah! π
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"I have
proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will
not restrain my lips, O LORD, You know.
I have not
hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have spoken of
Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not
concealed Your lovingkindness and
Your truth from
the great congregation."
It reminds us of the importance of
thanking God publicly. It looks like we are more ashamed of our blessing than
to thank God publicly. We thought our blessings are quite few in comparison to
others' blessings, achievements, etc. We are more shameful than grateful!
V10
is written in a negative construction, and it's not surprising because David,
being a sinner like anyone of us, had his share of struggles to praise God
publicly, but at the writing of this Psalm, he made sure that he had done it!
I think people know more about my
prayer request than my praise points. But the fact is, God is kinder, more
gracious, and has blessed me more than I have even thought of praying!
Behold, Praise from the upright is
beautiful in the sight of God.
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v1. "How blessed is he who considers the poor;
Yahweh
will provide him escape in a day of calamity."
v13. "Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel,
From
everlasting to everlasting.
Amen
and Amen!"
This Psalm started with the word "blessed"
and ended with "blessed" v1 and 13.
The first Psalm in Book 1 talked
about a blessed man, and this last Psalm also ended with the word "blessed"
but for the God of this blessed man v1.
People looked down on the poor,
despised them, and abused them, but a righteous man is considerate,
compassionate, and good to the poor.
We are poor wretched sinners, yet
Christ considers us to reign with Him! Indeed, Christ is the real blessed man,
but we are called to be a blessed man as well!
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Done! Completed! Praises be to the
Lord!