Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Nov 17 2019 - Psalm 130 – Out of the depths

Here is another of the pilgrim psalms of the people of God, and what a wonderful psalm it is. This was Martin Luther's favourite psalm. In it, he said, we find all of the elements of the gospel.

The reality of universal sinfulness and condemnation: The psalmist asks the question, "If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?" (v. 3). It's not a question intended for discussion but one asked with the implication that no one is able to stand. If God were to examine the record of our lives with his all-seeing eye and all-knowing discernment it would not take him long to discover that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God". As I write these thoughts many teenagers are receiving their A level results. Some will be delighted with the results and some will be disappointed but I very much doubt that any will have scored 100% in all their papers. And this is true also of us; we have failed to get everything right. We may feel fairly pleased with our lives or we may be disappointed and ashamed but even the best of us is far from perfect – we could have done better. And in the eyes of a holy God, left to ourselves, all of us stand condemned.

The free and full nature of God's mercy and forgiveness: But the good news is that there is mercy and forgiveness with God – "with you there is forgiveness" (v. 4). The psalmist discovered this for himself. He cried out to God from the depths – from the dark and miserable awareness of his own sin and failings. He cried out for God to have mercy on him. In other words, he knew that he had nothing to plead in his own character; he deserved God to leave him to suffer condemnation. But he pleads God's mercy – his undeserved favour or grace. And he discovered that there is forgiveness with God. God, as it were, wiped away the record of his sins and refused to treat him as his sins deserved. And now he urges all of God's people to put their hope in the Lord, "for with the Lord is unfailing love" (v. 7). You also, he is saying, can find grace, mercy and forgiveness with God. You also can discover that the Lord will be attentive to your cry and will forgive you and enable you to stand before him.

Redemption is God's work from first to last: The Lord himself will redeem his people (v. 8). This wonderful word conjures up all sorts of pictures. The Israelites would have thought of how the Lord had rescued them from slavery in Egypt many years before. He had redeemed them and made them his own – like slaves purchased from a cruel master that they might belong now to one who would love them and provide for them. This would especially have sprung to mind if the pilgrims singing this psalm were travelling to Jerusalem for the Passover. And it would have reminded them of the cost of their redemption. A lamb had been put to death in every Israelite house that night to protect them from the avenging wrath of God. The Israelites were rebels against God as much as the Egyptians but the lamb had died for them and they were freed from slavery and condemnation.

And God has redeemed us through the shed blood of his own Son – the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Redemption is the work of our triune God from beginning to end: in love the Father planned it; the Son accomplished it; the Spirit applied it to our lives as he drew us to trust in Christ.

The Lord is the hope of his people: His goodness to us in times past provides us with a sure and certain hope for the future. The psalmist talks of his whole being waiting for the Lord "more than watchmen wait for the morning" (v. 6). If you have ever worked a night shift you will feel the longing expressed here by the psalmist. Knowing that God gave his Son for our redemption provides us with the unshakeable confidence that he will bring us at last to glory. Our hope is in him and in the promises of his word. We wait with longing for the dawn of Christ's appearing.

Father God, we thank you for this lovely psalm which speaks so powerfully to our own hearts – our experience and our hopes. We thank you that because of Jesus there is forgiveness with you and the knowledge that the work that your goodness began, the arm of your strength will complete. Help us to tell others of what you have done and to urge them to put their hope in you.

Nov 17 2020 - John 11:1-44 – The resurrection and the life

Mary and Martha and their brother, Lazarus, live in Bethany, a village just outside Jerusalem. Jesus was across the other side of the Jordan when word was sent to him that Lazarus had fallen ill. Jesus loved this family greatly, yet he waited two days before setting off for Bethany. Why?

This story is full of perplexities, yet one thing is clear right from the beginning, Jesus is in full control of the situation. The minute he hears of Lazarus' sickness he declares, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it" (John 11:4). Jesus seems to have deliberately delayed so that Lazarus' condition would get worse and so that he would die. Jesus wants to bring glory to his Father and to display his own glory by demonstrating that he has power even over death.

When Jesus arrives at Bethany, Martha is troubled. She knows that if Jesus had been there when Lazarus had fallen sick he would never have died. Nevertheless, she knows that death is not the end; he will be raised to life again in the last day when death at last gives up all its captives. But Jesus tells her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies; and whoever believes in me will never die”, and he challenges her, “Do you believe this?” Martha responds, “Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” She believes that Jesus is the promised Messiah. He has come into the world to bring in that day of resurrection, the day when death shall be swallowed up in life.

Jesus is deeply moved and troubled by the death of Lazarus. He does not treat death as simply another fact of life. He views death as an enemy that has invaded God’s world, robbed Lazarus of life and brought grief to those who loved him. It is an evil that moved Jesus to angry tears.

But Jesus is not helpless in the face of death. He has only to call Lazarus from his tomb and the dead hear his voice and live. Lazarus, bound in his grave clothes, totters out to hear the further welcome words of command, “Set him free and let him go.”

Lazarus would die again. The final day of resurrection had not yet arrived, yet his resurrection from the grave, leaving behind an empty tomb, foreshadows a greater resurrection not many days hence. That resurrection would be accomplished by the same power, for as Jesus said, “No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down and power to take it up again.” (10:18). With his death and resurrection the power of death will be broken once and for all – unlike Lazarus, he will not die again. He is the firstborn from the dead, the one who gives eternal life – resurrection life – to all who come to him.

Lazarus' resurrection also foreshadows that last great day when Jesus shall call to all who are in their graves, "Come out", and we shall rise. All who fall asleep in Jesus, await the day of general resurrection when at last death shall be swallowed up in victory.

Father God, thank you that the words of Jesus are not empty words, they have power to give life to the dead. Thank you that you have given us a living hope through Jesus' resurrection from the dead and the promise that we will enter into an inheritance that can never perish or fade. May your word fill me with joy and peace even in the face of death.

Peter Misselbrook