Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Aug 25 2019 - Psalm 107:1-22 – The redeemed of the Lord

This psalm not only celebrates God's goodness, it calls on all to join the psalmist in giving thanks to the Lord for his goodness and unfailing love. It calls upon the redeemed to tell their story, as Israel of old had often told the story of how the Lord had rescued them from slavery in Egypt and brought them safely through the wilderness and into possession of the Promised Land. The psalm then goes on to relate stories of how God has rescued his people in times past.

Verses 4-9 tells the story of people wandering in desert wastes in which they could find no safe place to settle. They were hungry and thirsty and facing death. But they called on the name of the Lord and he, "delivered them from their distress" (v.6). The psalmist may well have been thinking of Israel's forty years of wandering in the wilderness. When they lacked food they cried out to the Lord, though it has to be acknowledged that their cry was one of complaint rather than humble petition. Nevertheless, the Lord fed them with bread from heaven and with quail. When they were thirsty they cried out to the Lord, though again it was in complaint, and he provided them with water from the rock. Eventually they were led into the land where they could settle in towns and cities, grow their own food and enjoy streams of water. Looking back on that experience the psalmist declares:

Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
for he satisfies the thirsty
    and fills the hungry with good things. (vv. 8-9)

We do well to remember that the Lord Jesus spoke of himself as the bread of life, the water of life and the one who gives rest to the weary. He is the one in whom we have found the fulfilment of this psalm in our own experience.

In verses 10-16, the psalmist speaks of prisoners, chained in darkness and forced into back-breaking labour as a result of their rebellion against God. They also cried for the Lord to help them and he broke their chains and brought them out of darkness into light. Again, we can read these verses in the light of the Lord Jesus (think of Charles Wesley's great hymn, And can it be that I should gain…); he is the one who has broken down gates of bronze and cut bars of iron (v.16) to set us free from our cruel imprisonment to sin and death.

Verses 17-22 speak of those who suffered a deadly sickness and called on the Lord for help. "He sent out his word and healed them; he continues with further examples of the Lord's deliverance, "he rescued them from the grave" (v.20). This also is our experience in the Lord Jesus.

Further examples of the Lord's deliverance in response to prayer are supplied in the verses that follow: the Lord is the one who stills the storm to a whisper and hushes the waves of the sea (v.29); he brings his people to their desired haven (v.30). Who but Jesus can do this?

We also have been redeemed by the Lord from sin, death, darkness and despair. We also have a story to tell to others. "Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story" says the psalmist in verse 2. We should rejoice to be able to tell the wonderful story of our salvation in the Lord Jesus and of his unfailing goodness and love. We should delight to tell others of the hope we have in him in all the varied circumstances of our lives and in the prospect of death. If we were often to tell our story, might it not lead many others to come and trust in the Lord Jesus and have their own stories to tell?

Father God, thank you for our wonderful redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Forgive us when we forget to thank you for your goodness, love and salvation. By the power of your Spirit, set our hearts on fire with love for you that, like someone newly engaged, we may be eager to tell all we meet of the story of your love for us. 

 

Aug 25 2020 - Matthew 5:1-26 – Blessed and Blessing

Matthew 5-7 records teaching Jesus gave to his disciples and to the crowds who had gathered to see his miracles. This Sermon on the Mount begins with what are commonly called the Beatitudes – a series of pronouncements of blessing upon particular kinds of people; "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven..." (5:3-10).

The Beatitudes should not be read as a new set of laws. Jesus is not saying that the way to receive God's blessing and to gain the kingdom of heaven is to be poor in spirit etc. This is obvious when you come to verse 10; we are not commanded to be persecuted to gain the kingdom! Rather, Jesus is painting a picture of the kingdom – the character of those who follow the king.

Not that Jesus is anti-law; he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it. He came to do what the law could never accomplish; he came to create a people who will live in obedience to the will of God and who will reflect his character – the character displayed in Christ himself.

Those described in these verses hardly seem to be the kind of people who will make much of an impact on the world: meek, not demanding their own rights or pushing themselves forward; merciful, not exacting all that is owed them from the hands of others; peacemakers, not fighting to gain personal advantage but ready to spend themselves to bring reconciliation to a world of conflict; persecuted, treated unjustly and enslaved by others without seeking revenge; mourners, people familiar with sorrow and acquainted with grief.

But there is more: here are a people who are concerned not simply with outward appearance but who yearn to be transformed from the inside out, to be clean and pure in heart. Here are a people who are concerned not simply with right conduct but also to speak only those words which will encourage and heal others (see v. 22). Here are a people who do not retreat from the messiness of a corrupt world but who long for and work for righteousness – for God's world to be filled with his presence and glory; for "justice to roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream." These are a people who are possessed by God and a people upon whom his blessing rests. More than that, though they may seem to be of little account in this world, the future is theirs; they will inherit the earth; theirs is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Their longing for a world of righteousness will be fully satisfied. God will dwell with them in a world characterised by righteousness, and they will see his face.

Nor are they ineffective now. These people of little account are the salt of the earth that heals its corruption. They are the light of the world that shines in the darkness and that cannot be extinguished. They are people whose lives touch and transform those of others; they are agents of the kingdom that grows strangely and mysteriously and that will at last supplant the kingdom of this world. They are the hope and future of the world.

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom." Follow the King. Live the kingdom. Be the conduit through which heaven invades our world.

Father, keep me from becoming conformed to this world which would seek to squeeze me into its own mould. Continually transform me by your Spirit and make me like Christ whose character shines through these beatitudes. May he continue his mission to bring light to the world through me. Bless me and make me a blessing.

Peter Misselbrook