Preaching Psalm 128

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Yesterday I gave my attempt at preaching Psalm 128, a psalm I have commented on here various times previously.  I have also commented previously on the difficulty of finding good resources for preaching on the Psalms.  Our commentaries simply do not (and perhaps cannot) give the same sort of detailed exposition of the Psalms as they do of other books (e.g. Luke or Romans).

So, in this post and the next I intend to list what I found most helpful on Psalm 128 in hopes of being useful to others who may preach this psalm.

First, though it may sound like a pious truism, I am reminded that there is no substitute for sustained, broad reading and contemplation of Scripture itself.  This is of course always true, but the lack of comprehensive sources on the Psalms forces me back to this basic task of seeing how Scripture interprets Scripture.  And interpreting Scripture by Scripture only flourishes as we live in the text on an ongoing basis. The more aware we are of the whole of Scripture the more we can see connections and hear allusions across the canon.  Patristic and Puritan sources are wonderfully convicting examples of this.  Over the last several weeks my own personal reading has been in Proverbs, and though I was not looking for connections to Psalm 128 I noticed a conceptual and formal parallel in the early chapters of Proverbs.  This was fascinating to trace out, and even though it was too involved to include in my sermon it helped to shape my consideration of the Psalm.

Secondly, since the Psalms are poems, the value of prolonged contemplation is heightened.  If you have the opportunity to allow any text (and especially poetry) to course through your mind for some time your reflections will certainly be more mature.  This, then, is another value in singing the Psalms.  If you have been singing a Psalm over some time then you will be more ready to preach it.  As I prepared my sermon I often “sang” the metrical version we use in my head as I went about other tasks using the time to reflect on the text.

In the next post, I will comment on which secondary sources I found the most helpful particularly on Psalm 128.

Martin Luther, Let us Rejoice

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I just came across this hymn by Martin Luther.  From what I could uncover the translator (into English) is unknown.  This is a good word in preparation for corporate worship in the morning.

1. Dear Christians, let us now rejoice,
And dance in joyous measure;
That, of good cheer, and with one voice,
We sing in love and pleasure
Of what to us our God hath shown,
And the sweet wonder he hath done:
Full dearly hath he bought it!

2. Forlorn and lost in death I lay
A captive to the devil;
My sin lay heavy, night and day,
For I was born in evil.
I fell but deeper for my strife
There was no good in all my life,
For sin had all-possessed me.

3. My good works they were worthless quite,
A mock was all my merit;
My free will hates God’s judging light,
To all good dead and buried.
Me to despair my anguish drove,
Down unto death my soul did shove:
I must be plunged in hell-fire!

4. Then God was sorry on his throne
To see such torment rend me;
His tender mercy he thought on,
And his good help would send me.
He turned to me his father-heart:
Ah, then was His no easy part;
His very best it cost him!

5. To his dear son he said: Go down;
Things go in piteous fashion;
Go thou, my heart’s exalted crown,
Be the poor man’s salvation.
Lift him from out sin’s scorn and scathe;
Strangle for him that cruel Death,
And take him to live with thee.

6. The son he heard obediently;
And, by a maiden mother,
Pure, tender – down he came to me,
For he must be my brother!
Concealed he brought his strength enorm,
And went about in my poor form,
Meaning to catch the devil.

7. He said unto me: Hold by me,
Thy matters I will settle;
I give myself all up for thee,
And I will fight thy battle.
For I am thine, and thou art mine,
And my house also shall be thine;
The enemy shall not part us.

8. Like water he will shed my blood,
Of life my heart bereaving;
All this I suffer for thy good-
That hold with firm believing;
My Life shall swallow up that Death;
My innocence bears thy sins, He saith,
So henceforth thou art happy.

9. To heaven unto my Father high,
From this life I am going;
But there thy master still am I,
My spirit on thee bestowing,
Whose comfort shall thy trouble quell,
And teach thy heart to know me well,
Thee into all truth guiding.

10. What I have done, what I have said,
Thou must go doing, teaching;
That so the kingdom of God may spread,
To His praise all men reaching.
But take heed what men bid thee do-
That will corrupt the treasure true:
With this last word I leave thee. Amen.

Blessing of Family (Psalm 128)

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“Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots around your table.
Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.” (Psalm 128:3-4)

“How beautiful to see the gnarled olive, still bearing abundant fruit, surrounded with a little band of sturdy successors, any one of which would be able to take its place should the central olive be blown down, or removed in any other way.

Moreover, note that it is not olive branches, but plants – a very different thing. Our children gather around our table to be fed, and this involves expenses… What a blessing to have sufficient to put upon the table! Let us for this benefit praise the bounty of the Lord. The wife is busy all over the house, but the youngsters are busiest at meal times; and if the blessing of the Lord rest upon the family, no sight can be more delightful. Here we have the vine and the olive blended – joy from the fruitful wife, and solid comfort from the growing family; these are the choicest products earth can yield: our families are gardens of the Lord.”

Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Psalm 128

The Ministry of Melancthon Jacobus

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After commenting on Jacobus yesterday I discovered a book (at Google books) containing memorial addresses upon his death .  The addresses are powerful and moving, evidence of a significant life of ministry.  Two key things mentioned of Jacobus were his vast knowledge of Scripture and his care for people- 2 essential elements for a pastor.  Here are two excerpts on these points:

One unfailing resource with him in all emergencies was his thorough knowledge of the English Bible. This prince among scholars and ecclesiastics rose above all his peers in other departments of learning by his familiar acquaintance with the Word of God. The facility and aptness of his Scripture quotations were as surprising as they were edifying. Who can forget the rich and beautiful recitations of Bible sentences beside the sick-bed and at the burial of the dead. How we miss his voice and his Scripture citations to day!

Another source of his appropriateness in his addresses and speeches was his quick sympathy with others He took their measure entered into their minds and felt with them as well as for them In his sermons he bridged over the distance between the pulpit and the pews… He would anticipate objections that they might make or questions they might ask and put them into words for them or he would ask them questions and answer in their place…”

The book is well worth reading, considering our own labors and what their result will be.  May we give ourselves to the Word of God and the people of God.

Spurgeon on the Fear of God

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The fear of God is the corner stone of all blessedness. Let us cultivate that holy filial fear of Jehovah which is the essence of all true religion; the fear of reverence, of dread to offend, of anxiety to please, and of entire submission and obedience. This fear of the Lord is the fit fountain of holy living: we look in vain for holiness apart from it: none but those who fear the Lord will ever walk in his ways.

– Exposition of Psalm 128, Treasury of David

Melancthon Jacobus on Acts

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Today I have been studying a portion of Acts 10 and have been particularly delighted with Melancthon Jacobus’ Notes, Critical and Explanatory, on the Acts of the Apostles reprinted by Solid Ground Christian Books.  I have commended this work but could not help doing so again.  Jacobus, a 19th century author, makes theological comments as well as close textual ones.  Today I found much of what is mentioned in more technical, recent commentaries already stated in Jacobus.  I heartily commend this volume to you for preaching and teaching.

Whitefield to Those Studying for Ministry

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Dear Gentlemen,

A dead ministry will always make a dead people. Whereas, if ministers are warmed with the love of God themselves, they cannot but be instruments of diffusing that love among others. This, this is the best preparation for the work whereunto you are to be called. Learning without piety, will only make you more capable of promoting the kingdom of Satan. Henceforward, therefore, I hope you will enter into your studies not to get a parish, nor to be polite preachers, but to be great saints. This, indeed, is the most compendious way to true learning; for an understanding enlightened by the Spirit of God is more susceptible of divine truths, and I am certain will prove most useful to mankind. The more holy you are, the more will God delight to honour you. He loves to make use of instruments, which are like himself.

– in Michael A. G. Haykin, The revived Puritan: the spirituality of George Whitefield  (Dundas, Ontario: Joshua Press, 2000), 143.

HT: (Adam Embry)

Doug Baker, “McDonaldization” and Pastoral Ministry

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Doug Baker, editor of The Baptist Messenger, has written a helpful article on how programs have come to dominate church life and ministry titled “Against the McDonaldization of the SBC.”

Drawing from Richard Baxter, Doug hits some key points on how program efficiency too easily becomes the goal rather than community and ministry.  Here is a key quote:

Pastoral ministry, therefore, has easily become in many congregations more the management of a religious franchise rather than personal ministry to people the Bible calls the bride of Jesus Christ. Doctrinal rediscovery (even though deepening among denominations such as the Southern Baptist Convention) has not yet overcome decades of franchise-like programs which often produced “results” with little long-term roots for genuine spiritual growth and lasting effects on the culture of both the church and society.

This is a key concern of this blog.  I commend the article to you and let us continue to labor for personal ministry to the Bride of Christ.

Read Broadly

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“God did not intend that we study our Bibles in a mental vacuum.  John Nelson Darby and G. Campbell Morgan both decided that for an extended time they would read only the Bible.  They soon discovered that this plan was a mistake.  The danger of reading only the Bible is that we do not then really read the Bible.  The Bible comes out of an ancient cultural setting.  We need the bridges to our own culture that reading more broadly can supply. . . . Our thesis in this study is that all Christians – especially Christian leaders and communicators – need to read broadly, deeply, and copiously.”

David L Larsen, The Company of the Creative: A Christian Reader’s Guide to Great Literature and Its Themes, 11-12

Shaping our Feelings

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Today as I ran an errand I caught a portion of a popular old song. It had a drawing power to it, and it brought to mind some things I had been thinking about, pondering the work of Jack Collins (see his masterful notes on the Psalms in the ESV Study Bible).
Songs by their nature are designed to connect with our feelings and to help us to express those feelings. People like songs because of how they make us feel or because they express so well what we are feeling. Thus, we latch on to a song that “tells our story”, or “says what I am feeling.” This is simply the nature of song.
The power of song, though, is that in helping to express our emotion they also shape and train our emotion, guiding our affections along certain currents which become the well worn paths of our hearts. These paths will often shape our behavior more than facts we say we believe.
Certainly this is why, when God gave us His Word, he gave us divinely inspired songs- the Psalms. The Psalms, especially as we sing them, give voice to our emotions and train our emotions in paths which honor God whether that is teaching us to lament while still hoping in God, to air our complaints to God while still recognizing His authority, or expressing our joy and reminding us to thank God for every good gift. These songs teach us to find our story in the grand narrative of the people of God. In this story we find our meaning and purpose.
The Psalms are a great gift to us and we ought to make good use of them.