12:1 'Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone;
for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
our lips are with us; who is master over us?”
5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
I will now arise,” says the Lord;
“I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
6 The words of the Lord are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times.
7 You, O Lord, will keep them;
you will guard us from this generation forever.
8 On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among the children of man.'
This psalm seems to be divided into four sections; vss. 1,2; 3,4; 5,6; 7,8. As is typical with the Psalmist, he first delivers a crying petition for the salvation of YHWH (vss. 1, 2). This is then met with a prayer against those who misuse their lips (vss. 3, 4). Then YHWH responds to David's prayers, He answers it and gives the reasons for His actions (5, 6). Finally, we have what I believe is a response of faith from David to the working of the LORD.
David pleads for salvation from God. He cries out in anguish of heart at the loss of the faithful of the LORD. The people have turned aside from the LORD and followed the vanities of their own deceitful lips. It is the sin of speaking that is introduced in this Psalm, and this theme is recapitulated throughout the entire Psalm. 'With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.' David knows of the bitter gall that a flattering tongue can have. The son of Jesse knew more often the wrath of Saul, only to have Saul respond with, 'David my son,' and pretend to love him as such. Flattering lips and a lying tongue are an abomination to the LORD, and as Christ tells us, 'Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.' So too, David draws on the reality of their sin. It is not so much that their words are impure, as their hearts are stirring up all sorts of evil to flow from their mouths. Their mouths are a clear mirror into the state of their hearts, and in the Psalmists mind, they are double hearted; meaning they are hypocrites. They are of those who with their tongues, 'Bless the LORD and speak evil to their neighbor.'
David responds with a prayer of condemnation against those who thus sin. David asks the LORD to 'cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that makes great boasts.' David calls down a curse upon those who have turned aside to their own boasts and those who have put confidence in their own abilities. They are claiming to be masters of their own lips, overconfident they don't realize that their lips have mastered them. David asks the LORD to destroy those who speak lies, who boast, who have trusted in their own abilities. This mindset we too should have. If only we might be so vehement in cursing everything that keeps us from Christ and honoring His Name. David saw rightly, when a man lies, it is not the hearers he is primarily sinning against, it is the LORD. It is casting God off of the throne and setting a new standard of holy living, it is disregarding the beautiful and precious laws of YHWH given to His holy people. For this, only curses hang over the sinners head.
In this Psalm we hear the LORD responding to the prayer of David. The LORD says that He will arise. As a King suited for battle, so the LORD will rise from His throne to put down the cursed rebellion of those who lie against the LORD with their lips. He will see the oppression of the people and will not remain silent. Though His justice may tarry for awhile, we can be assured that it is coming, and when it does, not even the angels will be able to keep back His fury. But mark what David immediately says of the LORD, 'The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.' The extremity of the people's sin comes from the fact that the LORD's words are pure. The voice of the LORD is pure, it speaks truth, it is spoken in holiness and uprightness; it aims at His own glory in all things. The voice of the LORD is purified seven times; a poetic expression to describe the vast holiness of the LORD's words. For silver to be purified seven times would mean that no dross, no taint, no remnant of imperfection would exist within its bullion-- pure silver. So too, the LORD's words are pure-- no taint of imperfection, no dross, no disillusionment. Everything about the LORD's words are true, upright, and holy. This means that the LORD's words can also be trusted. They have been tried and are found true. Not only is the promise of the LORD in the preceding verse to be true, but all of the words of the LORD are true. They can be relied upon.
It is with this assurance of the steadfast faithfulness of the LORD's words, that David closes this verse with a prayer of confidence and faith in the LORD. The LORD's protection against the wicked and perverse generation is known by David and he is confident that He who promised is able to perform. David can have faith that God will do what God has promised, because the LORD's words are pure and holy.
Now the thought of the LORD's words should spur us on to have speech that is beyond reproach in all things. This Psalm, overall, teaches us that words are important. Why are they important? They are important because they, (1) Reflect our heart, but (2) and more importantly, because they reflect our trust in the reality of the LORD's words. When we sin with our lips, it is against the lips of the LORD that we sin. When we lie, slander, gossip, malign, speak perversely or abuse others with our words; it is making little of the word of the LORD. It is not holding the value of God's word to be true and it is not trusting His words with our words.
Now when we hear of the words of the LORD being refined seven times, and we are wondering what practical application this can have on our daily lives, it is important to see Christ in this passage. Not only are the words of God refined and purified, but the very words of Christ are. They are a sure and steadfast promise of salvation and reprobation, of the coming Kingdom and the destruction of the kingdom of darkness. These verses speak to the reality of Christ's words, 'On whose lips no deceit was found.' Jesus spoke the truth. He spoke words that were consistently edifying, sharpening, and refining. His words were words of assurance and promises and communicating Himself in grace to people. The joy of this passage, is that we see that God speaks. That He has words. That His words are pure and holy. The Christ, the Word, is also as such. We rejoice that where man has failed, namely in the speaking of his lips and the devotion of his heart, Christ has succeeded. That He has spoken every right word, not to man only, but to God on our behalf, that we who are unrighteous might be made the very righteousness of God in Him.
And it is because of this, that we as Christians are to have pure words. If we listen to the voice of the Psalmist, and if we are to emulate Christ, we are to have words that are 'refined seven times.' This expression is used to show, as we stated above, the absolute holiness of our words. They are to be pure, tested, and tried. They are to be refined seven times, having no hint of evil or wickedness. Refined speech that is uplifting, edifying, encouraging at all times. Our tongues, as James says, are set on fire by hell; yet this too can be redeemed if we harness our mouths, if we have self-control over what we say. We want our words to not just glorify God mostly, or sometimes; but at all times we want to magnify the LORD (Psalm 34:1, 2).
Friday, August 15, 2008
The Kingdom of Democracy Pt. 1
As I sit here, its Friday night. We have just heard the Friday night prayers that are heard city-wide. They tend to go longer these nights. We are also looking forward to celebrating our first independence day. It is ushered in with lots of fireworks blasting in the streets. From my knowledge, this country gained independence from J---- within the last century. The I---------- rose up against the J------- to gain it and thus they have celebrated the freedom of a (quasi-) democratic state.
As I sat in on some classes the other day, the teacher led a discussion revolving around the Roman Republic. Though she gave more insight from a democratic state, she asked the students to think why they should vote. For their own good, or for the good of the state; perhaps the summum bunom. She also asked the students if something akin to a democracy is what is the best form of government.
America just celebrated her 232 birthday last month. The presidential elections are in full swing now. Barak Obama and Hilary Clinton will face off in the DNC in September. The slogan I read about today was that they want to 'unite the party' and that the millions of votes cast for Hilary would be 'listened to;' the mantra of democratic America. This election has seen, so I am told, an unprecedented challenge as thought-to-be-underdog McCain and first-African-American-presidential-nominee-of-a-major-party Obama face off in the last few months of their campaigns. A campaign that stresses and urges, 'Every Vote Counts.' Freedom is never free, and 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' are the core ethics which the United States was built upon.
I recently finished taking my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate through online classes with the London Teachers Training College. I paid them $325 and received a 115 page manual of how to teach English to students. It was a surprise to me that they suggested children not be punished, and that a teacher shouldn't lecture-- these things don't favor a democratic classroom. Instead, teachers need to facilitate and discipline isn't a means to and end. The classroom needs to make every child feel special, like they count.
I don't have anything against Democracy; I rather like it. I am thankful for the men and women who died to purchase a democratic freedom for me. I am grateful to my grandfather and all those who have fought in wars to keep liberty. I hope no one misunderstands me. Democracy is, I believe, the greatest man-made form of government out there. But that is what it is, 'man-made.'
It is interesting to me to see how democracy, liberty, individual votes have infiltrated everything in our society. Whether it be social functions, politics, schools, even Churches-- everything is drawing closer to a democratic form of rule. Authority and submission rarely have a place in our public schools or work places. Men and women are fighting about equal rights in and out of the home-sphere, and on and on the list could go. The wars of our recent past have been done in the honor and name of spreading democracy to foreign countries that have not known a democratic form of government in the history (which is longer than America's) of their existence. What are we to make of this?
My thought is, is that we are making democracy into the Gospel of the present day. Many men and women gladly (and I admire them) lay down their lives for the sake of democracy. Those caught up in social welfare are preaching equality and liberty and stopping the oppression of the needy (good things when viewed as being a means). Little school children are learning of the earnestness of spreading freedom values, and our conception of freedom has changed from submission and servanthood, to a freedom from all boundaries. Not even in Church (Protestants) can we have authoritarian rule, but we cast the majority vote. The lens through which we are interpreting life is democracy. The message of freedom we have for people is freedom from oppressive governments, social injustices, and inhumane treatments.
This leaves me with the begging question, 'Why?' Why is this what we hold dear? Is this the hope of a nation? Is this a comfort to people who are being oppressed? Why is democracy viewed as the end-all of governments and people? These are questions I would like to address in a series of blog posts as I am unwrapping this theme of democracy in my mind. I welcome challenges, agreements, and disagreements. I am a pilgrim on a journey. I am thankful that I am a pilgrim. I am thankful that I am on a journey. Being thus, I don't have all the answers, nor have I arrived.
As I sat in on some classes the other day, the teacher led a discussion revolving around the Roman Republic. Though she gave more insight from a democratic state, she asked the students to think why they should vote. For their own good, or for the good of the state; perhaps the summum bunom. She also asked the students if something akin to a democracy is what is the best form of government.
America just celebrated her 232 birthday last month. The presidential elections are in full swing now. Barak Obama and Hilary Clinton will face off in the DNC in September. The slogan I read about today was that they want to 'unite the party' and that the millions of votes cast for Hilary would be 'listened to;' the mantra of democratic America. This election has seen, so I am told, an unprecedented challenge as thought-to-be-underdog McCain and first-African-American-presidential-nominee-of-a-major-party Obama face off in the last few months of their campaigns. A campaign that stresses and urges, 'Every Vote Counts.' Freedom is never free, and 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' are the core ethics which the United States was built upon.
I recently finished taking my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate through online classes with the London Teachers Training College. I paid them $325 and received a 115 page manual of how to teach English to students. It was a surprise to me that they suggested children not be punished, and that a teacher shouldn't lecture-- these things don't favor a democratic classroom. Instead, teachers need to facilitate and discipline isn't a means to and end. The classroom needs to make every child feel special, like they count.
I don't have anything against Democracy; I rather like it. I am thankful for the men and women who died to purchase a democratic freedom for me. I am grateful to my grandfather and all those who have fought in wars to keep liberty. I hope no one misunderstands me. Democracy is, I believe, the greatest man-made form of government out there. But that is what it is, 'man-made.'
It is interesting to me to see how democracy, liberty, individual votes have infiltrated everything in our society. Whether it be social functions, politics, schools, even Churches-- everything is drawing closer to a democratic form of rule. Authority and submission rarely have a place in our public schools or work places. Men and women are fighting about equal rights in and out of the home-sphere, and on and on the list could go. The wars of our recent past have been done in the honor and name of spreading democracy to foreign countries that have not known a democratic form of government in the history (which is longer than America's) of their existence. What are we to make of this?
My thought is, is that we are making democracy into the Gospel of the present day. Many men and women gladly (and I admire them) lay down their lives for the sake of democracy. Those caught up in social welfare are preaching equality and liberty and stopping the oppression of the needy (good things when viewed as being a means). Little school children are learning of the earnestness of spreading freedom values, and our conception of freedom has changed from submission and servanthood, to a freedom from all boundaries. Not even in Church (Protestants) can we have authoritarian rule, but we cast the majority vote. The lens through which we are interpreting life is democracy. The message of freedom we have for people is freedom from oppressive governments, social injustices, and inhumane treatments.
This leaves me with the begging question, 'Why?' Why is this what we hold dear? Is this the hope of a nation? Is this a comfort to people who are being oppressed? Why is democracy viewed as the end-all of governments and people? These are questions I would like to address in a series of blog posts as I am unwrapping this theme of democracy in my mind. I welcome challenges, agreements, and disagreements. I am a pilgrim on a journey. I am thankful that I am a pilgrim. I am thankful that I am on a journey. Being thus, I don't have all the answers, nor have I arrived.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Update #1
Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord,
To start out with, I should make a quick disclaimer that this will inevitably be a long email as our lives have changed drastically over the last week. So bear with me if you will.
We made it safely to our destination. Our layovers and flights lasted about 30 hours (with a 12 hour time zone change). We flew out on Tuesday, August 5th and got in on Thursday. Our plane landed in J------ where our American friend picked us up and drove us two hours to our new city. The driving here is off the wall. It makes Chicago and New York City look like a child’s playground. We were whipping past cars, swerving in and out of lanes, horns honking all the time, and nearly hitting the hundreds of motorcyclists on the road.
When we finally got to B------, and we realized that it is not a city that is as ‘Westernized’ as we had thought. They have roads and fast food restaurants (McDonalds is considered a ‘nice’ restaurant), but any feel of Western America was defiantly left on the plane. B------ is a very crowded city with people everywhere. There is a large wealthy and poor division among the people and many rundown shanties lined the streets, garbage is thrown everywhere, and the open culverts to help with water displacement are used for garbage disposal and usually stink.
We arrived at some people who are working as M. in the city and we are staying with them until we can get our work visas. Due to new laws issued by the government, a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate is necessary and so I’ve been taking online courses to get certified. Hopefully it shouldn’t take too long to get or visas, then I’ll be able to start teaching fulltime.
We made our first trip to the school on Friday. It was more than we were hoping for. There is an enrollment of 450 students this year, more in the younger aged classes then the upper school age children I’ll be teaching. It was great to get out and begin meeting the teachers and students. My classes are currently being taught by other teachers until the work visa can get through. The school is on about 13 acres of land and has been growing exponentially since its start 4 years ago. We spent an hour or so at the school and then headed home to recover from our jet leg.
On Saturday we took our first trip out into the heart of the northwest part of the city. It was great to get out and see where we’re living. Little vendors are on every street corner trying to sell their products (everything from fireworks to day old fried foods), at every stoplight there are beggars asking for money, playing guitar, or having their pet monkeys perform tricks. Quite a site to behold!
Sunday saw us attending C. with the family we are staying with. We had a good time of fellowship with many of the native people afterwards and we were treated to a real native meal at a local restaurant. It was wonderful getting to know some of the locals.
This week has been busy thus far preparing for my online courses, visiting the school again and sitting in on my classes. Rachel and I picked up a couple of dictionaries and we are attempting to learn the language. The M. family we are staying with has been here for 20+ years and have been helping us out with basic statements. We met with some Southern Baptist M. who live down the street from where we’re staying and had a good conversation with them. We went on a walk and got in a brief dialogue with a local, but to our dismay, she only spoke the native tongue, no English.
Our time here has been good. We are anxious to get our feet more in the water with each passing day. We ask that you would continually pray for our encounters with people and that we would have wisdom as we seek the Lord’s will. Proselytizing is illegal here and we pray that we would have wisdom to know when to speak openly and boldly and when to hold our words. We have been told that relationships are the best means of reaching out, and we pray that in the midst of our soon-to-be busy schedules and jobs, that we will have time to form relationships with those around us. The city is in need of the Gospel. The Muslim population is very evident here and we hear the call to prayer five times a day; it would be our hope that the call of the Gospel would radiate throughout our lives and those around us. We would also covet your prayers as we begin a ministry with the Christians. We pray that they and us might be mutually edified for the glory of God.
Words to leave you with come from Psalm 28:9, ‘Oh save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.’ We pray that God would save His people, not only here but in America and the world as well. That the true seed of Abraham, drawn from the four corners of the world, would gather together under our head Jesus Christ. We rejoice that Christ is the Good Shepherd and we are entrusting all of you into His grace. May we all have a boldness of speech, as Isaiah says, ‘Let those who know YHWH not keep silent’; and may the Shepherd of our souls carry us all now and forever. Amen.
To start out with, I should make a quick disclaimer that this will inevitably be a long email as our lives have changed drastically over the last week. So bear with me if you will.
We made it safely to our destination. Our layovers and flights lasted about 30 hours (with a 12 hour time zone change). We flew out on Tuesday, August 5th and got in on Thursday. Our plane landed in J------ where our American friend picked us up and drove us two hours to our new city. The driving here is off the wall. It makes Chicago and New York City look like a child’s playground. We were whipping past cars, swerving in and out of lanes, horns honking all the time, and nearly hitting the hundreds of motorcyclists on the road.
When we finally got to B------, and we realized that it is not a city that is as ‘Westernized’ as we had thought. They have roads and fast food restaurants (McDonalds is considered a ‘nice’ restaurant), but any feel of Western America was defiantly left on the plane. B------ is a very crowded city with people everywhere. There is a large wealthy and poor division among the people and many rundown shanties lined the streets, garbage is thrown everywhere, and the open culverts to help with water displacement are used for garbage disposal and usually stink.
We arrived at some people who are working as M. in the city and we are staying with them until we can get our work visas. Due to new laws issued by the government, a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate is necessary and so I’ve been taking online courses to get certified. Hopefully it shouldn’t take too long to get or visas, then I’ll be able to start teaching fulltime.
We made our first trip to the school on Friday. It was more than we were hoping for. There is an enrollment of 450 students this year, more in the younger aged classes then the upper school age children I’ll be teaching. It was great to get out and begin meeting the teachers and students. My classes are currently being taught by other teachers until the work visa can get through. The school is on about 13 acres of land and has been growing exponentially since its start 4 years ago. We spent an hour or so at the school and then headed home to recover from our jet leg.
On Saturday we took our first trip out into the heart of the northwest part of the city. It was great to get out and see where we’re living. Little vendors are on every street corner trying to sell their products (everything from fireworks to day old fried foods), at every stoplight there are beggars asking for money, playing guitar, or having their pet monkeys perform tricks. Quite a site to behold!
Sunday saw us attending C. with the family we are staying with. We had a good time of fellowship with many of the native people afterwards and we were treated to a real native meal at a local restaurant. It was wonderful getting to know some of the locals.
This week has been busy thus far preparing for my online courses, visiting the school again and sitting in on my classes. Rachel and I picked up a couple of dictionaries and we are attempting to learn the language. The M. family we are staying with has been here for 20+ years and have been helping us out with basic statements. We met with some Southern Baptist M. who live down the street from where we’re staying and had a good conversation with them. We went on a walk and got in a brief dialogue with a local, but to our dismay, she only spoke the native tongue, no English.
Our time here has been good. We are anxious to get our feet more in the water with each passing day. We ask that you would continually pray for our encounters with people and that we would have wisdom as we seek the Lord’s will. Proselytizing is illegal here and we pray that we would have wisdom to know when to speak openly and boldly and when to hold our words. We have been told that relationships are the best means of reaching out, and we pray that in the midst of our soon-to-be busy schedules and jobs, that we will have time to form relationships with those around us. The city is in need of the Gospel. The Muslim population is very evident here and we hear the call to prayer five times a day; it would be our hope that the call of the Gospel would radiate throughout our lives and those around us. We would also covet your prayers as we begin a ministry with the Christians. We pray that they and us might be mutually edified for the glory of God.
Words to leave you with come from Psalm 28:9, ‘Oh save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.’ We pray that God would save His people, not only here but in America and the world as well. That the true seed of Abraham, drawn from the four corners of the world, would gather together under our head Jesus Christ. We rejoice that Christ is the Good Shepherd and we are entrusting all of you into His grace. May we all have a boldness of speech, as Isaiah says, ‘Let those who know YHWH not keep silent’; and may the Shepherd of our souls carry us all now and forever. Amen.
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