Psalm 2 - serve the Lord

Psalm 2

This Psalm talks about the futility of man raging against God. Men (and women) of all sorts often present themselves as superior to God, knowing better than Him. We should not fear when this happens. The psalmist begins by asking why do the nations conspire, they are plotting in vain. The rulers of the earth rise up both against the Lord, and His anointed (i.e. against Jesus). They see God as imposing unnecessary and unwanted restrictions on us. So they seek to break free of the supposed shackles.

However, God is enthroned in heaven and merely laughs at their futile efforts. He rebukes them, and terrifies them in His wrath. Why? Because His ways are actually good for us, and going against them harms us and others. God has installed Jesus as Lord of All. The Lord has made the nations His inheritance, Jesus will break them with a rod of iron.

So anyone who is wise, whether kings or ordinary mortals, should humble themselves before the Lord, and chose to serve Him. We can either become objects of wrath, or recipients of blessing.

Psalm 1 - follow the Lord

Psalm 1

\as well as expressing feelings. Praising God, and calling out for help, the Psalms also give instruction, and this psalm is a prime example.The Psalm reminds us that it is wiser and better to walk in the ways of the Lord, than to follow the ways of the wicked. This was something that Israel repeatedly forgot to do. The one who shuns the ways of the wicked is the one who is blessed, Parallelism is a common feature of Hebrew poetry, with an idea being repeated. We have an example here in v 1. We are not to follow the ways of the wicked, and this means not standing in the way of dinners, nor sitting in the company of  mockers.Sinners are, by definition, fools, so it makes sense to avoid standing in their place. Mockers have no regard for the ways of the Lords, so we should not keep company with them. 

Instead we should delight in the law of the Lord. We should meditate on His Law, not on the ramblings of the wicker or of mockers. If we do this we ill be like a tree planted by streams of water, we will receive sustenance and refreshment. If we are in a difficult situation right now, but turn to God we can be confident that we will receive strength. Success lies in following the Lord.

The wicked may seem OK for a time, but they are like chaff, they will not stand in the judgement. It is axiomatic in the Bible that all things will eventually be brought under judgement.

Conversely the Lord watches over the way of the righteous. Right now the Lord is watching over us, we are always in His care, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Psalms - Introduction

Psalms - Introduction

 The Psalms are many people’s favourite part of the Old Testament. Many, but not all, were written by David, 73 are attributed to David, Psalm 90 is attributed to Moses, and others are credited to various temple musicians. They cover a wide range of emotions, Some are pure praise, others deal with David in various situations he encountered as recorded in the Old Testament. The psalms are split into five “books”, and they formed an important part of Israel's worship. The five books are:

Book 1 - 1-41

Book 2 - 42-72

Book 3 - 73-89

Book 4 - 90-106

Book 5 - 107-150

It is worth noting that the New Testament makes use of the psalms, including two of the most “theological” books, Romans and Hebrews. God teaches us through a combination of His word and our experiences. When we are going through testing times I find it helpful to let the psalms correct my thinking, for in the midst of difficultues we often have a number of wrong thoughts, we forget who God is and His promises to us.

3 John 11-15 - Closing remarks

3:11,12

What we do matters, we should not do evil but good. So anyone who promotes what is evil has not seen God. It may be that in John’s day some of the false teachers were actually claiming to have seen God, but anyone who promotes what is evil clearly does not know God at all.  These false teachers may even denigrate those who hold to the truth. WE can see both these factors playing out in regard to the issue of sexual morality. John then positively promotes Demetrius. We should commend those who faithfully speak and teach the truth.

3:13-15

As at the end of 2 John, John says he has much more to say, but wants to see them face to face. He closes with a friendly greeting.

3 John 1:5-10 - Pointing out error

3:5-8

John encourages Gaius that what he is doing is helping the brothers and sisters. Moreover the brothers and sisters were appreciative of his efforts and were reporting how helpful he was being. Gaius is encouraged to continue to treat them well. These brothers and sisters were going “for the sake of the Name. In the previous letter John had warned about not helping those who were opposed to the gospel, conversely it was important to help those who were for the gospel.

3:9,10

Now there comes a warning about a church leader, Diotrephes. This man was all about self promotion and was even opposing John. We should honour church leaders, but there is also a time to point out clear errors and wrong behaviour. Moreover Diotrophes was spreading malicious rumours about John. Thus man was a clear destructive influence.

3 John 1:1-4, and Intro

3 John - Chapter 1

3 John was also written by John the apostle, see introduction to  1 ans 2 John. In 2 John John had warned against giving hospitality to travelling preachers who did not teach the gospel, but denied the humanity of Jesus. In this letter he urges that to offer hospitality to faithful preachers, and warns against a church leader who seems to be of the controlling type.  Leaders who are concerned with their own aggrandisement rather than promoting Christ are a danger.

3:1-4 As in 2 John, John introduces himself as “the elder”, and the letter is addressed to a particular individual called Gaius. He starts by encouraging Gaius. When we have to deal with opposition it takes it out of us, and we need encouragement. He commends Gaius for continuing to walk in the truth. Standing up for the truth is a spiritual battle, and takes effort, so we need to be built up.

2 John 1:7-13 Do not welcome false teachers

2:7-11

John is now about to give what might appear to be rather harsh instruction, this is why he has stressed the importance of love in obeying Christ. As well as christian preachers there were “many deceivers”, these deceivers denied the humanity of Christ, the importance of this was stressed in 1 John. If they welcomed such false teachers  then they were sharing in the "wicked work” of such people. We might think that we should be “nice” and “kind” to everyone, and definitely not judgemental, this is an attitude that finds much traction in the church, but it is unbiblical nonsense. False teachers spread poison, this dishonours Christ and harms people, to support such work is not “loving”.

2:12,13

John had more to say, but preferred to visit them in person. Face to face teaching is more effective than written, video or podcast teaching. “You sister “ is probably a related church, and they sent their greetings.