Psalm 145 - Great is the Lord

This is a Psalm of unadulterated praise to the Lord. We will praise and exalt the name of the Lord forever. After Christ's return we will do this forever, and this is a part of eternity that we can, and should, start now.

There no limits to the extent of God's greatness. Sometimes people may wonder "won't we get bored praising God for ever". There are two answers to this. One is that eternity is much more than things simply going on forever. Time will be different than it is now, along with almost everything else. The second is that there are no limits to the wonder and depths of God's greatness, there will always be new things to discover, so boredom will not be a problem!

As well as His greatness, God is good to all that He has made. And His creation, including us, will sing of His greatness. 

Despite the greatness of God, He has concern for the lowly and helps us when we fall. God is truly great because He helps the weak. If we call upon the Lord He is near to us, but He will destroy the wicked. For those who reject God there is only judgement.

Psalm 144 - Train my hands for war

This is a psalm that contains many themes. The psalmist starts by blessing the Lord who trains his hands for battle. We need to realise that part of God's purpose in our lives is to train us for battle. We often think that God has got it in for us, when the truth is that He is stretching us, seeking to make us stronger.

Then we see that God is our steadfast love. We need to know that God loves us. We should ask God to make this a living reality in our life. We are in a relationship with God. And He is our shield and subdued enemies under us. We are in a good place!

This then causes the Psalmist to marvel that God will do this for us. We are the focus of God's creation.

In the light of this he asks God to come down and rescue him from his enemies. The truths that we have just read about should have a real effect in our lives. Our relationship with God should define our lives.

Then we will sing a new song for our lives will be radically different. It will also lead us to expect blessings from the Lord in every area of our lives. Now all this is not a cheap prosperity, but if we look at the life of Jesus it was radically different. So should ours be.

Psalm 143 - The God who saves real people

David prays to the Lord, looking for mercy. It is a normal part of life for us to need the mercy of the Lord in our lives. And we can be confident that the Lord will supply that mercy, for we can depend upon His faithfulness and righteousness. 

David then calls on God not to bring him to judgement, for he knows that on his own merit there is no way that he can stand before the Lord. 

David was pursued by the enemy. Again this is normal, the enemy will pursue us, destruction is his raison d'etre. At times this will cause us to feel utterly weak and crushed. David responds to this by meditating on the works of the Lord. So when we feel crushed and defeated we should not dwell on our weakness, but focus instead on the Lord's strength.

David calls on God to answer him quickly. So we see here a mixture of feeling the torment of defeat and struggling, and of faith in God. The Bible is not afraid of the way that we truly feel, of the difficulties that we go through, for the Lord can cope with us as we really are.

The answer will come through David learning to walk in God's ways, to be led by the Spirit. The Lord will preserve his life and defeat his enemies.

Titus 3:1-15 - Get a grip

In a situation like that in Crete respect for government is likely to be low. Now the government might not exactly be a paragon of virtue, nevertheless we are to be subject to rulers and authorities. Paul then clarifies this with the instruction to be "obedient, ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable, considerate and gentle to everyone". These qualities are the exact opposite of what rebellious groups do.

Once we too were enslaved by all kinds of passions, and were foolish. The evil behaviour in society is good for no-one, least of all those who perpetrate the behaviour. If we sin, we become slaves to sin.

The gospel is a message of repentance and as such is an act of kindness on God's part for He is saving us from our sins. This is not a cause for pride on our part, for it is purely an act of grace and mercy on God's part. We are cleansed by new birth, ie through faith in what Jesus did on the cross, and we are renewed by the Holy Spirit. Forgiveness and renewal go together. 

We are justified by His grace and have the hope of eternal life, a glorious inheritance. So we are to devote ourselves to doing good. We are to take a grip of our lives because God has taken a grip of us. We are to live as wise, not as foolish (Eph 5:15).  The converse of this are people who are divisive, all they do is cause trouble.
Paul had several people who helped him in his missionary work, and Titus is to work with them.
Verse 14 describes a lifestyle that was very contrary to that which the Cretans were apparently used to. Likewise there are segments of our society where people have a dependency culture and always expect things to be done for them. The gospel runs counter to that. God created all of us to be useful, to be a benefit and a blessing to others. Part of the fruit of the gospel is that we learn to fulfil this goal.

Titus 2:1-15 - How to live

Paul has just described those who are rebellious against God as "detestable, disobedient, and unfit for doing anything good". Titus is to stand out as a stark contrast to this, both in what he teaches and how he lives his life. He is to teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. He is also to teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, sound in faith, love and endurance. So he is to teach others to live a godly life, not a Cretan life.

The women are to be taught likewise. One shudders to think what life was like in Crete at that time. Perhaps one of our city centres on a Saturday night would give a rough picture. The women were to be taught to teach what is good. The younger women were to be urged to be good wives and to submit to their husbands. Now this no doubt causes the hackles of some to rise, but this is because we have a distorted view of what submission means. It does not mean that the husband is domineering or gets all his own way. Rather the husband is meant to be like Christ, sacrificing his life for the good of his wife (Ephesian 5:21:33).

Young men are to be self-controlled. Self-control is one of the key fruits of the Holy Spirit,, and stands in stark contrast to the way that society is going. Then Titus is urged to be a living example of all that he teaches.

Slaves are to be good workers. Now we need to remember that being a slave was quite normal in those days, and this is not supporting "human trafficking" or similar exercises as some seem to claim.  Slaves are to be an example of a Christlike life.

This chapter closes with a summing up of the motivation for all this. Christ has appeared to offer salvation to all. And this salvation teaches us to say no to ungodly passions. We do not have to go the way of the world. And Christ is the supreme example of how we go about presenting this good news to the world.

Titus 1:5-15 - Elders and False Teachers

There is no mention in Acts of Paul going to Crete, but verse 5 implies that Paul and Titus had visited there, presumably in the latter stages of Paul's life. Paul had started a work there, but Titus needed to finish it, and this involved appointing elders in each town, implying churches had been established in several places on the island. The church in the NT is never seen as something that is imposed upon a people from outside. Apostles did come and establish a church, for there is no other way that the church could grow, but the goal was that the church became independent and self-sustaining, though remaining linked to, and supporting, other churches. 

The requirements of an elder are similar to those outlined in the letters to Timothy. A man's family life was a vital element of the qualifications. Indeed, in some ways, our everyday lives are the best indicator of our maturity, or otherwise, in Christ. 

Having listed a number of qualities that we must not have, Paul goes on to the positive. Leaders are to be hospitable, lovers of what is good, self-controlled, godly and disciplined. He must also have a sincere faith, and be able to teach the faith, and able to recognise and rebuke erroneous teaching.

This ability to teach the truth and to oppose falsehood is vital. It is vital now and was vital then. Just as then, there are many who are "rebellious and full on meaningless talk".  In Paul's day it was members of the circumcision group who were the major problem. There false teachings were not just a matter of one opinion against another, but had a destructive effect. Likewise today, those who teach unbiblical stuff on sexual morality are not just offering another opinion, another way of looking at things, but are pedalling poison.

Verse 12sums up the state that Crete was in and was known for! Paul sees the role of the gospel to come directly against the attitudes and ways of life on Crete. Similarly today, the gospel should present a challenge to society, we are not meant to go with the flow, for society is flowing in the wrong direction.

Paul does not mince his words about the false teachers. They might claim to know God, but in reality they know nothing.

Titus 1:1-4 Introduction

We will now do the last of the so-called Pastoral Epistles. Titus had been with Paul a long time. When Paul left Antioch to go to Jerusalem, Titus went with him (Gal 2:1-3). Titus was also a Gentile, and in Galatians Paul notes that the Jerusalem leaders did not insist on Titus being circumcised. Interestingly enough, Titus is not actually mentioned in Acts, but does get mention in the rest of the NT (2 Corinthians as well as here and Galatians).

Titus was based on Crete. Now while Crete is a holiday destination now, in those days it was a moral cesspit, being infamous for its dishonesty, gluttony and laziness (see 1:12). It is interesting that Titus is leading a church there. This sort of place is precisely where the church is meant to be, for Jesus came to save sinners.

Paul starts his letter in typical fashion, reminding Titus of his apostleship and servanthood. His purpose is to further the faith of God's people, or more precisely "God's elect". Now we can get into silly debates about predestination if you want to, but let's instead take the positive and usefulness out of this verse. God has chosen to save some people. So even in the moral cesspit that was Crete at the time, God has people whom He has chosen to save. So we may look at our own society and at times despair, instead God's sovereignty should encourage us, for there are people in this society whom God has chosen to save. In Muslim communities and lands there are people whom God has chosen to save. 

So God's sovereignty is a motivation to evangelism, and a motivation to building up the church. For though the people are referred to as the "elect", this does not mean that what we do does not matter. Precisely the opposite is true. It means that Paul and Titus had work to do.

God decided all this before time began. Again, this is a motivation to even more effort on our behalf.