Jun
24
2009
Consider the words of G. Campbell Morgan:
“I do most confidently affirm that it ought to be a perfectly natural and easy thing to turn from work or play to prayer at any time or in any place, and moreover, it seems to me increasingly, as days pass on that any work or play which makes that spontaneous prayer impossible should be abandoned at all costs and once for all.”
Source: G. Campbell Morgan, The Practice of Prayer, p. 45.
Jun
18
2009
This Sunday’s sermon text is Psalm 13. Read it. It records the journey of a godly man through a valley of deep darkness. Then read “Psalm 13,” a poem by hymnwriter Isaac Watts (1674-1748). Here it is:
How long, O Lord, shall I complain,
Like one that seeks his God in vain?
Canst thou thy face for ever hide,
And I still pray, and be denied?
Shall I for ever be forgot,
As one whom thou regardest not
Still shall my soul thine absence mourn,
And still despair of thy return?
How long shall my poor troubled breast
Be with these anxious thoughts oppressed?
And Satan, my malicious foe,
Rejoice to see me sunk so low?
Hear, Lord, and grant me quick relief,
Before my death conclude my grief:
If thou withhold thy heav’nly light,
I sleep in everlasting night.
How will the powers of darkness boast,
If but one praying soul be lost!
But I have trusted in thy grace,
And shall again behold thy face.
Whate’er my fears or foes suggest,
Thou art my hope, my joy, my rest;
My heart shall feel thy love, and raise
My cheerful voice to songs of praise.
Jun
8
2009
This past weekend two BridgeWay members entered into the covenant of marriage; Lord-willing, the same thing will happen for two other members later in the summer. The Bible teaches that marriage is a vehicle for displaying the gospel of the glory of Christ. God designed human marriage to display the supreme value and worth of Christ, and his faithful, sacrificial, and transformative love (see Ephesians 5:22-33). Participation in this display of glory is the highest calling of a husband and wife. But there is another Scripture that connects marriage and the glory of God. It is Psalm 19:
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork…. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber” (Psalm 19:1, 4-5 ESV). Notice the logic:
1. The heavens declare God’s glory.
2. Therefore, the sun – which is in the heavens and part of the heavens – declares God’s glory.
3. The sun is “like a bridegroom leaving his chamber.”
4. Therefore, God’s glory is “like a bridegroom leaving his chamber.”
Which leaves us with a question: what significance does the psalmist intend when he refers to a bridegroom? Here is how John Piper answers this question:
“Do you see what God wants you to see here—and when you leave this service today? He wants you to see and to feel that when the sun pours forth speech about the glory of God, the message is that the glory of God is an overwhelmingly happy thing. Why else would he say it’s like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber? The point here is not merely that the bridegroom is decked out in the finest clothes and surrounded by his noble groomsmen. The point is that this is the happiest day of his life. This is the fulfillment of dreams. This is the beginning of a whole new kind of joy. That’s what the glory of God is like. That’s the message when the sun rises in lavish red and gold and lavender in the eastern sky. God’s glory is a happy thing—like the happiness of a bridegroom on his wedding day.”*
So let the happiness of this summer’s weddings – and the memory of them – be a signpost pointing you to the most valuable reality in the universe: the glory of God.
* Source: John Piper, “Do You See the Joy of God in the Sun?” Accessed June 8, 2009.
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