Rage of the Nations – Psalm 2:1

“Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing?”

It is distressing to see the news on television or the internet these days.  There is so much rage.  Whether it be the rage between political parties, or the rage of special interest groups, or the rage between countries, or the rage of ISIS against Christians.  The Hebrew word used here is ‘ragash.’  According to Strong’s (07283) this second Psalm is the only place that word is used in scripture.  It means to be in a tumult or commotion, to conspire or plot. 

There is much that precedes getting to the point of being in a tumult, a conspiracy or a plot, of getting to a rage.  Generally speaking, the person that finally gets to the point of rage says that they have been wronged, they say that they have not been treated fairly.  Whether fair or not, the truth is, they are going to take it into their own hands to have their own way.  What God is talking about in this second of the Psalms is not a human rage against another human, but a rage against God.  The question God asks, “why do the nations rage?” is not because He does not know the answer.  He knows that they are enemies with Him.  He knows that they resent His holiness and His requirements for accountability.  We know this because in verse 3 the people say “let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.”  This is about the people’s rebellion against God’s requirement to admit their sin, call sin the sin that it is, and to repent of sin and stop sinning.  “They cannot endure the yoke, at least the yoke of the Lord and his anointed. They will be content to entertain such notions of the kingdom of God and the Messiah as will serve them to dispute of and to support their own dominion with: if the Lord and his anointed will make them rich and great in the world, they will bid them welcome; but if they will restrain their corrupt appetites and passions, regulate and reform their hearts and lives, and bring them under the government of a pure and heavenly religion, truly then they will not have this man to reign over them (see Luke 19:14)”  (Matthew Henry)

God knows why the people rage.  The reason He asks why has to do with the futility of their rage.  We know this because of the second part of the question, "and the people plot a vain thing?"  When something (or someone) is vain, it is empty, it is idle, it has no purpose.  It is vain because it can accomplish nothing.  How could the creature think to plot against the Creator?  God Almighty, our Creator, is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent.  There is no winning against Him.  Such a plot is vain. 

One would think that those who plot against God do not know Him.  But the evil one knows God and has stood before Him, yet he plots.  “We have here a very great struggle about the kingdom of Christ, hell and heaven contesting it; the seat of the war is this earth, where Satan has long had a usurped kingdom and exercised dominion to such a degree that he has been called the prince of the power of the very air we breathe in and the god of the world we live in. He knows very well that, as the Messiah’s kingdom rises and gets ground, his falls and loses ground; and therefore, though it will be set up certainly, it shall not be set up tamely.”  (Matthew Henry)

Are you at war with God?  Are you mad at Him about something that happened in your life?  Do you think it is not fair that God holds you accountable for your sin and that you could go to hell when there are worse people out there than you?  Let me tell you what is not fair.  You and I have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  We deserve condemnation.  Yet God made a way for us to reconcile with Him.  He sacrificed His only begotten son, that whoever believes in His Son will have everlasting life and not condemnation.  It is not fair that because of Christ’s sacrifice, I get eternal life.  Fair would be for me to go to hell.  I thank God for His Son Jesus Christ and my salvation through Him.  All I had to do was confess my sins, repent, and receive Jesus as my Lord and my Savior.  I rejoice that Jesus gave us victory over sin and death.  I tremble for those who are waging a war that they will not win.

“This psalm, as the former, is very fitly prefixed to this book of devotions, because, as it is necessary to our acceptance with God that we should be subject to the precepts of his law, so it is likewise that we should be subject to the grace of his gospel, and come to him in the name of a Mediator.”  (Matthew Henry)

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Take This Cup – Mark 14:36

“And He said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.’”

These words were spoken by Jesus when He prayed in the olive grove referred to as the Garden of Gethsemane.  This was the location of the olive press, the place of crushing – a description that should not be lost on us.  It was a time of great agony for Jesus, by His own words, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.” (Mark 14:34)  Jesus was so distressed that He fell on the ground and prayed this prayer.  He prayed that this cup be taken away.

In the Old Testament, ‘the cup’ referred to the fury of God.  “Awake, awake! Stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling, and drained it out.” (Isaiah 51:17)  “For thus says the LORD God of Israel to me: ‘Take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it.’” (Jeremiah 25:15)  Jesus, the One who knew no sin, was about to become sin for all of us.  He was about to become the sacrificial lamb that would receive the fury of the wrath of God for the sin of the world, for your sins and for mine.  Jesus knew His purpose on earth.  “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’?  But for this purpose I came to this hour.” (John 12:27)  He would become sin for us and be judged accordingly and made to drink the cup of His Father’s fury.  Yet He prayed to His Father, if it be possible, to take this cup away. 

“Can we ever entertain a favourable or so much as a slight thought of sin, when we see what impression sin (though but imputed) made upon the Lord Jesus? Shall that sit light upon our souls, which sat so heavy upon his? Was Christ in such an agony for our sins, and shall we never be in an agony about them? How should we look upon him whom we have pressed, whom we have pierced, and mourn, and be in bitterness! It becomes us to be exceeding sorrowful for sin, because Christ was so, and never to make a mock at it. If Christ thus suffered for sin, let us arm ourselves with the same mind.”  (Matthew Henry)

After Jesus made His prayer request to remove the cup, He followed it with ‘nevertheless.’  Jesus surrendered His will to the Father’s will.  Was Jesus’ prayer answered?  Yes.  And the answer is:  There is no other way.  All other methods or means of salvation are eliminated.  If there was another way, Jesus would not have had to die on the cross.  But He knew what He had to do, He knew His purpose.  It was through this prayer that Jesus gained victory and was able to come to the hour.  He overcame and was able to endure.

“I believe that at this moment of agony there in the garden, as Jesus is saying, "Father, all things are possible for You. Take away this cup." I believe that the Father at that point gave to Him a vision of that glorious day in heaven, when the redeemed of the earth are gathered around the throne of God, and as He takes the scroll out of the right hand of Him who is sitting upon the throne, and the elders are offering their golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints, and the saints break out in that glorious song, "Worthy is the Lamb to take the scroll and loose the seals, for He was slain and has redeemed us by His blood, out of every nation, tribe, tongue and people, and has made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign with Him on the earth." I think as He saw that glorious moment in heaven and saw the redemption complete in your life and in my life, He then continued His prayer.  And there He won the victory. How? By surrendering. Surrendering to the will of God. As long as you are fighting the will of God for your life, you're destined for defeat. It's paradox, I know. But the way to victory is by surrendering, by giving up. When you give up your will to God, in that moment you triumph, you conquer; you've come to the path of victory. And He came to that point of surrendering Himself to the will of the Father. "Father, all things are possible for You. Take away this cup from Me." Many times we pray that. "Father, we know that all things are possible with You. Touch now and heal now, Lord. We know that all things are possible with You, Lord. Now we want You to do this." But oh, how wise it is to complete the prayer and say, "Nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will." Surrender it. Surrender that situation. Surrender it to God tonight. And if you will just surrender it over to the Lord, you will experience real victory in your life.” (Chuck Smith)

Jesus surrendered to His Father’s will and had victory over sin on the cross and victory over death in the resurrection.  Jesus showed us that it is acceptable to be open with God about what we desire, but most importantly it is necessary to surrender what we want and ask what God wants.  Surrender in prayer and God will show you the path to victory.  What happens after that is simply following the path that God has laid out for you. 

This intimate view we have been given of our Savior’s honest prayer with the Father reveals not only His surrendering to the path for victory, but it is abundantly clear that there was no other path by which our souls might be saved.  Because of what Jesus did on the cross, those who have surrendered to Jesus will not have to drink from the cup of God’s wrath and reside eternally in hell.  On this side of Heaven, we may drink from a cup of discrimination or even persecution, but we have victory in Jesus over sin and over death.  “In any case, our cup can never be as deep or as bitter as was his, and there were in his cup some ingredients that never will be found in ours. The bitterness of sin was there, but he has taken that away for all who believe in him. His Father’s wrath was there, but he drank that all up, and left not a single dreg for any one of his people.” (Charles Spurgeon)

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

The Widow’s Son Dies – 1 Kings 17:23

 “And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother.  And Elijah said, ‘See, your son lives!’”

This Gentile widow of Sidon had obeyed the command of God and taken in the prophet Elijah.  As a result, her tin of flour and jar of oil remained full throughout the drought, as God had promised.  But this daily miracle of provision from God did not shield her son from illness or death.  How grievous for this widow to have lost her loved ones: her husband, who had provided for her, and now her son, who would provide for her in the future.  She blames herself, and a little on Elijah, saying “Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?” (1 Kings 17:18b)

Previously this widow was experiencing the love of God through His provision.  She was coming to know this God of Elijah.  A new Christian will often times go through many months of the joy of salvation, and then suddenly be brought to remembrance of a horrible sin they had completely forgotten.  God is good.  He has a way of bringing these long forgotten transgressions to mind so that we can agree with God that it was a horrible sin, so that we can repent of it, and that Jesus will cast it away as far as the east is from the west.  Remember, Jesus has not taken away the consequences of our sin, but, glory be to God, He has taken the wrath and punishment for our sin.

Elijah did not even respond to the widow’s accusation.  By his earnest prayer, he himself did not understand the purpose of such affliction brought upon the woman who housed a man of God.  What would be said by others that would discredit God and give pause to those who might be generous to a prophet?  He took her son, whom she was still clutching in her arms.  “Then he cried out to the LORD and said, ‘O LORD my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?’” (1 Kings 17:20)  Elijah could not answer the widow.  He had no answer and had to ask God.

Elijah’s prayer changes to a plea, “And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the LORD and said, ‘O LORD my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.’” (1 Kings 17:21)  There is no precedent for Elijah to stretch himself out on the child.  In Elijah’s passion, it seems he would give the child life from his own body if he could.  And he prays for the soul to come back.  This prayer “plainly supposes the existence of the soul in a state of separation from the body, and consequently its immortality, which Grotius thinks God designed by this miracle to give intimation and evidence of, for the encouragement of his suffering people.” (Matthew Henry)  Our soul is eternal, this body is an earthly tabernacle.  It indeed gives us hope to know that this body is not permanent, and it is not the end.  However, if you have not surrendered to Christ, then it should give you at least pause or more likely fear that your soul will live on eternally, and in a place most horrible without God.

Elijah, with great excitement, and possibly relief, shows the widow that her son lives.  Her response is to glorify God.  She has been living with a daily miracle in the provision of flour and oil.  She was new in her faith and then it was sorely tested.  But now she proclaims that Elijah is a man of God and now she claims that the word of the LORD he speaks is indeed the truth.  The purpose of the death of the child then appears to be for the glory of God and the honor of His prophet.  This is what Jesus said about Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead “When Jesus heard that, He said, ‘This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’” (John 11:4)  We find that when God is glorified, our faith is increased, such as this widow, and such as those who mourned with Mary, Lazarus’ sister “then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.” (John 11:45)  When you find that your faith is tried, or that you question God’s actions, as this widow did with Elijah, remember how lovingly Jesus dealt with the man whose son was demon possessed. “Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:23-24)  When you pray for or about something, make sure it is in God’s will and make sure you believe in whom you direct our prayers.  If you are lacking any faith, ask God to help your unbelief.  It is a joyous event when we see God glorified.  And it will strengthen our faith, because “the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10b)

May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.