Tag Archives: resurrection

Life: The Path Promised

Posted on

Psalm 16:11,

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

“Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.” David begins Psalm 16.

Immediately, we see the language of faith (cf. Psalm 2:11). David trusts in the Lord. He doesn’t merely acknowledge that God exists, but he understands his entire existence in relation to God’s supremacy.

“I have no good apart from you” (verse 2). “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot” (verse 5). “I have set the Lord always before me” (verse 8).

It’s this life of faith that leads up to verse 11. David shows us what it means to trust in the Lord. And the life of trusting the Lord makes David’s heart glad, indeed his whole being rejoices and his flesh also dwells secure (verse 9). Why does his flesh dwell secure? It’s because the Lord will not abandon his soul to Sheol. The Lord won’t let his holy one see corruption. In short, here is resurrection.

Jesus Was Raised

This is the theme of Psalm 16 that continues into Psalm 17 (cf. Psalm 17:15). And it has Messianic overtones. In fact, the apostles tell us that this is about Jesus (Acts 2:19–36). David is speaking here, but as Peter proclaimed, “he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption” (Acts 2:31).

It’s better for us that this is about Jesus. If it’s about Jesus then it’s about us, too. For just as Christ was raised, we’ll be raised (1 Corinthians 15:17–20). More than a promise, we have an actual demonstration. There’s an empty tomb out there to remind us.

The Path of Life

So it’s about resurrection. And when David starts in verse 11, “You make known to me the path of life,” that’s what he’s talking about. The path of life is not mainly about the here and now. Calvin writes, “It is to form a very low estimate, indeed, of the grace of God to speak of him as a guide to his people in the path of life only for a very few years in this world” (Commentaries, 233). There are tons of things in Holy Scripture about life in this world, but this isn’t one. The path of life isn’t about balancing your checkbook (though that’s a good thing), neither about the way of wisdom (not in this psalm, anyway), nor about the how-tos of faith (even when we need them).

The path of life is being united to God such that we’ll never be without him.

The path of life is what God makes known to us — not as a trail to follow, but as a promise to embrace.

That’s the glorious shift in Psalm 16. It begins with our faith in God and ends with God’s faithfulness to us. He will not abandon us. No he won’t! He won’t. He makes known to us the path of life. Life beyond the grave. Life that ushers us into his presence where there is fullness of joy, at this right hand where there are pleasures forevermore.

So We Rejoice

So we dwell secure here. Our being rejoices. We are glad. We can go forth today and tomorrow and next knowing that not even death can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus. We know how this thing will turn out.

We will be with him.

Read the original post at Fighterverses.com.

In Jesus, the LORD Is Our Shepherd

Posted on

Psalms 23:1-2,

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.”

The beginning of Psalm 23 sounds a lot different from the beginning of Psalm 22.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1)
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1)

Both are psalms of David placed beside each other with a purpose. We are struck in Psalm 22 with a cry of desperation. We are soothed in Psalm 23 with a declaration of the Lord‘s sufficiency. As the reader, we are supposed to feel this contrast. We are supposed to read them together, walking with the voice of each verse, being led to a confidence in the Lord that declares “I shall not want.”

Real Affliction

So there is forsakenness in Psalm 22. It’s real. David has written, but the speaker is the Afflicted One — the one who is mocked in his suffering, the one who is surrounded by dogs (or Gentile soliders), the one whose hands and feet are pierced, whose garments are divided and for which lots are cast. This is Jesus on the cross (Matthew 27:35, 39, 46; John 19:23-24).

Psalm 22 gives us the voice of Messiah in his affliction. We read him and hear his prayers, almost like a proto-Gethsemane. And then David himself steps in to command our praise in Psalm 22:23. The Lord has heard the Afflicted One’s cry (v. 24). More than that, David tells us, “The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord!” (v. 26). David is now exulting in verse 27 — “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.”

What the Empty Tomb Tells Us

From forsaken (22:1) to heard (22:24) to satisfied (v. 26) to worshiped by all the families of the nations (22:27). This is where Psalm 22 takes us. Now how did this happen? Here is where Psalm 23 comes in (and Psalm 24 soon after).

We know that Jesus was not ultimately forsaken. There’s an empty tomb to prove it. Even though he walked through the valley of the shadow of death, he was not left alone. He was not abandoned. In fact, on the third day he was raised. He was raised and declared to be the Son of God, given a name that is above every name. The Lord was his shepherd. He didn’t lack. That’s what the resurrection is saying.

The Same Shepherding Grace

And this is why we love Psalm 23. This is not a mere poem that’s appropriately recited at graveside services. This is the Messianic hope in God’s utter faithfulness, even through the shadows of death. The Lord is our shepherd and he never forsakes us. Never.

This is a confidence in the resurrection rooted in Jesus’ own victory over death. As the Father raised him, he will raise us, too (1 Corinthians 15:23). Because we are united to Jesus, the same shepherding grace exemplified in his victory is the same shepherding grace that will be exemplified in ours.

Read the original post at FighterVerses.com.

Resurrection Prayer of Praise

Posted on

Father, it is in your good pleasure and by the Spirit’s power that we exalt your Son, Jesus Christ, the only mediator between you and mankind.

Jesus, You Are Preeminent

Jesus, you are the image of the invisible God, preeminent over all creation. For by you all thing were created—in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through you and for you.

You, Jesus, are the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of his nature, and in the fullness of time you came to this earth, becoming a man. You walked in our shoes, entering the smog of this fallen world, and you set your face like flint towards Jerusalem where you would go to die for us sinners.

Jesus, You Remember

We can read the testimony but you remember it vividly. You remember what it was like to be betrayed, abandoned, denied, mocked, scourged, crucified, forsaken. You remember the weight of my sin that you carried and the fierceness of God’s wrath that you absorbed. You remember what it was like to die, the hypovolemic shock your body suffered, the suffocating air that filled your lungs, the yielding of your spirit. You remember how dark that Friday was and how long Saturday must have seemed. You remember your disciples weeping, terrified, hopeless. And you remember the scene on Sunday morning.

You remember when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to the tomb early. You remember the angel that appeared and what he said to them, “Do not be afraid, I know why you’re here. You’re here to see Jesus who was crucified. But Jesus is not here, he is not here because he is risen.” He is risen. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

Jesus, You Are Raised

Jesus you are not in the grave anymore. You have conquered sin, you have conquered death, you are raised, you are exalted, enthroned, seated at the right hand of the Father—the man of sorrows is now the triumphant King who reigns with an everlasting dominion and over a kingdom that is coming, a kingdom that will have no end!

Jesus you are our Lord and God, our Savior and All! When you died we died with you—died to ourselves, to sin, to this world. And when you were raised, we were raised with you to new life. Nothing is the same anymore. We are alive to you and made instruments for your name’s sake, around the world and in this city. Jesus you reign! Reign and save and come! Glorify your name in and through our lives. For we are yours, your alone forever. Amen.

Easter 2011, Sunday Night Service
Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, MN

Resurrection Observation: It Really Matters

Posted on

Paul takes us the centrality of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 with a special focus on its implication for believers. He also gives an in-depth look in Romans 6 of how the resurrection affects the nuts and bolts of the believer’s everyday experience. 1 Cortinthians 15 and Romans 6 are important passages about the resurrection and their role in the believer’s life.

1 Corinthians 15 is the more broad, bold effect– “if Jesus is not raised then this whole thing is worthless and we are morons.”

Romans 6 is the more detailed, day-to-day effect– “live in the newness of life because Jesus is raised and you were raised with Him.”