Psalm 55

"And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah.
I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest."  -Psalm 55:6-8

"We are all too apt to utter this vain desire, for vain it is; no wings of doves or eagles could bear us away from the sorrows of a trembling heart. Inward grief knows nothing of place. Moreover, it is cowardly to shun the battle which God would have us fight. We had better face the danger, for we have no armour for our backs. He had need of a swifter conveyance than doves' pinions who would outfly slander; he may be at rest who does not fly, but commends his case to his God. Even the dove of old found no rest till she returned to her ark, and we amid all our sorrow may find rest in Jesus. We need not depart; all will be well if we trust in him." -Spurgeon

The desire to flee and find shelter is a deep abiding one, woven through all cultures.  This morning I was thinking about how David must have had intense mental agony fleeing from his son.  What must it feel like to have your own child hunt you down?

And I like the way that Spurgeon eloquently determines that there is no running from trouble, only running TO God.

Often it's the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge cross-references that broaden my understanding the most. Here are some relevant to place, fleeing, and our proximity to God:

Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? 
Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.  Jeremiah 23:23-24

Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. Jonah 1:10

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 
Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. Psalm 139:7-10

Chesterton in ten

Ten minutes of Chesterton

p. 26  Chesterton argues that theorists jump to hasty generalizations when they conclude things from reindeer drawings on caves.  We should not construct sweeping statements from the drawings.  Humorously, he points out that in the future, researchers could point to initials we've carved into walls or trees and conclude equally implausible reasons behind them (27).

He pokes fun of Well's assertion that religion evolved slowly out of these three old world realities:

1. Fear of chief of the tribe--Wells calls "the Old Man"
2. phenomena of dreams
3. cycle of harvest...death/rebirth

Chesterton concludes that they are too dissimilar, having no unifying theme: "Nor could anyone imagine any connection between corn and dreams and an old chief with a spear, unless there was already a common feeling to include them all"(27).

Then he moves on to say that Wells intentionally makes them remoter than they really are, "For the plain truth is that all this is a trick of making things seem distant and dehumanised, merely by pretending not to understand things that we do understand" (27).

 The only possible conclusion is that these experiences, considered as experiences, do not generate anything like a religious sense in any mind except a mind like ours. We come back to the fact of a certain kind of mind that was already alive and alone (29).

d. Man could already see in these things the riddles and hints and hopes that he still sees in them. He could not only dream but dream about dreams. He could not only see the dead but see the shadow of death; and was possessed with that mysterious mystification that forever finds death incredible.

We come back once more to the simple truth; that at sometime too early for these critics to trace, a transition had occurred to which bones and stones cannot in their nature bear witness; and man became a living soul. 30

Psalm 37

Winnie the Pooh talks about a "sustaining snack" of honey and a "sustaining book."  Certain psalms feel that way to me--like a wash of cool fall air, refreshing.

After reading the scriptures and loving many translations through the years, I've determined that the language of the King James is incontestably superior in the psalms---no other translation will do.

"Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb" -Psalm 37:1-2

It encourages me to think that King David had his own head games.  In one sense, of course he did, running around the country avoiding Saul or his own son.  It's too easy though to think that great men do not struggle with their own ghosts and shadows.  The message I get out of this is---keep your head screwed on straight.  Don't be anxious about what others are doing.  Trust God and you do you, says David:

"Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass."
Psalm 37:3-6

Matthew Henry's elaboration here is worthwhile:

"It is required that we trust in the Lord and do good, that we confide in God and conform to him. The life of religion lies much in a believing reliance on God, his favour, his providence, his promise, his grace, and a diligent care to serve him and our generation, according to his will. We must not think to trust in God and then live as we list. No; it is not trusting God, but tempting him, if we do not make conscience of our duty to him. Nor must we think to do good, and then to trust to ourselves, and our own righteousness and strength. No; we must both trust in the Lord and do good."

His point is well taken--we'd much rather reduce it to one or the other.  But, he's right in concluding it requires confiding and conforming.

And this---just this all day long:

"It is promised that we shall be well provided for in this world: So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. He does not say, “So shalt thou get preferment, dwell in a palace, and be feasted.” This is not necessary; a man's life consists not in the abundance of these things; but, “Thou shalt have a place to live in, and that in the land, in Canaan, the valley of vision, and thou shalt have food convenient for thee.” This is more than we deserve; it is as much as a good man will stipulate for (Gen_28:20) and it is enough for one that is going to heaven. " -Matthew Henry

Our consumeristic world continues to set new bars as to our "needs" and what we deserve, to the point where the lines blur and our judgement becomes questionable.

More is not more in all senses. It takes time to realign my thoughts in this sense when I want new countertops and dining room chairs that are not peeling.  But, I have a counter; it functions fine.  Maybe it doesn't wipe as clean as granite, but it functions mostly the same.  My chairs are not rickety, just flaking.  Aesthetics are not all though.  I have counters to cook on and chairs to sit in--why is this shameful then in our culture?

The movement of light in these lines is comforting; it feels like the confidence of bright sun on my face:

"And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday." Psalm 37:6

Later we are told,

"But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace."
 Psalm 37:11

Our eyes are to be on the godly:

"Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace."  -Psalm 37:37

The final line indicates that our active trust is instrumental in God's deliverance:

"And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him." -Psalm 37:40

Chesterton's Everlasting Man

A few days ago I noticed I was exactly halfway through the Fourfold Gospel plan, a chronological compilation and commentary on the gospels I've been working through since March.  As Jesus faced more crowds and opposing, I began feeling worn out too.  Unlike the disciples, I know the road ahead of him and need a break to refresh my mind and prepare myself for the intensity of leg two.

So, the gospels will be on hold for awhile.  During the break, I plan to read the psalms quickly (well quickly for me) and Chesterton's Everlasting Man, published in 1925.

*********************

I wrote the lines above a few weeks ago now and have been making strides in both books.  Chesterton has been busy laying an extensive attack against evolutionary theory (up to p. 27 in this electronic edition).

How do I find him thus far?  In his calm and persistent theological plodding, I find him much like C.S. Lewis, who was deeply impacted by this work of Chesterton's as an atheist.  I see the influence in Lewis's similar approach in Mere Christianity, a book that was foundational in my faith journey. Chesterton asks and answers a lot of questions in these beginning chapters, guiding the reader gently and humorously along his train of thought and conclusions.  Here's an example of his playful use of repetition:

"One of my first journalistic adventures, or misadventures, concerned a comment on Grant Allen, who had written a book about the Evolution of the Idea of God. I happened to remark that it would be much more interesting if God wrote a book about the evolution of the idea of Grant Allen" (10).

Ha!  I believe we take ourselves too seriously most of the time. Below are more of Chesterton's thoughts in these early chapters with no particular focus.  I love his storytelling approach and gentle spirit---his vibe is more of a gentle guide than a dry apologist.

"There are two ways of getting home; and one of them is to stay there. The other is to walk round the whole world till we come back to the same place; and I tried to trace such a journey in a story I once wrote."

".... I do not believe in being dehumanized in order to study humanity. I do not believe in dwelling upon the distances that are supposed to dwarf the world; I think there is even something a trifle vulgar about this idea of trying to rebuke spirit by size" (10).

"Art is the signature of man" (18).

"In other words, every sane sort of history must begin with man as man, a thing standing absolute and alone" (19).

"Man is the microcosm; man is the measure of all things; man is the image of God These are the only real lessons to be learnt in the cave, and it is time to leave it for the open road" (19).

Reading this book ninety plus years later, it also strikes me that our culture's firm belief in evolutionary theory has moved far beyond where it was in 1925.  Now, it is entrenched to the extent that we shape all of our medicine, diet, history, and social understanding around it as if it is to be expected.

I like the way Chesterton sorts the ideas about evolution into big and small potato piles.  He asserts that we can conclude some things by approaching history from an evolutionary perspective but qualifies that our common sense insists that we cannot solve the initial riddle--something out of nothing.  Nor can we fail to conclude that man is different from any other creature on this earth.  These are his two main points of attack.

Psalm 24

"The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." Psalm 24, ESV

"A David psalm. GOD claims Earth and everything in it, God claims World and all who live on it." Psalm 24 The Message

It helps.  When I feel overwhelmed as I do now, it helps to remember that He is owner and keeper of all---the fullness of the earth, its people, animals, landscapes, problems, joys, and ultimate destiny.

It reminds me of that quote "I am small.  He is big. Rest there."

Life feels big to me today, but God's sovereignty is comprehensive, sufficient, enormous.

Spurgeon's Treasury of David points out these words are on the Roayl Exchange in London. As we go about our trading and business, what solid words to be over us all.

I am the bread of life...

Section 64
DISCOURSE ON SPIRITUAL FOOD AND TRUE DISCIPLESHIP
PETER'S CONFESSION
(At the synagogue in Capernaum) 
JOHN 6:22-71

ON the Differences Between Gospels and Placement of this episode....

The Pulpit Commentary does a fine job of exploring the broader issues of these chapters and the differences of placement and purpose among the four gospel writers. John is forever content to ride his own wave of exposition, whereas the synoptics hold tighter and closer to each other.

"Some commentators appear to have a morbid fear of reducing a difficulty, or seeing a harmony, between these four narratives. One thing is dear, that they are independent of one another, are not derived from each other, do each involve side views of the event distinct from the rest, and yet concur in the same general representation. The synoptists, however, place the "feeding of the multitudes" in the midst of a group of most remarkable and varied events. It is for them one page out of many descriptive of the Galilaean ministry, and which ultimately led to grievous departure from and diminution of the temporary popularity of the great Prophet. It would seem that bitter hostility, as well as excited enthusiasm, was checkering his early ministry. The synoptics take pains to show the combined effect of his self-revelations." -Pulpit

 "The moral and mystic meaning of it was far more important than the superficial inferences drawn by the Galilaeans. The real lesson of the miracle would grievously offend them. But it sank deeply into the apostolic mind, and hence the various aspects which it presents in the fourfold narrative."
 -Pulpit

Why Did Jesus Retire?
"The true grounds for Christ’s retirement are not incompatible, but mutually explanatory. The death of the renowned forerunner, of the idol of the multitude brought vividly to the mind of the Lord his own death—the foreseen sacrifice of himself. The conviction that he must give himself to a violent death—give his flesh to the hungry and starving multitude, made the decadence of his popularity in Galilee a certain consequence of any right apprehension of his mission or claims." -Pulpit

This explanation makes sense to me---Christ was dogged by a number of oppressive circumstances and thoughts--John's death, the short-sighted multitudes, his disciples' limited faith and understanding, and the escalating pace of the road ahead of him.  It's very much like our own lives in that many things seem to conspire to bring us to a place where we need retreat and perspective.

Is Faith a Type of "Work"?

Andrew MacLaren defines the difference this way:

"But yet it is not a work, just because it is a ceasing from my own works, and going out from myself that He may enter in."

In the beautiful metaphor of the Apostle Peter, in his second Epistle, Faith is the damsel who leads in the chorus of consequent graces; and we are exhorted to ‘add to our faith virtue,’ and all the others that unfold themselves in harmonious sequence from that one central source. -MacLaren

For the length of my Christian walk, twenty six years now, I've been puzzled by the seeming contradiction that although we cannot do works to make ourselves accepted by God, it remains that belief, faith itself, is a type of work. Is it not?  I don't know if I will ever completely resolve it in this lifetime as it taps into some of the deepest mysteries of God--the will of man, fate, freedom, determinism, the intersection of the Spirit of God with the spirit of man.

However, this morning, the Pulpit Commentary presented a refreshingly abrupt solution---yes, faith is a type of work, the hardest one:

 To "believe on him," to habitually entrust one’s self to the power and grace of Christ, to make a full moral surrender of the soul to the Lord, includes in itself all other work, and is in itself the great work of God. "It is the Christian answer to the Jewish question" -PC

"Faith is the highest kind of work, for by it man gives himself to God, and a free being can do nothing greater than give himself....Luther says, "To depend on God’s Word, so that the heart is not terrified by sin and death, but trusts and believes in God, is a much severer and more difficult thing than the Carthusians or all orders of monks demand." -PC

Is faith a type of work?  The ability to believe is gifted to us by God---here Christ specifies that it is His Father who calls us:

"All that the Father gives me will come to me...." John 6:37

There is little mystery in that piece of it for me.  Some are given.  Some are called. The origin of this calling is God not man.   By itself, the statement is direct and clear enough.

The Pulpit Commentary sees it as God-given but takes pains to specify that it does not teach predestination:

"There is no necessity to suppose that our Lord refers to an absolute predestinating decree. For if God has not yet given these particular men to him, it does not say that he will not and may not do so yet. The Father’s giving to the Son may indeed assume many forms. It may take the character of original constitution, of predisposition and temperament, or of special providential education and training, or of tenderness of conscience, or of a truthful and sincere and unquenched desire. The Father is the Divine Cause. The giving implies a present activity of grace, not a foregone conclusion." -Pulpit Commentary

 If God is the cause then I'm not clear on how He is not necessarily the determiner--to me that conclusion feels inevitable.  My next logical question---"Well, why would the Father call some but not all?" is a much harder one.

And another, "To what extent then are we really "free" to determine the trajectory of our lives and beliefs."  Hard and harder.  This, to me, is the limit to which the Lord allows us to look into this dynamic.  One answer and two harder questions.

And although we believe that faith is through Christ, not ourselves, why do we cling to the works by default so easily, so quickly, so relentlessly?

Physical Food vs. Spiritual Food

"Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”  John 6:27

"The kind of strength which will arise within you when once appropriated, is an eternal possession, an abiding advantage; the satisfaction is not exhausted by a short interval, it remains forever. " Pulpit Commentary

"The whole world is the object of the Divine grace and love. The bread of God must be a Divine gift, mysterious and heavenly in its origin, and must at once demonstrate its vitality, its Source, and its Giver."  -Pulpit Commentary


Give us this bread

Joh 6:34  They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

A great prayer this, which Christ showed himself not unwilling to answer in his own way. -PC

I Am the Bread of Life...

Joh 6:35  Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

[But, or then £] Jesus said to them, now dropping all disguise, and gathering up into one burning word all the previous teaching, which they might have fathomed, but did not. -PC

"The mode in which any human being can so assimilate this Bread that it should accomplish its purposes and transform itself into life, is by "coming"" or "believing." The two terms are parallel, though in "craning" there is more emphasis laid on the distinct act of the will than in "believing....The parallelism is a strengthening of the same idea.....The deeper idea is that the desire of the soul is satisfied, and it is not a recurrent desire. There are certain realities which, if once perceived, can never be unknown afterwards."-PC

Was There Tension or the Possibility of Failure in Christ's Mission?

"And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. "  John 6:39

This was one of my objections to Christ's sacrifice before I believed---how hard is it for the Son of God to give his life?  If he can see all of eternity, if he knows he has eternal life, then how hard is it for him to endure a short episode of abuse?  And didn't he choose it that way?  Or was this the Father's will?  Does the trinity have separate facets that are kept from each other?  Exactly how does the trinity operate?  So many questions here....

If Christ was human, then he struggled as a human with the same fears we experience.  How he can be part human, part divine is another mystery, another question.

Note that the Jews did not wonder--they just grumbled:

So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” John 6:41

Returning Disciples, Feeding 5,000, and a Night Storm

Section 63, Subdivision B  & Section 78

The disciples return from their mission and report back.

The mission of the twelve probably lasted several weeks, and the beheading of John the Baptist appears to have taken place about the time of their return. -Fourfold

Jesus received news of John's death about the time the disciples returned back, so John's death is shadowing over the next few episodes.

Jesus feeds 5,000.

Over the last bit, Grace and I have had several conversations about the best way to reach people and minister.  I like C.S. Robinson's simple approach here.  It's a response to the disciples urging Jesus to let the pe

"Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”"Matthew 14:15-16

"MEN WILL COME TO MORE REAL WISDOM AND USEFULNESS IN CARING FOR THE POOR AND THE HUNGRY WHEN THEY ACTUALLY ADMIT THAT SOMETHING MUST BE, AND CAN BE DONE BY THEMSELVES. There is a suggestion of great sense in the witticism of Sydney Smith: "Whenever A sees B in trouble, he is sure to say, with due consideration, that C ought to help him." Much of the most available and valuable human sympathy in this world is wasted in just a blind and suffused wishing that some plan could be made by which every relief could be given at an extraordinary effort. What is wanted is a quiet endeavour to help one man, or one woman, or one child, as the nearest one to our hand. Mass-meetings are valuable; great associations awake zeal and direct it; but individual effort will go farther, and reach the case more swiftly." -C.S. Robinson, BI

"He makes Himself ultimately responsible, but paves the way by forcing home the inadequacy of our resources apart from Him. It is as we break and distribute, that the living bread multiplies in our hands." FB Meyer

The same miracle is repeated every day by a different process, and we give no heed to it (Psa_104:14-15). -Biblical Illustrator

"You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man's heart.  -Psalm 104:14-15

One commentary mentioned that the women and children were not counted and would be sitting apart from the men as they didn't eat with each other.  Odd to think about how very different this world was from ours.

Section 63
FIRST WITHDRAWAL FROM HEROD'S TERRITORY AND RETURN
 (Spring, A. D. 29.) 
Subdivision C
THE TWELVE TRY TO ROW BACK. JESUS WALKS UPON THE WATER. 
MATT. 14:22-36
MARK 6:45-56
JOHN 6:15-21

Rowing at Night in a Storm

"Jesus sent the disciples away in a boat. After dismissing the crowd… He went up into the hills alone to pray (cf. Joh_6:15). Sending the disciples into the boat did two things: it got them away from the crowd, and it gave them opportunity to ponder the significance of what had just happened through them." -BKC

It's so easy to see a story and not see beyond it.  But this verse from John brings me back to the obvious and not so obvious--that there is a context and higher purpose to everything that happened and was recorded:

"But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." John 20:31

Alexander MacLaren figured this too, long before:

"All the miracles are parables, and this eminently so."  A. MacLaren

"But soon they were in a storm. Somewhere between 3 and 6 in the morning. When therefore they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs [that is, about three and a half miles, or about half way across the sea], they behold Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the boat: b and would have passed by them"  -Fourfold

Christ on the Sea, Eugene Delacroix

The disciples must have been physically and emotionally exhausted.  On the heels of returning from their sending, they return to oppressive crowds, Jesus' patience with the crowds, a night rowing across the Sea of Galilee and now a "ghost."These men were not philosophers but workers--following Christ's lead.

 "And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee upon the waters. And he said, Come. And Peter went down from the boat, and walked upon the waters to come to Jesus."

"This scene comports with the character of Peter, who had always a rash willingness to go into danger, and a lack of steadfastness to hold out through it." -Fourfold

Peter was actually beginning to sink (katapontizesthai) to plunge down into the sea, “although a fisherman. -Robertson's Word Pictures

And suddenly, "The Lord is nowhere" becomes "The Lord is now here" by adding a little space. -Jon Courson

"He uses the element we dread as the path for His approach." -Meyer

"Be of good cheer, and if Jesus bids you come to Him on the water, always believe that His commands are enabling." -Meyer

"In the reckoning of men there is always a deficit; in the reckoning of Christ there is always a surplus." -Lange, Biblical Illustrator

The disciples were completely amazed (existanto, lit., “out of their minds”; cf. Mar_2:12; Mar_5:42) among themselves at this revelation of Jesus’ presence and power. -BKC

"When they reached the boat, the storm calmed and the amazed disciples worshiped Him. Their concept of Jesus had been expanded and they acknowledged Him as the Son of God. Their view of Jesus was in direct contrast with the men of Gennesaret (Mat_14:34), a fertile plain southwest of Capernaum. When these men learned Jesus had arrived, they brought all their sick for healing. Their touching His cloak recalls a hemorrhaging woman in that area who had touched His garment (Mat_9:20). Though they acknowledged Jesus as a great Healer, they did not fully comprehend who He is. The disciples, however, were growing continually in their comprehension of His true identity."
-BKC

"and as many as touched, were made whole." We do not find that they were desirous to be taught by him, only to be healed. If ministers could not cure people's bodily diseases, what multitudes would attend them! But it is sad to think how much more concerned the most of men are about their bodies than about their  souls." -Matthew Henry

Lord, may we grow continually in our understanding of you.  May we see all facets--not just those that appeal to our immediate human needs.  Grant us perspective.