Here it is. I recommend it.
P.S.: This is my shortest blog entry to date :)
Monday, 4 May 2009
Sunday, 3 May 2009
The Beauty of Biblical Church Discipline
Today in the morning service we heard a beautiful sermon on church discipline, based on Mat 18:15-18.
You might think, how does the word "beautiful" go together with "church discipline"?
Well, generally speaking, all the Lord's commands are beautiful (Ps 119:111,129) and not grievous (1Jn 5:2). But in particular, I found this morning's sermon so beautiful because of the great love, longsuffering and care that the way in which churches in my denomination exercise church discipline shows.
To summarise the start, when a brother sins in doctrine or in walk privately, the offended believer or the believer who witnessed the sin, must lovingly and humbly confront the sinning church member in private (Mat 18:15); not gossip about it or immediately go to the consistory (the elders of the church). The one who is doing the confronting must do it out of love and concern, not thinking himself better (Gal 6:1). If the brother/sister does not repent, one or two witnesses must be brought along and the sinning brother/sister confronted again, because every charge must be established "in the mouth of two or three witnesses" (Mat 18:16). If he/she still does not repent, it must be told the "church" (Mat 18:17). This is done by telling the representatives of the local church, the consistory. Just like the American President saying he has told Germany such and such, doesn't necessarily mean that every German has heard it, but that the representatives (e.g. the German embassy in Washington) were informed. The reason it is not yet told every member will become apparent below.
The Word of God tells us to discipline our children; but it doesn't tell us how exactly to discipline them; and so, in order to do everything in order and to prevent chaos, homes should establish rules in terms of how exactly this discipline is carried out. In the same way, a local church must establish rules so that it can govern itself in order (1Co 14:40) and fulfill its biblical calling.
The exact way that Protestant Reformed churches conduct this part of church discipline is set out in the Church Order, Articles 72-78. It goes like this, and this is the part I found so beautiful.
When a member of the church approaches the consistory to inform them of the sinning member, everything is done very slowly, carefully and considerately. First, everyone involved is interviewed by the consistory, including the suspected church member, in order to establish the facts as clearly as possible and prevent misunderstandings. Then, once his/her guilt is established, the consistory begins meeting with the guilty church member, to plead with him/her to come to repentance, and to try and help him/her in any way possible to see their error. If this is still unsuccessful, the guilty member is denied the Lord's Supper, the baptism of his/her children and a voice and vote in church meetings. If he/she continues impenitent, there is the 1st public announcement.
An announcement is given in the church, describing only in as much detail as necessary, the nature of the sin, without revealing the identity of the guilty member. This statement is written out beforehand and agreed on by the whole consistory, for the sake of accountability and so that neither too much nor too little information is given out. At this stage, the whole church is asked to pray for the guilty member, that the Lord would bring him/her to repentance. If he/she continues impenitent, the consistory brings the matter to the classis (meeting of several consistories from neighbouring sister churches), in order to get their advice and input; in this meeting, it will be ascertained that everything reasonably possible has been done for the good of the erring church member before the next step is taken, the 2nd public announcement.
This announcement is made in the church service, in which the erring member is finally identified. At this stage, the church is called on to lovingly talk to the impenitent, to plead with him/her to repent, and to pray for his/her repentance. All this time, the consistory continues working with him/her, in the hope of bringing him/her to see his/her error. Finally, a 3rd announcement is made, in which the church is told that the erring member will be excommunicated if they continue in their error.
If they are still unrepentant, the final step is taken. In a worship service of the church, the unrepentant member is excommunicated, according to Mat 18:17b. This is done in PR churches by reading out the Form for Excommunication (forms are simply written documents which walk through the administration of certain actions of the church such as administration of the Lord's Supper, Baptism, Excommunication, etc., and explain the doctrines behind them, to ensure everything is done "decently and in order" and to promote church unity in a local church and between churches).
The reason I think this is so beautiful is because of the extreme care taken to do everything possible to bring the impenitent sinner to repentance. The time period between the consistory first being contacted and eventual excommunication, on the rare occasion that it goes this far, takes I am told often several months, all throughout which the church prays for their restoration and pleads with him/her, and the consistory continuously meet with him/her and try to work things through.
This manner of carrying out church discipline is also great because it prevents the horrible abuse this has received in some churches in the past.
The act of excommunication is a very difficult thing for each member of the church, because it constitutes treating the excommunicated as a "publican and a heathen" (Mat 18:17); that is, the members of the church are not to have fellowship with him/her, neither should any other church receive him/her into membership. That is because in excommunication, the impenitent is declared outside the kingdom of Christ, unless and until they repentent (1Co 5:4-5). This is part of the excercise of the keys of the kingdom by the church (Mat 18:18ff).
The purpose of excommunication is three-fold:
You might think, how does the word "beautiful" go together with "church discipline"?
Well, generally speaking, all the Lord's commands are beautiful (Ps 119:111,129) and not grievous (1Jn 5:2). But in particular, I found this morning's sermon so beautiful because of the great love, longsuffering and care that the way in which churches in my denomination exercise church discipline shows.
To summarise the start, when a brother sins in doctrine or in walk privately, the offended believer or the believer who witnessed the sin, must lovingly and humbly confront the sinning church member in private (Mat 18:15); not gossip about it or immediately go to the consistory (the elders of the church). The one who is doing the confronting must do it out of love and concern, not thinking himself better (Gal 6:1). If the brother/sister does not repent, one or two witnesses must be brought along and the sinning brother/sister confronted again, because every charge must be established "in the mouth of two or three witnesses" (Mat 18:16). If he/she still does not repent, it must be told the "church" (Mat 18:17). This is done by telling the representatives of the local church, the consistory. Just like the American President saying he has told Germany such and such, doesn't necessarily mean that every German has heard it, but that the representatives (e.g. the German embassy in Washington) were informed. The reason it is not yet told every member will become apparent below.
The Word of God tells us to discipline our children; but it doesn't tell us how exactly to discipline them; and so, in order to do everything in order and to prevent chaos, homes should establish rules in terms of how exactly this discipline is carried out. In the same way, a local church must establish rules so that it can govern itself in order (1Co 14:40) and fulfill its biblical calling.
The exact way that Protestant Reformed churches conduct this part of church discipline is set out in the Church Order, Articles 72-78. It goes like this, and this is the part I found so beautiful.
When a member of the church approaches the consistory to inform them of the sinning member, everything is done very slowly, carefully and considerately. First, everyone involved is interviewed by the consistory, including the suspected church member, in order to establish the facts as clearly as possible and prevent misunderstandings. Then, once his/her guilt is established, the consistory begins meeting with the guilty church member, to plead with him/her to come to repentance, and to try and help him/her in any way possible to see their error. If this is still unsuccessful, the guilty member is denied the Lord's Supper, the baptism of his/her children and a voice and vote in church meetings. If he/she continues impenitent, there is the 1st public announcement.
An announcement is given in the church, describing only in as much detail as necessary, the nature of the sin, without revealing the identity of the guilty member. This statement is written out beforehand and agreed on by the whole consistory, for the sake of accountability and so that neither too much nor too little information is given out. At this stage, the whole church is asked to pray for the guilty member, that the Lord would bring him/her to repentance. If he/she continues impenitent, the consistory brings the matter to the classis (meeting of several consistories from neighbouring sister churches), in order to get their advice and input; in this meeting, it will be ascertained that everything reasonably possible has been done for the good of the erring church member before the next step is taken, the 2nd public announcement.
This announcement is made in the church service, in which the erring member is finally identified. At this stage, the church is called on to lovingly talk to the impenitent, to plead with him/her to repent, and to pray for his/her repentance. All this time, the consistory continues working with him/her, in the hope of bringing him/her to see his/her error. Finally, a 3rd announcement is made, in which the church is told that the erring member will be excommunicated if they continue in their error.
If they are still unrepentant, the final step is taken. In a worship service of the church, the unrepentant member is excommunicated, according to Mat 18:17b. This is done in PR churches by reading out the Form for Excommunication (forms are simply written documents which walk through the administration of certain actions of the church such as administration of the Lord's Supper, Baptism, Excommunication, etc., and explain the doctrines behind them, to ensure everything is done "decently and in order" and to promote church unity in a local church and between churches).
The reason I think this is so beautiful is because of the extreme care taken to do everything possible to bring the impenitent sinner to repentance. The time period between the consistory first being contacted and eventual excommunication, on the rare occasion that it goes this far, takes I am told often several months, all throughout which the church prays for their restoration and pleads with him/her, and the consistory continuously meet with him/her and try to work things through.
This manner of carrying out church discipline is also great because it prevents the horrible abuse this has received in some churches in the past.
The act of excommunication is a very difficult thing for each member of the church, because it constitutes treating the excommunicated as a "publican and a heathen" (Mat 18:17); that is, the members of the church are not to have fellowship with him/her, neither should any other church receive him/her into membership. That is because in excommunication, the impenitent is declared outside the kingdom of Christ, unless and until they repentent (1Co 5:4-5). This is part of the excercise of the keys of the kingdom by the church (Mat 18:18ff).
The purpose of excommunication is three-fold:
- For the glory of God: That it might be clear to the whole world that God is a God of holiness, whose eyes do not behold evil and who is pure from sin (Hab 1:13). (It is an absolute disgrace how many churches nowadays allow adulterers, fornicators, God-cursers, false teachers and heretics to remain in fellowship; these churches have lost their zeal for God. They are a disgrace to the cause of Christ. And once impenitent members are allowed remain, the apostasy of that church follows soon. May the Lord be pleased to keep us from similar error).
- For the holiness of the church: For "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump", and if an unrepentant member is allowed to continue in the church, the whole church will become corrupt, 1Co 5:5-7.
- For the good of the impenitent sinner: For the hope of the church in excommunication is always the restoration of the impenitent, and the church prays that the Lord would use the excommunication to bring him/her to repentance, 1Co 5:5.
Thursday, 30 April 2009
The Great Commission?
This morning Emily-Kate and I read a page on the preaching of the Gospel in Ron Hanko's "Doctrine According to Godliness". It discussed the Great Commission, and it was very sad to realise how the Great Commission is badly neglected today in the Church.
Most para-church mission groups, and most churches even, openly contradict the Great Commission, (of course para-church missionary organisations are the invention of man, nowhere to be found in Scriptures). They say, "we only teach people the basics of Christianity", "we don't teach any of the controversial stuff", etc. Mission work that is carried out by an alliance of churches with different beliefs also by definition does not carry out the Great Commission, because in order to ally they agree not to teach the things they disagree on.
Over against this, Christ in the Great Commission commands the churches (and not para-church missionary organisations):
The words of the prophet Amos are true today:
They ignore the plain testimony of God, for He says that "all Scripture... is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness". In refusing to teach theology, they are keeping the children of God away from eternal life, for Christ declared that "to know God is eternal life" (Jn 17:3) and theology is the study of God, without which there can be no knowledge of God.
How many beloved children of God hear boring sermons every Sunday, teaching them the same basic truths over and over again, so that they never mature into the full stature of the knowledge of Christ (Eph 4:13)? Even worse, many of these "basics" are horrible lies, for example, that God would throw people He loves into hell, or that physical sickness and poverty is a sign of God's displeasure.
Though I am very saddened and concerned, I am not worried. For Christ promised:
Most para-church mission groups, and most churches even, openly contradict the Great Commission, (of course para-church missionary organisations are the invention of man, nowhere to be found in Scriptures). They say, "we only teach people the basics of Christianity", "we don't teach any of the controversial stuff", etc. Mission work that is carried out by an alliance of churches with different beliefs also by definition does not carry out the Great Commission, because in order to ally they agree not to teach the things they disagree on.
Over against this, Christ in the Great Commission commands the churches (and not para-church missionary organisations):
"[Teach] them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you", Mat 28:20.These "all things" include the Bible's teaching on the end-times (Mat 24), predestination (John 6:37, 10:29, Rom 9, Eph 1), the literacy of Gen 1-3 (1Ti 2:14), warning by name against false teachings and teachers (Mat 23:13; 2Ti 1:15, 2:17, 4:10,14), etc.
The words of the prophet Amos are true today:
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD," Amos 8:1It makes me want to weep, when I think of how many of God's children are withheld from growing in the knowledge of God and are forced to drink watered-down milk all their lives, because most church leaders either are ignorant themselves of the Scripture, or would have their flock to be ignorant of them.
They ignore the plain testimony of God, for He says that "all Scripture... is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness". In refusing to teach theology, they are keeping the children of God away from eternal life, for Christ declared that "to know God is eternal life" (Jn 17:3) and theology is the study of God, without which there can be no knowledge of God.
How many beloved children of God hear boring sermons every Sunday, teaching them the same basic truths over and over again, so that they never mature into the full stature of the knowledge of Christ (Eph 4:13)? Even worse, many of these "basics" are horrible lies, for example, that God would throw people He loves into hell, or that physical sickness and poverty is a sign of God's displeasure.
"I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." Acts 20:26-27.May the Lord be pleased to bring the Church back into obedience to the Great Commission, for the sake of His great Name and for the sake of the elect. May He be pleased to raise up preachers who, like Paul, will proclaim the whole counsel of God unashamedly, to as many as possible.
Though I am very saddened and concerned, I am not worried. For Christ promised:
"I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it," Mat 16:18.
Thursday, 23 April 2009
No Scholarship (yet)
Several weeks ago, I had applied for a scholarship to do a Masters in Computational Quantum Chemistry here in Limerick. Yesterday, I found out that I didn't get it.
Thankfully, the Lord gave me sufficient faith to understand that this merely means that He has a different plan for me for the next year. I rejoice in His precious promise that He works all things for my good (Rom 8:28) and that His plans are best, and that they never fail!
Once my exams are finished (in 3 weeks' time), I will look into applying for the 2nd call, and I will also apply for jobs in the industry, and see what the Lord would have me do. It would of course be easiest if I could get a job in Limerick, but if it is somewhere else, I will just have to make weekly trips back to Limerick to attend the Limerick Reformed Fellowship, and biweekly trips to visit my lovely family in Ennis!
Thankfully, the Lord gave me sufficient faith to understand that this merely means that He has a different plan for me for the next year. I rejoice in His precious promise that He works all things for my good (Rom 8:28) and that His plans are best, and that they never fail!
Once my exams are finished (in 3 weeks' time), I will look into applying for the 2nd call, and I will also apply for jobs in the industry, and see what the Lord would have me do. It would of course be easiest if I could get a job in Limerick, but if it is somewhere else, I will just have to make weekly trips back to Limerick to attend the Limerick Reformed Fellowship, and biweekly trips to visit my lovely family in Ennis!
Thursday, 16 April 2009
I finished my FYP!
Praise God I finally handed in my FYP, a week behind schedule.
FYP stands for Final Year Project, and is a mini-thesis ever UL student must write to graduate with a Bachelor. Mine turned out to 13,000 words and 115 A4 pages. Quite chunky!
It was estimating the feasibility of using the paper and cardboard waste stream in Ireland as a feedstock for biorefining. It was found that between 0.89 and 4.6% of Ireland's predicted 2020 transport energy needs could be met by biorefining this waste resource, which is pretty amazing.
I am very grateful to God that I finally completed it. Sadly last week there were 2 days in particular that I was very stressed and often angry with the LORD, which was not good at all. I got 3 hours sleep for 2 days while trying to finish it.
But the Lord is merciful, and He nonetheless enabled me to finish it. However, because the Lord prefers obedience to sacrifice (1Sa 15:22), it would have been better to be late and not be angry at God.
Well, I thought I would post the acknowledgements here:
FYP stands for Final Year Project, and is a mini-thesis ever UL student must write to graduate with a Bachelor. Mine turned out to 13,000 words and 115 A4 pages. Quite chunky!
It was estimating the feasibility of using the paper and cardboard waste stream in Ireland as a feedstock for biorefining. It was found that between 0.89 and 4.6% of Ireland's predicted 2020 transport energy needs could be met by biorefining this waste resource, which is pretty amazing.
I am very grateful to God that I finally completed it. Sadly last week there were 2 days in particular that I was very stressed and often angry with the LORD, which was not good at all. I got 3 hours sleep for 2 days while trying to finish it.
But the Lord is merciful, and He nonetheless enabled me to finish it. However, because the Lord prefers obedience to sacrifice (1Sa 15:22), it would have been better to be late and not be angry at God.
Well, I thought I would post the acknowledgements here:
I would like to thank my supervisor, Prof Michael H Hayes, for being very willing to help and giving time to contribute toward making this FYP what it is.
I would like to thank the other members of the Carbolea Research Group, Ainara, Corinna, Enrico and especially Daniel Hayes for their help and patience with me.
I would like to thank my best friend Sam for the godly example and great friend he was and is to me.
I would like to thank my beautiful fiancee Emily-Kate for her loving support during this time– I can't wait to marry you!
I would like to thank my amazing parents, Matthias & Regina Kuhs, for sacrificing so
much of their lives for me and bringing me up so well.
Above all, I would like to thank my heavenly Father, from whom I have received
everything. I thank Him for saving me by predestining such a wretched sinners as me to adoption through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. The life I now live I try to live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Thursday, 2 April 2009
The Incredible Privilege of Prayer
Imagine you were able to control even just all the atoms individually that you can hold in the palm of your hand. This would give you the power to destroy a whole city within seconds and to fly to the moon. You could rule the world.
Imagine you were the cousin of the President of the United States, and he had given you his personal phone number and told you that you could phone him any time of day if you needed anything.
Imagine you were the cousin of the President of the United States, and he had given you his personal phone number and told you that you could phone him any time of day if you needed anything.
"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it." Isa 46:9-11
The LORD has created and continues to sustain and direct every single atom in the whole Universe. Not only this, but He even moves in the hearts of humans in order to bring all His purposes to pass:
"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will." Proverbs 21:1King Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled the world in his time, boasted one day of the great kingdom that he had built by his own might. Immediately, a voice came from heaven, and his mind became like that of an animal, and for 7 years he, the ruler of the world, was cast out of his own palace and ate grass like an ox. Finally, the Lord restored him to sanity.
"And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?" Daniel 4:34-35.And how are we wretched sinners, who trust the Lord Jesus Christ alone for our salvation, taught to address this Almighty and terrible God, who is "a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate" him (Exodus 20:?
"Our Father."
And when can we pray to Him? Must we go to a temple, or earn our own righteousness?
"But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth." John 4:23And does this omnipotent King, who does everything He pleases, listen to our prayers?
"[Jesus said:] And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it." John 14:13-14.Of course to "ask in Christ's Name" is not referring to the letters C-H-R-I-S-T, as if it was a magic word, by which we can then (ab)use the LORD as a tool to get physical health, a nicer car or a bigger home. No, the NAME of Christ is His character, His being, that which accords with His nature.
This also assures us that God will not answer any of our prayers that spring out of our sinful nature, that go against His holy nature and that would do us damage. Rather, He answers all our prayers which come from faith and the Spirit dwelling in us.
When God's children pray to their heavenly Father, He hears their prayers for Christ's sake. Because Christ died for us, He rules the world for our good (Romans 8:32).
The Maker and Sustainer of the whole Universe, the One who rules over Satan and all his minions, along with every single ant, the One who knows about each sparrow that falls to the earth, the One who clothes the grass of the field and feeds the birds of the air - He it is that all the elect of God pray to, in full assurance that He will grant all their requests for His own name's sake.
What an amazing privilege.
Monday, 16 February 2009
Psalm 105 - God saving His people
On Saturday, I read and studied Psalm 105. It is a beautiful description of how the almighty God sovereignly saves His people, against all the powers of sin, the world and Satan. It also demonstrates beautifully God's sovereignty over evil and how all evil serves the good of the elect (Rom 8:28). In short, it is a magnificent, breath-taking view of God's glorious work in salvation, as He makes His Name known among all nations, to the praise of His glory!The Psalm begins with a command to "give thanks unto the LORD", to "call upon his name" and to "make known his deeds among the people" (vs 1). Then, as a way of carrying out this command, the psalmist commands us to... sing Psalms (vs 2)! And of course, for what else would a Christian sing in worship to God than that which is written by God Himself for the very purpose of being sung in praise! I can't believe that previously I rarely ever sang the perfect Psalms, but instead sang songs written by fallible men, many of which were quite shallow or contained false doctrines. See my previous blog entry on the beauty of Psalm-singing.
Verse 3 then commands us to "glory... in his holy name", which I will gladly do: I glory in my God who unconditionally elected me unto salvation by faith before the foundation of the world; I glory in my God who decreed even evil for the sake of His own glory and to serve His children's good; I glory in my God who saves everyone that He loves; I glory in my God who sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for my sins and in my place, such that I know that nothing will ever separate me from God; I glory in my Saviour Jesus Christ who is such a mighty Saviour that not one for whom He died perishes; I glory in the Holy Spirit who dwells in me, having made me alive to Christ while I was yet dead in my sins and busy hating God; I glory in the new heart which God's Spirit gave me, by which I exercise faith; I glory in my weaknesses and sins (which I hate passionately), for they serve to show God's power and grace; I glory in Christ who will one day return to judge the living and the dead, to redeem His people and to destroy Satan and his children.
The psalmist then commands us to seek God and to remember His deeds, and in order to help us remember God's deeds, he then recounts the story of Israel's redemption from Egypt.
The psalm is about the covenant of God, that one covenant of grace which God has gradually revealed until it was fully unveiled at the coming of Jesus Christ; the covenant by which God saves all His elect children in love, beginning with Adam and including me, hallelujah! "He hath remembered his covenant forever", vs 8.
This covenant of salvation is established in the line of generations, such that God saves families: "ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen" (vs 6, also 9-10, Ge 3:15, 17:7, Ac 2:39, 16:31). As God says regarding the New Covenant, "I will save thy children" Isa 49:25, which promise is fulfilled according to election as described in Rom 9:6ff. And so it is with joy that, if the Lord will grant me children, I will have them baptised as a sign that God has promised to save my children according to election.
God's immeasurably-great love for His chosen people Israel, into which we believing Gentiles are now ingrafted, as prophecied in the Old Testament and explained in the New (e.g. Gal 3, Rom 10:17), is amazingly portrayed in the following ways:
- That God decrees evil to serve the good and the salvation of His beloved children: It was God who "called the famine" which covered most of the known world at that time in order to bring Israel to Egypt; it was God who "sent Joseph before them" by moving Joseph's brothers to sell him as a slave (Ge 50:20, cf 2Sa 24:1)
- That the reprobate serve the salvation of the elect: the holy, almighty LORD doesn't just "create people to destroy them", far be such offence from God! No, God decrees the sins of the reprobate so that He is just in condemning them, and He creates them to serve the salvation of His beloved children who, by nature, are just as wicked. That God decreed for the reprobate to be wicked (see also Rom 9:20-23) is seen clearly in this Psalm: it was God who "turned [the Egyptians'] heart to hate his people" and to oppress them. That the reprobate serve the good of the elect is seen in that Israel "inherited the labour of the people", that is, they took all Egypt's gold and silver, and when they finally inhabited the promised land, all the cities were built and all the agriculture set up for them.
- God showed the greatness of His power to Egypt and the who
le world in devastating the world-power at that time without so much as a single shot being fired (so to speak), through the 10 plagues culminating in the slaying of every first-born and eventually the drowning of Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea. To top it off, the Egyptians gave their hated Israelite slaves all their gold and silver (vs 37, cf Ge 12:35)! God loves His people so much that He fights for us against our enemies.
- God showed that He cares intensely for His people. When Israel journeyed through the desert, he gave them a cloud to shield them from the heat of the sun in the day, and fire to give light in the night (vs 39); each day He rained bread and birds from heaven for their food, and caused water to come out of rocks to sustain them (vs 40-41).
- That God choosing me is not because I am in any way better than others, because I am just as wicked as Pharaoh, Judas and Hitler by nature, but that I am chosen of mere, pure grace - this reminds me that I should never be proud towards unbelievers or anyone else, but should always be humble (contrary to Arminians, who think God chose them because of their foreseen faith and/or think they are going to heaven because they "made the right choice").
- That God causes all things, even evil, to work for my good and the good of all God's people all across the world, and that even the persecution of the Church by Satan and the world has been decreed by God to serve our salvation.
- That I am to praise and worship God with all my being for His own infinite perfection and worthiness, and for the glorious way He reveals Himself through the redemption of His people.
I would heartily encourage all my readers to take 1 hour and read through Calvin's commentary on this Psalm.
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