Cornerstonekaty

Luke 15:11-21

The Christian life requires continual repentance, honest self-examination, and dependence on God's grace. Like the prodigal son, people often seek fulfillment apart from God only to discover that their own solutions leave them empty. Lasting change begins when sin, fears, resentments, and destructive patterns are honestly acknowledged and brought into the light. Genuine repentance is more than regret; it involves turning back to God and taking concrete steps toward obedience. Though painful, this process leads to healing, restoration, and spiritual growth. By trusting God's wisdom rather than human solutions, believers are transformed and increasingly conformed to the image of Christ. 

Psalm 116

We read many psalms which are carefully constructed forms of poetry. Psalm 119, for example, has a unique section for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Other psalms follow chiastic structures where they build up to a climax and then parallel the verses leading up to the climax to bring it back to its starting point. With such works you can imagine the psalmist sitting at his desk, meditating on his prayers and thoughts of God and working hard to find the right words and phrases that communicate the idea in recognizable forms. Good song writers do this today when they construct memorable songs. They aren’t spontaneous outbursts. 

And then there are psalms like this one, which doesn’t have those carefully contructed characteristics or patterns (at least not obvious ones). It does seem to be more of a spontaneous outburst. While the carefully contructed psalms invite us to dig into the layered meanings, spontaneous outbursts invite us to feel whatever it is that triggered the outburst. In this case, it is a deep appreciation and wonder at God’s great deliverance. 

The psalmist is reflecting on answered prayer to a crisis that was so bad, so desperate, that he was feeling the “snares of death” and the failure of others to help him “all men are liars.” He thought he was going to die, in other words. But he didn’t, and he knows why: God heard his prayer. It is such an overwhelming rescue that his only thought is to give himself to the Lord. His heart has been captured. This is why he opens the psalm as he does, “I love the LORD!”

A good example is the story of Les Miserables. It is the story of a man, a convicted man, guilty in the eyes of the law, on the run,  desperate and dangerous. He finds refuge and hospitality in the church. But in his desperation he cannot resist stealing the silverware. Not long after his theft he is discovered with them by the law who takes him back to the church to verify his guilt. But rather than press charges, the priest has compassion on him, explaining to the officer how glad that he was found for he had forgotten to take the silver candlesticks the church was also giving him. It was an act that set his life on an entirely new trajectory. His heart had been captured by grace. Instead of condemnation, which he knew he deserved, he was given life and it overwhelmed him.

Has your heart been captured by God? This psalm is the story of a man whose heart has been captured by the gospel of God; whose affection has been kindled by the gospel. Death and despair had its grip on him, but God gave him life instead and he cannot help but come into the house of God with offerings of thanksgiving. 

From death and despair - through deliverance - to delight.

Psalm 115

If a proper worship of the Lord, both corporately and in the way you live in the world, leads to godliness, that is becoming like God in your character, then it only makes sense that worshiping other things will make us like these other things. This is what Psalm 115 is highlighting. You become like the thing that you worship.

That should be a frightening notion, for if the object of your worship is anything other than the Lord, then it will ultimately lead to darkness and death, for there is no light and life apart from God.

We become like what we worship: worshiping the living God leads to life, while worshiping idols leads to death.

A few weeks ago we looked at Psalm 111 and 112, which shows how the character of God is shaped in the man who begins with a fear of the Lord. We saw how worshiping God and studying his works lead to this character formation. What we didn’t discuss much is what this term “fear” means. How do you begin life with this biblical “fear” of the Lord? What does that mean?

While this psalm doesn’t use the word “fear,” it does call for trembling before the Lord. Of all the meanings of the word “fear”, tremble is perhaps the most basic. To say the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord is a call to tremble before Him. There isn’t enough trembling before the Lord in the church today.

Why do I say that? Because the lives of people in the church are often similar to the lives of people outside the church. God has become something “tacked-on” to the life you’ve already chosen to lead. In other words, many in the church fear the same things that many outside the church fear, and those fears shape their lives. Things such as the fear of losing reputation; the fear of not having enough money to pay your bills; the fear of not fitting into your peer group; the fear of failure. These things often drive people to make the choices they make. If you fear failure, you might not try. If you fear not having enough money, you may become a workaholic. If you fear not fitting in with one group, you may adapt to fit into another.

The Bible tells us to begin with a fear of the Lord. That means, at the very least, you are to tremble before Him. Jesus said it bluntly,

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)

This psalm shows how even the earth trembles at the presence of the Lord. If the earth, notably the sea, rivers, and the mountains tremble before the Lord, shouldn’t you?

Psalm 113

God calls people to praise Him because worship is what humanity was created for. God is exalted above all nations and even above the heavens, yet in His grace He stoops down to care for the weak, the poor, and the forgotten. He raises the needy from the dust and gives hope to the barren and ashamed, showing that His kingdom works through mercy and reversal rather than worldly power. The psalm ultimately points to Jesus Christ, who humbled Himself, entered human suffering, and descended to death in order to redeem sinners and raise them into fellowship with God. The fitting response is continual praise: “Hallelujah.”

Psalm 111-112

One of the defining beliefs of modern western culture is that the truest thing about you is your inner desire. This is why we see the rise of “your truth” and “my truth.” It is why we see the rise in all kinds of self-identities. People are looking at their inner desires and defining themselves by them. Have you noticed that?
Theologian Carl R. Trueman, author of The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, concludes that modern society believes the “real you” is your inner feelings and desires, and that fulfillment must therefore come through expressing them outwardly.

This is perhaps easiest to see with regard to sexuality as many who identify as “gay” are convinced they have no choice in the matter. Because it is their desire, it must be their identity. But you can do it with other things too. Infatuation, addiction, outrage can all become shapers of your identity around a relationship, an activity, a political party.

The psalmist presents us with an entirely different vision of humanity, showing us that the deepest truth about you is not found by looking inward to your desires but upward to your Creator.

Psalm 111 reveals the character of God. Psalm 112 reveals the character of the man shaped by fearing (or worshiping) that God. And Psalm 111:10 stands as the hinge: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”

Psalm 110

This morning we come to the most quoted Old Testament passage by the New Testament writers. It was absolutely central to their understanding of who Jesus is. It is a theologically rich text in terms of Christology. In fact, it is the text that Jesus himself and the apostles appeal to in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, the Christ. I hope that is a powerful pull on your interest to see what this psalm is all about.

And as we ask why it is so often quoted, we find it also resolves a great tension that the Old Testament prophets wrestled with in understanding the nature of God’s promised deliverance. How, exactly, will God deal with the problem of evil and the consequent injustice and oppression in the world? This psalm speaks to all of this.

Because it deals with these great themes, it is also a very pastoral psalm, as it gently guides and goads you through your spiritual journey, no matter where you are along the way. There is simply so much here!

So, where do we start? Let’s start with it’s main thing it teaches: who is the Christ. When I say, “the Christ” I mean the one the Jews anticipated to fulfill so many of the Old Testament prophecies about a son of David that would sit on the throne, conquer their enemies, usher in a time of peace, and be tied to a new covenant. Something great was in their future and they longed for him to come.

So, who is the Christ?

Psalm 109

This morning we come to an imprecatory psalm, which is a psalm that calls down curses. There are several in the psalms. This is the last of them and probably the harshest overall. What are we to make of it? In the New Testament Jesus calls us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Does this not run counter to that? These are important questions that we must answer as the psalms are often held out as a model for prayer. It is also important to answer that we might understand the relationship of the Old Testament to the New.

What about practically? This psalm resonates with someone who has been the victim of grave injustice, particularly against one whose name has been tarnished or who has been the victim of false accusation. It is painful to be falsely accused. The damage runs deep and can paint long-term doubt in the mind of the judge, or the public at large if they have been witness to it. And it doesn’t only affect the accused, but all who are associated with him. At one point or another, this is something you’ve experienced or will experience. How do you deal with it?

We take our pain and our longing for justice to the Lord.

Why?

Luke 15:11-20

Psalm 108

I want to begin with a story about David. David was the greatest king in Israel’s ancient history. He was called the man after God’s own heart. With such accolades, you might be inclined to think that his life was easy. For those of you who are familiar with his story, you know that wasn’t the case. David’s life was filled with struggle. And when I say filled with struggle, I mean real, life-threatening, gut-wrenching, despair-producing struggle.

We are introduced to David when he is a teenager, perhaps 15. That’s when the prophet Samuel anoints him to be the future king of Israel. If you put yoursel in that story, such an event would invite all kinds of dreams of a bright future. And they did begin that way. In the next chapter David kills Goliath, the giant who had sparked fear into the Israeli army. It was a shocking event and rallied Israel to a great victory over the Philistines. David was recruited into Saul’s service and found great success in his military campaigns as a commander in Saul’s army. But Saul grew jealous and David was eventually forced to flee for his life, hiding in caves for a time and eventually taking refuge with the Philistines themselves. What had been promised in his anointing was far from being fulfilled.

But things go from bad to worse. When the Philistines come together to face Israel in battle, David and his men are sent back only to discover that their homes had been burned with fire and their women and children taken.

And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters… (1 Samuel 30:6)

This was a low point in David’s life. How could there be such a gap between what God had promised and the fulfillment of that promise? And how do you endure in such a time? That’s a dilemma that we all face at some time or another.

Some of you are here this morning reeling in setbacks to your own past sinful patterns. You may remember the sense of hope that comes with the promise of eternal life when you first found your faith in God. The Kingdom of God is a great promise! But now, you feel defeated by your sin. There is a gap between the promise and the fulfillment.

Some of you are here this morning struggling over your children. You remember their baptism, the promise of God of the blessings of the New Covenant and the pouring out of the Spirit. While your children, when young, enjoyed the Bible Stories, the catechism chants, and fellowship of the church, now they are teenagers or grown and seem so far from the reality of those promises. There is a gap between the promise and the fulfillment.

Some of you are here this morning struggling over ministry. You remember the excitement and energy that you once had meeting new people, and training and equipping, but now things seem stagnant or even declining. There is a gap between the promise and the fulfillment. How do you get through it? This is where David’s story helps. Let me read the rest of that verse:

And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. (1 Samuel 30:6)

How do you strengthen yourself in the Lord? I think this is exactly what Psalm 108 is showing us how to do. At the core of this prayer is a reflection on who God is, and the result of that reflection is renewed confidence: with God, we move forward valiantly! Because the Lord is our God, we shall do valiantly!