“God’s Law is . . . Positively Delightful?!?”
In yesterday’s post, I commented on Psalm 1:1. I pointed out that being happy, at least in part, involves avoiding things that sabotage our own happiness. Those are the same things that sabotages the happiness of others. My point was so simple that I often miss it: Happiness involves not doing certain things. Perhaps you also occasionally struggle with the negative, “not-doing” part of happiness.
Today, I want to deal with the positive pole of the happiness battery charger—what we can do to be happy. I have copied and pasted the entire psalm below for your perusal. Don’t worry: It is not a long psalm!
“Psa. 1:1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
Psa. 1:3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Psa. 1:5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.” (Psalm 1, English Standard Version)
As was the case yesterday with verse 1, I quote Derek Kidner on verse 2:
“The three negatives have cleared the way for what is positive, which is their true function and the value of their hard cutting edge. (Even in Eden God gave man a negative, to allow him the privilege of decisive choice.) The mind was the first bastion to defend, in verse 1, and is treated as the key to the whole man. The law of the Lord stands opposed to ‘the counsel of the wicked’ (1), to which it is ultimately the only answer. The psalm is content to develop this one theme, implying that whatever really shapes a man’s thinking shapes his life. This is conveniently illustrated also by the next psalm, where the word for ‘plot’ (2:1b) is the same as for meditates here, with results that follow from the very different thoughts that are entertained there. In our verse, the deliberate echo of the charge to Joshua reminds the man of action that the call to think hard about the will of God is not merely for the recluse, but is the secret of [Vol 15: Psa, p. 65] achieving anything worthwhile (cf. prospers, here, with Josh. 1:8). Law (tôrâ) basically means ‘direction’ or ‘instruction’; it can be confined to a single command, or can extend, as here, to Scripture as a whole.
3. . . . The phrase its fruit in its season emphasizes both the distinctiveness and the quiet growth of the product; for the tree is no mere channel, piping the water unchanged from one place to another, but a living organism which absorbs it, to produce in due course something new and delightful, proper to its kind and to its time. The promised immunity of the leaf from withering is not independence of the rhythm of the seasons (cf. the preceding line, and see on 31:15), but freedom from the crippling damage of drought (cf. Jer. 17:8b).”
So, the law—or better, the instruction—of the LORD aims at our ultimate stability, productiveness, and happiness. Now that is positivity on steroids!
I have noticed that, sometimes, when I marinate in God’s Instruction, I experience this delightful happiness. Not always, perhaps not even often. But when I do experience this delight in God’s Instruction, it is very delightful indeed.
And when I don’t experience such delight, I eventually (and grudgingly) have to admit that the fault is in me. God’s Law—God’s Instruction—is positive in its ultimate intentions. The really damaging (and damning) negativity is within my own mind and heart.
“Blessed Negativity”
“Psa. 1:1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
Psa. 1:3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Psa. 1:5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.” (Psalm 1, English Standard Version)
Positivity is a magic word these days. I get that, and frankly, I pretty much agree. However, let me come in with a good word in favor of negativity.
Take, for example, Psalm 1. This psalm starts out positively, by using the word “blessed.”
What does it mean to be blessed? Some translations use the word “happy” to translate the Hebrew word “ʾašrē”, which is not a bad guess. (“Bliss” has also been suggested, but most of us don’t much about bliss, except for some of us who are who recognize Bliss as the name of a coffee.) The Hebrew word contains the idea that someone has to do something. Happiness doesn’t zap anybody. It is a participant sport.
According to the Old Testament, often what a person needs to do in order to experience happiness is positive. There are things we need to do consistently in order to experience happiness. However, sometimes happiness is negative—something or some things that need to be avoided. Verse 1 of Psalm 1 points out this somewhat unwelcome fact.
“Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers.”
Derek Kidner makes some fine comments on the negative aspects of happiness in his commentary on Psalms. After commenting on the word “blessed”, Kidner writes, “This psalm goes on to show the sober choice that is its basis [that is, the basis of blessedness]. The Sermon on the Mount, using the corresponding word in Greek, will go on to expound it still more radically.
Counsel, way and seat (or ‘assembly’, or ‘dwelling’) draw attention to the realms of thinking, behaving and belonging, in which a person’s fundamental choice of allegiance is made and carried through; and this is borne out by a hint of decisiveness in the tense of the Hebrew verbs (the perfect). It would be reading too much into these verbs to draw a moral from the apparent process of slowing down from walking to sitting, since the journey was in the wrong direction for a start. Yet certainly the three complete phrases show three aspects, indeed three degrees, of departure from God, by portraying conformity to this world at three different levels: accepting its advice, being party to its ways, and adopting the most fatal of its attitudes – for the scoffers, if not the most scandalous of sinners, are the farthest from repentance (Prov. 3:34).”
So, there are some things to avoid, if we really want to be happy. And really, we all know this. This psalm is not saying anything out of the ordinary. If we want to be happy, we need to avoid things that make us unhappy. This is not rocket science or advanced psychology. Instead, this is life 101. In this sense, blessedness is a negative thing, and negativity is a blessed thing.
May you be blessedly negative today! (And may you come back to read tomorrow’s post, which will speak of delightful positivity!)
“The Wonders of Heaven and Earth”
A friend emailed me to thank me for my post titled, “You Can’t Hear Good News too Often.” She said, “I always appreciate GOOD NEWS! Especially lately.” I replied as follows:
“Yes, we all need good news—always.
And we always need to remember that “this world is not our home; we’re just a passin’ through,” to paraphrase that hill gospel song.
And remember: As you and I have decided, Heaven must have lots of books!
I have a recurring dream. In it, I am wandering through a very large, beautiful house. Every room is beautiful and every room is different. Some are filled with light and some with dark paneling, a fireplace, and (you guessed it!) books. I always have a profound sense of peace and joy and wonder while I am wandering through the rooms. Even when I awake, the peace and joy and wonder remain.
This planet, this life, is filled with wonder too. My prayer is that you and I and all of us will be captured by that wonder today, and that we will be as prepared as we can be for the wonder of Heaven.
“You Can’t Hear Good News Too Often!”
There was some sort of threat the other morning against the campus of my university. I teach online only, but I still care very much about what goes on at our campuses. So, I sent an email to a couple of people I know on campus, to let them know that I was praying for them. My supervisor fired back an email in which he told me something I had already heard: The authorities had already investigated and given the all-clear signal. I responded,
“Dear Anthony,
That’s great news! I had received the email sounding the all-clear, but I am glad to hear it from you as well. You can’t hear good news too often!” And then I added, “Hey, that sounds like a good title for an upcoming post on my website!”
And it really is a good title and a good saying, too. Why? Because you can’t hear good news too often!
When my wife says she loves me, that is good news. I don’t get bored when she says that. When a friend prays for me over the phone or texts me to let me know that he’s thinking of me, that’s good news! Even when someone says that dinner is ready, that is good news.
The Greek word that is translated “gospel” or “good news” is all over the place in the New Testament. In fact, it occurs some 73 times in the New Testament. The first four books of the New Testament are called “the Gospels” for good reason.
And indeed, the coming of Jesus into the world was and is good news. At least, there are many of us who feel that way. I am among that group. That God, the creator of the universe, would become one of us, teach, do miracles, forgive people (which is the greatest miracle of all), would die for the sins of the whole world, and be raised from the dead—that is really good news. And you can’t hear good news too often!
A twelve-step participant said the other day at an online meeting, “We do not simply carry the message to other addicts. We are the message.” Yes indeed!
Not all of those who name the name of Jesus Christ are good news, and none of us is good news all the time. But that is what we are called to be: good news. And you can’t hear—or see—good news too often!
“Ferry Cross the Mersey and the Longing for Home”
I just read last night that Gerry Marsden of The Pacemakers died on January 3. His song, “Ferry Cross the Mersey” calms my mind every time I listen to it. I remember the first time I ever heard it. I was always more of a Pacemakers person than a Beatles guy. That may be a failing on my part, but there it is. I’m a heretic! “And here I’ll stay.”
So, I wonder what it is that I love so much about the song? The beat? It begins with a snare drum played with brushes. (I used to be a drummer. We weren’t called “percussionists” back in those days, just drummers.)
Or was it Gerry’s voice? Well, as a matter of fact, I do love his voice. (Hey, I’m a tenor! What can I say!)
How about the pace of this Pacemakers song? Yes, that may be part of it. I generally like slower music. Linked to this, “Ferry Cross the Mersey” is a great song for slow dancing. I could dance to that song with some hope of not stepping on my dance partner’s feet with my two left feet.
And, then the song came out a time when I was young and thought I was fully alive. However, I’m more fully alive today than I have ever been, so that probably didn’t play much of a part.
Maybe it’s the words. The Mersey River in England is a river that flows to the city of Liverpool. And the song “Ferry Cross the Mersey” is a love song to Liverpool.
“Life goes on day after day
Hearts torn in every way
So ferry ‘cross the Mersey
‘Cause this land’s the place I love
And here I’ll stay
People they rush everywhere
Each with their own secret care
So ferry ‘cross the Mersey
And always take me there
The place I love
People around every corner
They seem to smile and say
We don’t care what your name is boy
We’ll never turn you away
So I’ll continue to say
Here I always will stay
So ferry ‘cross the Mersey
‘Cause this land’s the place I love
And here I’ll stay
Life goes on day after day
Hearts torn in every way
So ferry ‘cross the Mersey
‘Cause this land’s the place I love
And here I’ll stay
Here I’ll stay
Here I’ll stay
This land, the place we love
Ferry ‘cross the Mersey
‘Cause this land’s the place we love
So ferry ‘cross the Mersey
So ferry ‘cross the Mersey
‘Cause this land’s the place I love
And here I’ll stay”
Not profound, perhaps, but profound to me, even at the age of twenty when I first fell in love with the song. I didn’t know why I loved the song so much at the time. I still don’t. But I can tell you a few things.
I was returning from my first, nationally ranked, chess tournament—the 1971 Ohio State University Open. I did well and tied for second place in the unranked category. It was the final game of the tournament. Barry and I had fought to a draw. Barry and his college roommate were students at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, and were planning to hitchhike back to Antioch. It was already about ten o’clock at night, and that didn’t sound either safe or wise to me. So, I lied: “That’s practically on my way home,” I told them. So, I gave them a ride back to their dorm, went in and played my first and last game ever of Gomoko, drank a cup of coffee, and headed home. Now, I was only slightly closer to home than I had been in Columbus.
Nobody was on the road at that time of the morning, and I was getting sleepy. And then, this song comes on the radio. If I had heard it before, I had not really heard it before. And I spent the rest of my two-hour drive home thinking about the song. Was it ferry across the mercy? Or was there a place called Mercy? And why was this place (or whatever it was) so special as to deserve such a beautiful song?
I have continued to love the song and think it beautiful. I was privileged to study in England and to receive my Ph. D. from the University of Nottingham. I have been to Liverpool. I’m sorry to say that I did not take the ferry cross the Mersey. If this pandemic ever gets tamped down enough, I am going back to England, and I will definitely ride the ferry.
I think that the main reason I fell in love with the song and the reason I love it even more today is primarily this: It speaks concerning the love of a place that accepts you just as you are. And all of us long for that
Some people find such acceptance in a bar. I have not. Some people find it in a church. Even though I’m a Christ-follower and do participate in the life of a fellowship of believers, I cannot honestly say that I have found acceptance there either. Sorry, but I try to speak the truth, even when I don’t like the truth.
I have found acceptance with my wife. I’ve also found it in England, and with my 12-step groups, both the groups in England and in “The Colonies.” For some reason that I can’t pinpoint, I feel more at home in England than I have felt here in America. I love America, but England is my heart’s home. I would migrate in a heartbeat if I could.
And yet, perhaps no place, no group, no person is ultimately my heart’s home. There is an ancient story that tells of a man and a woman—indeed, the first man and woman—who were driven out of their home because they disobeyed a simple, but important, command. Perhaps the heart’s longing, mine and yours, is a continuation of the longing to return to that “place I love”, the one that Gerry Marsden sang about.
Someday, we’ll be home. I trust that Gerry is home now. Rest in peace, dear one. If I see you in Heaven, I will most certainly say, “Thank you!”
DTEB, “Normal? No Such Thing!”
I no longer believe in normal. Therefore, I have no desire to get back to it. In point of fact, normal never existed. What we call “normal” is usually just our faulty memory of the good bits and bobs that we think we experienced in the past.
Do you think I’m being pessimistic? It may sound so, I admit. However, I find this rejection of the fiction of normality as being positive and liberating. When I lust for normality, I tend to get up-tight, to worry, to overlook the joys of the moment.
Did you notice that yesterday was full of sunshine, and that it was unseasonably warm? It was a spring day in January. What a gift! Today is going to be a lot colder. So? The sun is still supposed to shine.
Have you noticed that on very cold nights, there are exquisite diamonds on the ground, sprinkled around by the extravagant anonymous Giver called Nighttime? They are gone in the morning, but man, are they ever lovely before they vanish!
Have you noticed that you can read this post? That you can read a book? Your Facebook friends’ posts? What is normal about reading, may I ask? You and I were not born knowing how to read.
Most of you can get out of bed, reach for a cup of coffee or a glass of water. What a privilege! But it isn’t normal.
Life and death are normal. They are also extraordinary blessings. Quite appropriately, I try to take good care of myself and others. I want to put off death as long as possible. That really is normal.
But death is normal too. And while I will be careful—for my own sake and the sake of others—I will choose not to fear death or the process of dying. Rumor has it that when I close my eyes in death, the next face I see will be the Face I’ve longed to see all my life: the Face of Jesus.
“The God to Whom We Pray: The God Who Listens, Looks, and Loves”
Our virtual church community group is working our way through a study guide on Prayer. The study is called “TALK,” and it is very helpful.
Last night, we were discussing that fact that we need to not simply talk in our prayers. We also need to listen. Many good comments were made during the discussion. My wise (and concise) wife summed it up this way: “God listens, looks, and loves.”
Yes indeed! One of the reasons why we so often feel that God is not answering our prayers is because he is such a good listener. He listens until he has heard it all. Of course, God already knew what was going on with us and with those people we love and those things we care about. But we don’t know that God listens until we’ve said everything we have to say. It takes a while to say it all.
God also looks. He looks at the person praying, and not simply at the prayer. To be ignored is a horribly hurtful thing. I know this first-hand. Probably, everyone has had the experience. But, although God may seem invisible to us, we are not invisible to God. The praying person is seen.
And God loves. It is because God loves us so much that he listens and looks. God listens in love, God looks in love. God is madly in love with us. And God’s loving madness is our sanity.
“The God of Big and Little Things”
“Psa. 36:5 Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your judgments are like the great deep;
man and beast you save, O LORD.
Psa. 36:7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.” (English Standard Version)
The God of the Old Testament is incredibly deep and high and powerful. He is also described at times as being incredibly tender.
Take Psalm 36:5-6, for example. After focusing on the wicked in verses 1-4, the psalmist changes his prayer focus very abruptly. In the rest of the psalm, this praying person focuses on God (with the exception of saying that the wicked will get their comeuppance in God’s good time in verses 11-12).
And what does the psalmist say about God? Well, God’s love is as high as the heavens and God’s faithfulness is as high as the sky (verse 5). God’s righteousness is like the highest mountains (vs. 6). Everest has nothing on God! And God’s justice is like the ocean depths (also verse 5).
And then the psalmist does something that is weird and wonderful: He says that this God, this God whose qualities are so high and wonderful, also preserves both people and animals!
Say what?! Yes! This same God, who is so big, also takes care of individual people—and the animals too. The word for animals is a generic one in Hebrew. This word refers to both domesticated animals and wild ones. Apparently, God’s loving faithfulness and such extends to all people and animals—even the wild critters.
Even those who don’t believe in God ought to wish that a God like that should exist. And those of us who have experienced God’s goodness should learn to trust and praise this God unceasingly. Yes, even in tough and uncertain times such as we’re going through right now. Especially then.
“Learning in War Time”
What follows is an email that I just sent to my students. I think it may help you with whatever you need to do today, whether it is a Zoom business conference or running the vacuum cleaner. It has very few of my own words, and a lot of good thoughts from C. S. Lewis.
“Dear Fellow Students of God’s Word,
Old Testament Interpretation class starts today. Again I say, welcome!
I know that this is a difficult time to focus on anything other than news (or opinions about the news). I must admit that I struggle with this as well.
However, as important as what is going on in our country is right now (and it is important) it is also important to focus on other things, at least part of the time.
I had to turn NPR off in order to reread a sermon by C.S. Lewis title, “Learning in War Time.” I was thinking that there might be something in that might speak to our current situation. I was not disappointed. (Ladies, I am sorry, but Lewis refers to “men” several times in his sermon. I suspect that if he had lived longer, he might have begun to see the error of his ways in this regard.)
“Learning in War Time” was a sermon preached on October 22, 1939. The United Kingdom had declared war on Nazi Germany on September 1 of that year. Even some university faculty were raising the question as to whether or not it was even right to go ahead with university teaching and learning.
Lewis argued that it was more than appropriate to get on with the business of teaching and learning. Here are some quotes from Lewis’ sermon:
“Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice. . . . If men had postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure, the search would never have begun. We are mistaken when we compare war with ‘normal life’. Life has never been normal.”
“A man may have to die for our country: but no man must, in any exclusive sense, live for his country. He who surrenders himself without reservation to the temporal claims of a nation, or a party, or a class is rendering to Caesar that which, of all things, most emphatically belongs to God: himself.”
“If our parents have sent us to Oxford [or Southeastern University, D.D.], if our country allows us to remain there, this is prima facie evidence that the life which we, at any rate, can best lead to the glory of God at present is the learned life.”
“The learned life then is, for some, a duty. At the moment it looks as if it were your duty.”
“The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorourable. Favourable conditions never come.”
One final quote:
Lewis writes that we must practice “. . . leaving futurity in God’s hands. We may as well, for God will certainly retain it whether we leave it to Him or not. Never, in peace or war, commit your virtue or your happiness to the future. Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-term plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment ‘as to the Lord’. It is only our daily bread that we are encouraged to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received.”
So, lets all of us get on with our work, with our loving of our families, with our ministries, our studies! Your instructor is, of course, talking to himself.”
“On Avoiding Civil War”
I generally try to avoid the controversial topic of politics on this website. Religion is a divisive enough topic. Why write about another?
However, in this case, I am going to make an exception. I fear that our nation is teetering on the brink of civil war. Some friends thought I was being too dramatic when I’ve said that in the past. I hoped and prayed that those friends were right and that I was wrong. After the events of this past Wednesday, I’m not so sure. If we are to avoid a second civil war, there are steps we need to take right now.
First, we need take responsibility for what we say and how we say it. Rhetoric is the means we use to try to persuade people of something. Inflammatory rhetoric doesn’t persuade. It just inflames.
Second, we need to take responsibility for what we hear and how we hear. Listening to the same political pundits (or only our like-minded friends on Facebook) all the time may not further our knowledge. Such a practice only confirms us in our opinions. And sometimes our opinions become convictions that destroy us and others.
Third, we need to think very deeply about what is going on in our country right now. Slogans won’t cut it, but slogans will cut our nation into pieces. Slogans such as “Stop the Steal” are not a viable substitute for doing our homework.
For example, if there was widespread voter fraud, if the Democrats really stole the election, if there were a lot of bogus ballots, then why did the Democrats not elect more senators and more representatives than they did? Pretty poor planning on their part, if you ask me. Even in states with supposedly widespread fraud, many Republicans who were on the same ballots won. Why? Maybe because the ballots were not doctored or made up.
As another part of our homework, we need to ask ourselves this question: Why did Trump lose so many court challenges—somewhere in the neighborhood of sixty of them. Many of these challenges were made before conservative judges, and even trump-appointed conservative judges. These cases were dismissed due to a lack of evidence. Simply alleging voter fraud isn’t enough. Where is the proof?
Fourth, and above all, we all need to think about our tendency to create us-and-them categories. Republicans are not demons; neither are Democrats. But if we create enemies among ourselves, we are all in league with the demons. And we will lose more than our nation. We will lose our very souls.
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