Home Foreclosures Continue to Rise. Delinquency rates for home mortgages for even the most qualified borrowers are worsening. The quarterly National Delinquency Survey showed that almost one in 10 homeowners with a mortgage was at least one payment late, and consequently delinquent. Another four percent had entered the foreclosure process on their loan.
1-2 God, put an end to evil; avenging God, show your colors!
Judge of the earth, take your stand;
throw the book at the arrogant.
3-4 God, the wicked get away with murder�
how long will you let this go on?
They brag and boast
and crow about their crimes!
5-7 They walk all over your people, God,
exploit and abuse your precious people.
They take out anyone who gets in their way;
if they can't use them, they kill them.
They think, "God isn't looking,
Jacob's God is out to lunch."
8-11 Well, think again, you idiots,
fools�how long before you get smart?
Do you think Ear-Maker doesn't hear,
Eye-Shaper doesn't see?
Do you think the trainer of nations doesn't correct,
the teacher of Adam doesn't know?
God knows, all right�
knows your stupidity,
sees your shallowness.
12-15 How blessed the man you train, God,
the woman you instruct in your Word,
Providing a circle of quiet within the clamor of evil,
while a jail is being built for the wicked.
God will never walk away from his people,
never desert his precious people.
Rest assured that justice is on its way
and every good heart put right.
16-19 Who stood up for me against the wicked?
Who took my side against evil workers?
If God hadn't been there for me,
I never would have made it.
The minute I said, "I'm slipping, I'm falling,"
your love, God, took hold and held me fast.
When I was upset and beside myself,
you calmed me down and cheered me up.
20-23 Can Misrule have anything in common with you?
Can Troublemaker pretend to be on your side?
They ganged up on good people,
plotted behind the backs of the innocent.
But God became my hideout,
God was my high mountain retreat,
Then boomeranged their evil back on them:
for their evil ways he wiped them out,
our God cleaned them out for good. (The Message)
"It is only in the Lord's school we can ever learn to maintain composure of mind, and a posture of patient expectation and trust under the pressure of distress. The Psalmist declares that the wisdom which would bear us onward to the end, with an inward peace and courage under long-continued trouble, is not natural to any of us, but must come from God."
(Commentary from Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms)
"Source of True Teaching"
Weekend Reading
"Q. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?
A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him."~~Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A 2
We can know nothing of God unless he reveals himself to us. And the primary means through which he has revealed himself are creation and his Word. Creation reveals a very limited amount about God. Most of what we know about him comes from Scripture. This is also where we find the "supreme revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ."
So if someone tries to tell us what God is like apart from Biblical revelation, rest assured that they are only giving opinion, and it is very apt to be wrong.
The question and answer above from the Westminster Shorter Catechism come directly following Q&A 1, which tell us that "the chief end of man is to glorify God, and enjoy him forever." Anyone who is a fan of John Piper knows that he has revised this, slightly, to say that "the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever."
But Q&A 1 presuppose that, somehow, God has revealed this truth to us, which is where Q&A 2 come in. The point is made that, even though God is, essentially, unknowable, he has stooped to reveal himself to us.
This fundamental point in Christian theology helps establish two "critical aspects of our faith."
First is "the exclusivity of Christianity." The revelation of God includes "specific acts of God in human history." It also includes "God's own words of explanation." All of the great miracles in the Old Testament, and even the resurrection of Jesus Christ don't mean very much to us without the words of explanation given by OT prophets and NT gospels and epistles. "God's redemptive acts and His word of explanation are inseparable."
"This means that Christianity is a truth claim. If these things recorded in Scripture truly happened in human history, then Christianity is true, regardless of whether or not someone believes these things to be true. If these things did not hpapen, then Christianity cannot be true, and sadly, we are still in our sins."
The second aspect is what we call the sufficiency of Scripture. "Simply put, this means that the Bible tells us everything we need to know about God and ourselves in order to be saved." We find, in the pages of Scripture, both God's commands and his remedy for sin. God's commands reveal to us that we are sinners, because we find ourselves unable to keep them. We find that we are in need of a Savior. The gospel is not revealed in creation, therefore, we must turn to Scripture to find the answer to the question, "What must I do to be saved?"
So the second Q&A of the Westminster Shorter Catechism reminds us that what we, or anyone else, think about God really doesn't matter. What matters is what God reveals about himself in his Word. "For it is in Scripture, and only in Scripture, that we have the rule to direct us to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."
"Pray, Because God is Sovereign"
Psalm 57:2
I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me. (ESV)
"Prayer assumes the sovereignty of God." If he were not sovereign, we would have no assurance of his answer to our prayer. They would be nothing more than wishes. Prayer is the expression of our trust, of which that sovereignty is the foundation.
A Puritan preacher wrote that prayer without faith is nothing more than beating the air. But he also said that trust without prayer is "but a presumptuous bravado." God promises to give, asks us to trust his promises, but also commands us to pray. He will give, but only if we ask.
Paul asked Philemon to prepare a room for him, because he hoped to be restored to him in answer to his prayers. Paul did not presume to know for sure what God would do, but he hoped enough to ask Philemon to pray and act in faith.
"God's sovereignty does not negate our responsibility to pray, but rather makes it possible to pray with confidence."
Father, help me to be more faithful in prayer. Your sovereignty does, indeed, enable us to pray with confidence. Let me be more of a pray-er.
Thank you, Lord, for your revelation through both creation and the Bible. We would know almost nothing of you, had you not chosen to reveal yourself. I cannot imagine what life would be like with no knowledge of you. Well, yes, I can imagine it, and it's not pretty. I would rather not imagine it. God, let that revelation stay fresh in our hearts. Let it never grow stale. That is why I place such importance on daily reading of the Scriptures, so that I am constantly reminded of you and your attributes, as well as of my responsibilities in light of this revelation. Help me uphold my responsibilities. Empower my by the Holy Spirit.
Through this revelation and discipline come also the inward peace that you give us, along with patience and trust in you. I praise you for these things, too. They come only from you. They are not natural qualities. I pray that they will continue in my life in increasing quantity.
Grace and peace, friends.