I am in the middle of writing a paper on Exodus 32 (the passage where the Israelites worship the golden calf).  Here is a quote that I read from C.H. Mackintosh’s “Notes on the book of Exodus” that moved my heart with joy.  Praise God that we have the perfect mediator interceding for us even now…

How different is this from what we see in Christ!  He came down from the bosom of the Father, not with the tables in His hands, but with the law in His heart.  He came down, not to be made acquainted with the condition of the people, but with a perfect knowledge of what that condition was.  Moreover, instead of destroying the memorials of the covenant and executing judgment, He magnified the law and made it honorable, and bore the judgment of His people, in His own blessed Person, on the cross; and, having done all, He went back to heaven, not with a “peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin,” but to lay upon the throne of the Majesty in the highest the imperishable memorials of an atonement already accomplished.  This makes a vast and truly glorious difference.”

I guess in some ways I am just a masochist.  On my computer I have a widget called the “Cheesesteak of Suffering.”  As I type this, the counter stands at 8528, 11 hours, 47 minutes and 42 seconds since the Sixers won the 1983 NBA championship.  Again, I’m not even sure why I have it on my computer since all it does is remind me that since I’ve been old enough to be a sports fan, Philadelphia has not won even a single major sports championship.  I have never felt the jubilation of running into the streets to celebrate a championship.  In fact, my deepest sports passion is for the losingest team in professional sports history, the Phillies.  The Phillies have lost 9954 games in their history which dates back to 1883.  That means that sometime next year the Phillies will lose their 10,000th game!  In 123 years, the Phillies have won exactly one World Series while the Marlins have won 2 World Series since their inception in 1993.  With 5 games left this season, the Phillies sit at 7 games over .500 meaning that this will be the 26th time since 1918 the Phillies have finished the season with a winning record.  For reference, the Yankees have won that many World Series in that time span!

Two years ago that painful streak of championship-less seasons almost ended for Philly fans.  The Eagles made it to the Super Bowl (mind you, for only the second time since in the then 39 years of the Super Bowl).  With the nearly miraculous recovery of their star receiver, I was actually thinking the Eagles would win.

They lost the game and, well, we all know what happened after that.  That star receiver, T.O., lost his mind.  He fired his agent and hired Drew Rosenhaus to get him a new deal with the Eagles.  The Eagles wouldn’t budge (why would they just one year into a 7 year contract?).  After being suspended four games and deactivated for the remainder of the season, they let him go.  He promptly signs on with a team that he had very publicly scorned and mocked just a few years earlier when with the 49ers.  Every 49ers and every Eagles fan knew that his self-centered, self-glorifying, me-first attitude would destroy the Cowboys as he had his former teams.  But no one, myself included, foresaw what happened last night.  Apparently, he was so depressed that he attempted suicide by overdosing on prescription pain medication.  When asked by police if he was attempting to harm himself by taking the pills he simply replied, “Yes.”

He has now been released from the hospital and I’m sure over the next several days we’ll find out more about what really happened, but this incident really got me thinking.  Here is a guy who has everything this world can possibly offer.  He is incredibly gifted and skilled at his profession.  He is wealthy beyond comprehension.  He is famous (infamous even?).  But it’s just not enough.  I’m reminded of Britney Spears song “Lucky”.  The song is about a beauty queen who, upon winning a pageant, is lauded by the world for her looks.  She is famous, wealthy, popular and beautiful.  Then come the telling words of the chorus.  “If there’s nothing missing in my life then why do these tears come at night?”  That song betrays the myth of fame.  Being famous, wealthy, good looking, popular and skilled can cover a lot of shortcomings.  But they can not bring meaning to a desperate soul.  They can not bring life to the dying.

Only in Jesus Christ can the dead be brought back to life.  Only in Jesus Christ is there hope for the hopeless.  Only in Jesus Christ is there joy and meaning and purpose.  We put celebrities (especially athletes) on a pedestal, longing to be like them and to have what they have.  But apart from Jesus Christ, everything they have is perishing.  Like chaff in the wind, it will all pass away.  James 1:10-11 declares, “But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower.  For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed.  In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.”

Terrell Owens, as a Philly sports fan, I am hurt at the way you scorned our city.  But I pray that you would find what you are looking for in Dallas.  I don’t think it will be on the football field.  I don’t think it will be in your bank account.  I don’t think it will be in the bedroom.  I don’t think it will be in front of the camera.  Those things will all fade away.  I hope you hear the words of 1 Corinthians 13:13, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.”  TO, not everything in life will pass away.  Some things will remain forever.  I pray that God will reveal himself to you in this painful time of life that you might turn to Jesus Christ for life.  Because only in him are the things that last forever.

Update: Even if T.O. did not overdose on pills, he still has some serious issues and needs our prayer.

For many, their first professional ministry setting fail miserably.  Mine was no exception.  While the ministry itself was moderately successful in that my relationship with students was excellent and several came to faith in Christ (and for that I praise God), it was the most painful time in my life.  My own sin, loneliness, lack of training and the failures of others around me to care for me destroyed me.  I loathed waking up in the morning because it meant another day of just hoping I would make it through.  I worked hours that others would be away from the office.  I did whatever I could just to survive.  If only I could have slept more.  Sleeping was a gift from God in that time.  It was the only time in my day where I experienced peace.
Likewise, for the second straight psalm, David talks about peaceful sleeping in the midst of distress.  Psalm 3:5-6 declares, “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.  I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.”  And then again in Psalm 4:8 we read, “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord make me dwell in safety.”  David, though distressed and on the run, went to sleep each night in peace knowing that the Lord was present with him.  I praise the Lord for my sleep in that painful setting and I pray that each of you, like David, would sleep in peace even when all the world seems aligned against you because the very Creator of the world will sustain you.

Have you ever wondered if Christians are just too nice sometimes? All the time people quote “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” when Mr. Beaver tells the Pevensies that “Aslan, safe? No, but he’s good” in relationship to God. That the God we serve is not safe, but he is good. It’s funny though. We have this perception that even though God himself is not safe, his followers should be. There is this unwritten expectation of what a Christian will look like, how he will talk and what he will do. A good Christian will learn to play nice. Steve Brown once wrote a book called “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” That book was especially written to pastors to encourage them not to be a doormat in life. But somehow we think that is how we are supposed to act. We should do everything we can not to have enemies in life and if somehow we do, God forbid we ever ask God to bring judgment on those enemies!

But here, in Psalm 3, we hear a very different cry from David. He spent much of his youth on the run from Saul. Not, many years later, he is on the run again. This time from his own son who is attempting to take over his throne. How does he respond? Listen to the words of verse 7. “Arise, O Lord! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.” Now that’s not a very “Christian” response! He implores God to take action against his enemies, who in this case, happens to be his own son!

I think a word of caution is in order. David does not exact judgment himself on his enemies. Rather, he implores God to act. “’Vengeance is mine,’ says the Lord.” It is not up to us to seek revenge and judgment. Those things belong to the Lord.

If the life of our Lord teaches us anything it should be that we can expect enemies. He was arrested, beaten, spat upon, crucified and stabbed in the side by his enemies. And his words to us, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (Jn 15:20). Will I just lay down to those enemies and let them walk over me, or will I stand up in truth begging God to action to uphold the right? Usually I choose the former because it’s the “Christian” thing to do. But my God is not safe and so, from now on, neither am I.

Psalm 2 again presents a contrast. This time it is the contrast of the kings. The kings of the nations are described as “of the earth”. But the second king, Israel’s king, has been installed “on Zion, my holy hill”. While the kings of the earth plan their evil toward the Lord and His anointed in Jerusalem, “the One enthroned in heaven laughs”. The King of heaven laughs at the foolishness of those who would counter the anointed ruler of God’s people.

The psalm continues with a reminder of the cultural mandate, which says that the people of God were to subdue the earth and rule over it. Verse 8 alludes back to that mandate by telling the king of Israel that if asks God, God will grant him the whole earth to reign over and possess. Canaan, “the Promised Land”, was never intended as the final destination. God wanted to claim back the whole of his creation, “the ends of the earth”. (On a side note, it should be remembered that this was written for the reigning king of Israel, possibly even on the day of his coronation if you take the “today” of verse 7 at face value. It is easy for us to jump to Messianic fulfillment – which we should do as the NT does the same thing to this psalm – but that all the kings of Israel were types and shadows of Christ, the true “Son” who would claim the nations as his inheritance.)

The psalm again ends with a staggering challenge when it says, “Blessed are all who take refuge in him”. Do I kiss (in submission) the king of Israel, God’s earthly representative? Do I take my refuge in him? No, usually not. When the world around me is collapsing, he is not place where I go to find safety and refuge. God, teach me how to take refuge in Your King.

Finally on Psalm 2, this is one of the psalms I alluded to yesterday from which a song was written that has gripped me. Listen to these words from “You Said” by Hillsong.

You said, “Ask and you will receive, whatever you need”
You said, “Pray and I’ll hear from heaven”
And I’ll heal your land

You said Your glory will fill the earth
Like water the sea
You said, “Lift up your eyes;
The harvest is here, the kingdom is near”

You said “Ask and I’ll give the nations to you”
Oh Lord, that’s the cry of my heart.
Distant shores and the islands will see
Your light as it rises on us

O Lord, I ask for the nations
O Lord, I ask for the nations

What powerful words. Psalm 2 tells us to “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession”. When was the last time you asked the Lord for the nations? Asked that the true King of Israel and the King of your life was enthroned as King of all the earth? I have just recently started to pray more for this. I invite you to join me. Each day, Operation World has a “country of the day”. They provide a couple of prayer requests and a couple of praises for the kingdom of Christ in that country. Will you ask of God to give you the nations, that they will join you in mutual submission to the King?