26 May 2012

Psalm 107:33-43, 108; Ezek. 36:22-27; Eph. 6:10-24; Matt. 9:18-26

The Lord will vindicate and hallow His Name.  That Name has been profaned by His people among the nations.  His charges against them are plain and simple, they have not hallowed the name by keeping the first commandment.  In failing to have no other gods, they have then become no longer a peculiar people, no longer a holy nation or a royal priesthood.  They have done as they did with the golden calf.  We become like that which we worship.  Everything we worship requires us to change.  If we want to make a lot of money we have to become a certain kind of person, have a certain focus, in order to fit ourselves to the mold.  If we want to become a great athlete, we have to do the same, and on and on it goes.  The gods of the surrounding nations were certainly not holy, they were chaotic and desirous.  The Israelites, by chasing after those gods, became like everyone else.  The Lord’s answer was to vindicate His Name by changing His people, giving them His Spirit.  That should tell us something of the nature of His love and faithfulness to His covenant people.

Faith makes a difference.  That does not mean that if we have faith things will always turn out the way we want or that a lack of faith is the reason for suffering.  Here we see two people, the man whose daughter is ill, and the woman with the issue of blood, both of whom have faith that Jesus can heal.  Their faith motivates them to action, the man seeks Jesus out and the woman breaks every convention by touching the hem of His garment.  She was required under the law to not touch anyone lest they be contaminated by her situation and kept from the temple for a proscribed time.  Jesus, however, cleanses her rather than the other way round.  She receives the healing she has so longed for these twelve years she has been an outcast.  The ruler believes if Jesus touches his daughter she will be healed.  By the time they arrive at the home the mourners are doing their work yet Jesus does as the man believes. 

Too often we do struggle against flesh and blood.  We fail to remember Paul’s words here and we spend our time obsessing about the person who hurt us rather than the spiritual battle being waged within and without.  I need to always suit up with spiritual armor to remember that the battle is spiritual, perhaps the most important part of putting on that armor is the recollection that the battle we fight with it is not flesh and blood.  How we struggle is deeply influenced by what we struggle against and that will reveal to the world how we understand our lives.  When God told Cain to get control of himself He did so by referring to the spiritual struggle within and Cain determined that the real problem was external and so killed his brother but the problem remained.  We need to reframe our thoughts just as Cain did if we are to restore the honor of the Name of the Lord.  Faith is the key to fighting the battle, it belongs to Him.

Worship, honor, power and blessing Christ is worthy to receive;
Loudest praises, without ceasing, right it is for us to give.
Help, ye bright angelic spirits, bring your sweetest, noblest lays;
Help to sing of Jesus’ merits, help to chant Emmanuel’s praise!

Tune