Little Things

 

“We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts.”

― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Word Searches

You have given me the shield of Your salvation, 
and Your gentleness made me great." 

(2 Samuel 22:36)

- - -

Isn't that a pleasant little verse? Just because I had some extra time this morning, I decided to drag out my Strong's Concordance and do some word searches. Sometimes my findings are just what I anticipate...a word means exactly what I think it does. Other times? Just WOW.

This was a "Just WOW" kinda morning, as I dug into this little verse.

 Had to share. :)

First of all, this Psalm of David is in two places. Recorded in Psalm 18 as well as in this chapter of 2 Samuel, are King David's pourings-forth of praise to God for deliverance from the hands of all his enemies. Talk of a shield in the verse above makes sense! And here David proclaims that HIS shield was God's salvation.

Shield, let's look up the word shield! 

SHIELD--"meginnah"

"a shield (i.e. a smaller one or buckler); 

figurative: a protector; 

also the scaly hide of the crocodile."

I really like that last one. :) God's salvation wrapped around David like scales on a crocodile, protecting him from harm--which is odd because you think of "salvation" as an outcome rather than a defense:

e.g. "I was in trouble, and then he saved me."

But no. David speaks of God's salvation AS his greatest protection--even before being literally delivered. God had promised him salvation, and David had believed God, strapped on the promise, 

and used it as his greatest defense against the enemies of doubt and fear. 

God's promise of salvation was as good as accomplished salvation.

- - -

The next little piece is what really blew me over, though. 

 "Your gentleness made me great."

THIS is what originally made me stop and do some extra word studies. What does God's gentleness have to do with David's greatness? It's just not what I would have expected to read there.

Are you ready for this?

The word "gentleness" is used only 4 times in the Bible. Used with a slightly different connotation each time:

--"Sweet reasonableness" (2 Cor. 10:1)

--Goodness expressed in action (Gal. 4:22)

--"Divine condescension", aka. clemency (Ps. 18:35)

aaaandd...

hey wait a minute. 

Isn't this 2 Samuel passage a re-quote of Psalm 18? Shouldn't it be the same word? I certainly thought so...but it's NOT. Are you ready for this last definition of "gentleness", as used in our nice little verse up there?

GENTLENESS--"anah"

affliction

painful treatment

discipline

Wh-wh-WHAT?!?!

Okay, who wrote this dictionary? Those sound like antonyms to me.Who even thought to translate that word "anah" into gentleness, in both the ESV and the KJV? I don't get it! Why can't it be:

"Your sweet reasonableness made me great"

or even

"Your goodness made me great"?

But even as I puzzled and puzzled--I realized it's actually really really effective. How humbling that David could be so submissive to what had the appearance of very harsh dealings--and be able to see beyond the pain to God's goodness, and call them "gentle". Affliction from the loving heart and active kindness of God that must sometimes appear harsh in order to produce the kind of heart He desires--one that submits to and even blesses the rod!

The making of a truly great man indeed!

- - - 
"For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, 

and those who find it are few." (Matt. 7:14) 

Narrow and hard, not to discourage any from walking it, but because it must be to produce the steadfast, sinewy disciples Jesus wants. Few find it because few see God's good "gentleness" in suffering, and don't recognize it as the way to Life. Christ bore God's wrath...will we complain over the suffering that is gentleness by comparison? Jesus is the way, the truth and the life--and to walk with Him means to participate in both His joys and His suffering. Oh, how we must wrap ourselves up (like a crocodile in its scales!) with the promise of His final salvation! This isn't easy stuff.

But generations of the faithful tell us--
it is good.

- - - 

"The hill though high, I covet to ascend;

The difficulty will not me offend;

For I perceive the way to life lies here:

Come, pluck up heart, let's neither faint nor fear.

Better, though difficult, the right way to go,

Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe."
  
 --John Bunyan 

"Strive to choose, not that which is easiest, but that which is most difficult. Do not deprive your soul of the agility which it needs to mount up to Him."

 --St. John of the Cross

Followin'

"'If any man would come after me, let him deny himself.' The disciple must say to himself the same words Peter said of Christ when he denied Him: 'I know not this man.' Self-denial is never just a series of isolated acts of mortification or asceticism. It is not suicide, for there is an element of self-will even in that. To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only Him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us. Once more, all that self-denial can say is: 'He leads the way, keep close to Him.'"

 

--Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Contentment

"Contentment is grounded in the confidence that the Lord has and will provide all of your needs."

--Timothy Witmer

To Minister

 "Selfish feeding on our own troubles, and continual pouring over our sorrows, are one secret of the melancholy misery in which many spend their lives. If we trust in Jesus Christ's blood, let us remember His example. 

He ever "went about doing good" (Acts 10:38). 

He came not to be ministered to, but to minister—as well as to give His life a ransom for many. Let us try to be like Him. Let us walk in the steps of the good Samaritan, and give help wherever help is really needed. Even a kind word spoken in season is often a mighty blessing. That Old Testament promise is not yet worn out:   

"Blessed is the man that provides for the sick and needy—the Lord shall deliver him in the time of trouble" (Psalm 41:1)."

--J.C. Ryle

Through Me

Love through me, Love of God,

There is no love in me,

O Fire of love, light Thou the love,

That burns perpetually.

Flow through me, Peace of God,

Calm river, flow until

No wind can blow, no current stir

A ripple of self-will.

Shine through me, Joy of God,

Make me like Thy clear air

Which Thou dost pour Thy colors thro'

As though it were not there.

O blessed Love of God,

That all may taste and see

How good Thou art, once more I pray,

Love through me, even me.

--Amy Carmichael

Justification = Peace

The peace of the true Christian is not a vague, dreamy feeling, without reason and without foundation. They can show cause for it. They build upon solid ground. They have peace with God, because they are justified. Without justification it is impossible to have real peace with God. Conscience forbids it. Sin is a mountain between a person and God, and must be taken away. The sense of guilt lies heavy on the heart, and must be removed. Unpardoned sin will murder peace. The true Christian knows all this well. Their peace arises from a consciousness of their sins being forgiven, and their guilt being put away. Their house is not built on sandy ground. Their well is not a broken cistern, which can hold no water. They have peace with God, because they are justified.

~ J.C. Ryle

Books

Never let good books take the place of the Bible. Drink from the Well, not from the streams that flow from the Well.   --Amy Carmichael

Serve, give, fight, toil, labor

"Teach us, good Lord, to serve Thee 

as Thou deservest;

to give and not count the cost;

to fight and not to heed the wounds;

to toil and not to seek for rest;

to labor and not to ask for any

reward save that of knowing that

we do Thy will,

 O Lord our God."

--Amy Carmichael

Our King

"Our King has come. He is not like other kings.

 

Other kings are conceived and born, having a specific 

           point at which they come into existence.

Our King had no beginning; He has always existed.

 

Other kings are born into splendor and riches, or obtain 

          them when they usurp a throne.

Our King left all the splendor and riches to be born into poverty.

 

Other kings act to consolidate their power and to hold onto it 

          at all cost.

Our King limited the exercise of His power for a time.

 

Other kings surrender their kingdoms through defeat or death.

Our King established His kingdom through death, and, as a result, His kingdom will know no end.

 

Indeed, our King has come, and He will reign forever and ever."

 

-Tom Strode

http://communityofthecross.blogspot.com

Praying Mood

“We should pray when we are in a praying mood, for it would be sinful to neglect so fair an opportunity. We should pray when we are not in the proper mood, for it would be dangerous to remain in so unhealthy a condition.”  --Charles Spurgeon

Minor matters...

Yet another wonderful quote to ponder by J.C. Ryle...and one I've especially been chewing on in light of Romans 14: "Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand." (v. 4)

---

J.C. Ryle:

"We must not expect all believers in Christ to be exactly like one another. We must not set down others as having no grace, because their experience does not entirely tally with our own. The sheep in the Lord's flock have each their own peculiarities. The trees in the Lord's garden are not all precisely alike. All true servants of God agree in the principal things of religion. All are led by one Spirit. All feel their sins, and all trust in Christ. All repent, all believe, and all are holy. But in minor matters they often differ widely. Let not one despise another on this account. There will be Martha's and there will be Mary's in the Church until the Lord comes again."


---
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." (John 13:34)

Wisdom

"It is amazing how many people let life happen to them rather than asking God for wisdom in their decisions. He promises to give you wisdom and knowledge for everything you do. When you make a decision knowing that it is based on the wisdom of God, joy and peace cannot help but follow."

--Don Clowers

Bar of Steel

"A bar of steel worth $5, 

when wrought into horseshoes, is worth $10.

If made into needles, it is worth $350;

if into penknife blades, it is worth $32,000;

if into springs for watches it is worth $250,000.

What a drilling the poor bar must undergo to be worth this! But the more it is manipulated, the more it is hammered, and passed through the fire, and beaten and pounded and polished, the greater the value.

May this parable help us to be silent, still, and long-suffering. Those who suffer most are capable of yielding most; and it is through pain that God is getting the most out of us, for His glory and the blessing of others."

--Selected 

(from Streams in the Desert, Oct. 24)

No Mistakes

"Let us remember this as we look forward to the days yet to come: We know not what our days may be - bright or dark, many or few - but we know that we are in the hands of Him who does all things well. He will not err in any of His dealings with us. He will take away and give - He will move and He will settle - with perfect wisdom, at the right time, in the right way. The great Shepherd of the sheep makes no mistakes. He leads every lamb of His flock by the right way to the city of habitation."

--J. C. Ryle 

Plumb Line

"It matters nothing who says a thing in religion, whether an ancient father, or a modern Bishop, or a learned divine. Is it in the Bible? Can it be proved by the Bible? If not, it is not to be believed. It matters nothing how beautiful and clever sermons or religious books may appear. Are they in the smallest degree contrary to Scripture? If they are, they are rubbish and poison, and guides of no value. What says the Scripture? This is the only rule, measure, and gauge of religious truth. "To the law and to the testimony," says Isaiah, "if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isaiah 8:20)"

 --J.C. Ryle

Waiting

"It is on God that we should wait, as a waiter waits--not for but on the customer--alert, watchful, attentive, with no agenda of his own, ready to do whatever is wanted. 'My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.' (Ps. 62:5 KJV) In Him alone lie our security, our confidence, our trust. A spirit of restlessness and resistance can never wait, but one who believes he is loved with an everlasting love, and knows that underneath are the everlasting arms, will find strength and peace."  "I do know that waiting on God requires the willingness to bear uncertainty, to carry within oneself the unanswered question, lifting the heart to God about it whenever it intrudes upon one’s thoughts. Its easy to talk oneself into a decision that has no permanence – easier sometimes than to wait patiently." -- Elisabeth Elliot

Security

"Where does your security lie? Is God your refuge, your hiding place, your stronghold, your shepherd, your counselor, your friend, your redeemer, your saviour, your guide? If He is, you don't need to search any further for security."   ~Elisabeth Elliot

Ryle yet again :)

 

"True repentance is never alone in the heart of any person. It always has a companion—a blessed companion. It is always accompanied by lively faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Wherever faith is, there is repentance; 

wherever repentance is, there is always faith.

I do not decide which comes first—whether repentance comes before faith, or faith before repentance. But I am bold to say that the two graces are never found separate, one from the other. 

Just as you cannot have the sun without light, 

or ice without cold, 

or fire without heat, 

or water without moisture—

so long you will never find true faith without true repentance, and you will never find true repentance without lively faith. The two things will always go side by side."

~ J.C. Ryle

Take Courage!

"Take courage, fainting Christians: you are encompassed with a great cloud of witnesses! The race that you are running has been run by millions before; you think that no one ever had such trials as yourself—but every step that you are journeying has been safely walked by others; the valley of the shadow of death has been securely passed by a multitude of trembling, doubting ones like yourself. They had their fears and anxieties, like you—but they were not cast away. The world, the flesh and the devil can never overwhelm the weakest person who will set their face towards God. These millions journeyed on in bitterness and tears like your own, and yet not one perished—they all reached their eternal home."

~ J.C. Ryle