“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20, NASB).
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Contents

1) Wait on the Lord — Psalm 27 (Russ Bowman)
2) Recognizing Idioms (Jerry Fite)
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Wait on the Lord — Psalm 27

Russ Bowman

One of the greatest – and most challenging – admonitions in the entire Bible is found in Ps. 27.14: “Wait on the LORD. Be of good courage and He will strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the LORD!” There are numerous circumstances scattered along the road of life which test our trust in God. Trial and temptation, death and disease, opposition and oppression, failure and frustration each have their own peculiar impact upon our confidence in God. But few things test us like waiting tests us. Comparatively, many followers of Jesus are more than willing to stand up and contend for what is right, to actively defend our faith, to set our heart and persist in our service when confronted with difficulties. Like Peter in the garden, we’re ready to draw our sword and fight. But it is a much greater challenge to put our sword away and wait for the Lord to accomplish His plans and purposes.

We are not alone in when it comes to the challenge of waiting. Abraham waited twenty-five years for the child of promise. Moses waited four decades before God sent him back to Egypt. Saul failed to wait a full seven days for Samuel to arrive, and who knows how long David waited for God to set him on the throne of Israel. Esau couldn’t wait for supper, and sold his birthright. Job had to endure horrible loss and unfair accusation before God reminded him of His power, and still we do not know that God ever explained to him what had happened. Habakkuk and Zechariah cried to God in their confusion, waiting for answers and resolution. The prodigal son couldn’t wait to leave home. The farmer waits for the early and latter rain (Jas. 5.7). The souls under the altar are told to wait for God’s vindication of their unjust death (Rev. 6.10-11). Waiting is hard.

Yet, waiting on God is the ultimate expression of trust.

Psalm 27 is somewhat uncommon compared to many of David’s compositions. Most are reflective expressions of emotion, directed toward God in supplication or praise. David’s heart is laid bare in the majority of his psalms. He is crying out in pain, or fear, or confusion, or despair. Or, he is singing the praises and hailing the virtues and glories of the LORD. And, while he occasionally calls upon the reader to join him or engage in some kind of activity, most of his psalms are expressive. Rarely, however, he will offer a psalm that is purely instructive. Psalm 37 is a series of admonitions and imperatives. Similarly, Psalms 33, 34, and 66 have some directive at their heart. I would propose that Psalm 27 is intended to fall into this didactic category, though it is unique in design.

This psalm begins with statements of supreme confidence in God (vv. 1-6). David sees the LORD as his “light…salvation…strength.” He notes God’s past deliverance when confronted by armies of his enemies. The value of association and intimacy with YAHWEH is clear in his desire to “dwell in the house of the LORD.” He is unwavering in the certainty of God’s victory on his behalf, and that faith is expressed in sacrifice and praise. However, beginning in v. 7, many see a change in tone, as David cries out for mercy, assurance, and association. This tone, it is often argued, pervades the psalm through v. 13. It has even been suggested that Ps. 27 is a composite, either written by two different authors, or by David in two different circumstances. Please consider an alternative.

What if David has a simple admonition for us? “Wait on the LORD. Be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the LORD.” Just how do I get there? We all need this most powerful ability. But waiting is not merely the product of a simple decision. Instead, waiting on the LORD is the product of a well-developed faith. In v. 13, David notes that he would have “lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” From whence such conviction? From experience.

Vv. 1-3 offer what David had learned from his own past. God had delivered him. We do not know the circumstances that David has in mind, nor do we need to know them. David knew what he had experienced, and was confident in God’s protection. Thus, “the LORD is my light and my salvation…the LORD is the strength of my life” (v.1). Vv. 4-6 record the impact of God’s activity upon David. He was utterly devoted to God, and nothing appealed to him more than dwelling in the very presence of YAHWEH. Residing in the tent of God, marveling at God’s glory, rejoicing in God’s wisdom was, to David, the ultimate protection. Moreover, as David looks to the uncertainty of the future, and the almost inevitability of further opposition, he knows that God will continue to hear him and accompany him. Vv. 7-12 are not expressions of hesitation and fear, but considerations of temporal uncertainty wherein God will again be the light, the salvation, the strength. Perhaps v. 12 notes an enemy at the gates, but David knows that the LORD will “take care of me” and “lead me in a smooth path” (vv. 10-11), even if his own parents were to desert him. It is this confidence in God that prompts the declaration of v. 13, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed…”

God calls us to trust…even trust in its most difficult form. When life is hard. When the enemy is near. When all others forsake us. When we can see no end. When defeat seems inevitable. When we do not know what to do. When we realize that there is nothing we can do. Then is when we look back and reflect upon the activity of God in the lives of His saints. God delivers His people, even though we may have to wait…and wait…and wait. Even if our waiting has to transcend this temporal realm. Trust never loses sight of “the goodness of God in the land of the living.”

Wait on the Lord.

— Via Focus Online, October 28, 2020

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Recognizing Idioms

Jerry Fite

The English word “idiom” comes from the Greek word “idios,” meaning “one’s own.” The word is used recognizing “the language peculiar to any particular author or speaker,” or “the language peculiar to one nation or tribe, as opposed to other languages or dialects.” 

E. W. Bullinger reminds us of an important fact as we strive to properly interpret the Scriptures: “The fact must ever be remembered that, while the language of the New Testament is Greek, the agents and instruments employed by the Holy Spirit were Hebrews” (Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, page 819). Therefore, Hebrew idioms, phrases peculiar to Hebrews and their way of speaking occur in our New Testament. We must recognize them, or we will not interpret the Scriptures properly. 

The phrase “to hear” is used idiomatically in I Corinthians 14:2: “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not to men but to God, for no one heareth him.” “No one heareth,” literally interpreted as no one hearing words, would render a false meaning of the author. It is an idiom indicating no one “understands” the speaker who speaks in a language he does not know. The idiom conveys the concept of “believing” in John 9:27. Here, the man cured from blindness answers his persistent questioners with, “I have told you already, and ye did not hear…” They heard his words but did not “believe” him. The idiom also indicates “receiving” in John 8:43. Jesus says, “Why do ye not understand My speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word.” They were not hard of hearing literal words, but they refused to “receive” His word. So, “to hear” is properly interpreted “to understand,” “to believe” and “to receive.”

Recognizing this idiom keeps one from rushing to the position that the Bible contradicts itself. In giving the account of Paul hearing the voice of the Lord, Luke writes, “and the men that journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but beholding no man” (Acts 9:7). Later, Luke records Paul’s words of the same event as “And they that were with me beheld indeed the light, but they heard not the voice of Him that spake to me” (Acts 22:9). The first passage is in the genitive case meaning they heard “the sound” of the voice. The latter passage, in the accusative case, indicates they did not hear “the subject matter.” In the first passage they heard the sound of the voice, while the second verse indicates that, while they heard the sound, they did not understand what was being said. Knowing “to hear” is used idiomatically not only guards us from a rash conclusion indicting the Scriptures, but enriches our knowledge with the proper interpretation.

Some believers are troubled that Jesus was not in the tomb for the full three days and nights as He seems to promise in Matthew 12:40. As Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, Jesus promised that the Son of man will “be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Such fear is unfounded when we recognize the phrase as a Hebrew idiom covering any parts of three days and nights. Esther says she and her maidens will not eat or drink for “three days, night or day” and yet it was on the third day Esther went to see the king (Esther 4:16, 5:1). Jesus was in the tomb part of Friday, all of Saturday and part of Sunday. Jesus did not contradict His promise. Jesus and writers of the New Testament used idioms. Recognize them! 

— Via Glad Tidings, Vol. XXVIII, No. 28, July 15, 2018

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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation

1) Hear the gospel — for that is how faith comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30-31).
 
2) Believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (John 8:24; John 3:18).

3) Repent of sins.  For every accountable person has sinned (Romans 3:23; Romans 3:10), which causes one to be spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1) and separated from God (Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 6:23). Therefore, repentance of sin is necessary (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).  For whether the sin seems great or small, there will still be the same penalty for either (Matt. 12:36-37; 2 Cor. 5:10) — and even for a lie (Rev. 21:8).

4) Confess faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9-10; Acts 8:36-38).

5) Be baptized in water for the remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Pet. 3:21).  This is the final step that puts one into Christ (Gal. 3:26-27).  For from that baptism, one is then raised as a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17), having all sins forgiven and beginning a new life as a Christian (Rom. 6:3-4). For the one being baptized does so “through faith in the working of God” (Col. 2:12). In other words, believing that God will keep His word and forgive after one submits to these necessary steps. And now as a Christian, we then need to…

6) Continue in the faith by living for the Lord; for, if not, salvation can be lost (Matt. 24:13; Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).
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Tebeau Street
CHURCH OF CHRIST
1402 Tebeau Street, Waycross, GA  31501

Sunday: 9 a.m. Bible Classes and 10 a.m. Worship Service.   Congregational Song Service: 5 p.m. for every first Sunday of the month.

Wednesday: 7 p.m. Bible Classes

evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (912) 281-9917
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com

https://thomastedwards.com/go/all.htm (This is a link to the older version of the Gospel Observer website, but with bulletins going back to March 4, 1990.)