Advent Worship

45 days until the first Lord’s Day of Advent.

Yesterday, in our co-ed theology reading group, we were discussing the human soul. Toward the last ten minutes of the hour, the conversation turned to Jesus and His fully human nature. This group had discussed the Trinity for several weeks last summer, and elements of that study came back up, as well.

We reminded each other of several key elements of our confession of the Trinity: the Persons are distinguished (not divided) in the Trinity, perichoresis/περιχώρησις (one group member remembered it as “the dance” between the Persons of the one God), and how Christ “operates” according to both of His natures. I used to fly through theology proper (the study of God in Himself) when teaching Systematic Theology. I wish I could go back and change that. What I love is how theology proper connects with Christology. Yesterday, theology proper made its way to Christology via anthropology (the theology of humanity). A rich journey. Calvin started his Institutes with the statement, “all…true and sound wisdom, consists in two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves” (1.1.1). In the section we were considering yesterday, he repeated this idea: “…we cannot have a clear and complete knowledge of God unless it is accompanied by a corresponding knowledge of ourselves” (1.15.1). He means that knowing ourselves as created requires a knowledge of Him as Creator; it also means that we must know ourselves as needing a redeemer before knowing Him as Redeemer. These meet in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

I suggested to them that it’s helpful to break down the name and title, “Jesus Christ, Son of God” (Mark 1:1; John 20:31; Acts 8:37; Romans 1:4; 2 Corinthians 1:19; 1 John 5:20; 2 John 3).

He is eternally the Son of God, fully and truly God in His essence. The essence and being of God is not divided; He is simple (as opposed to composite). He does not change. This is the Son, distinguished in Person from the Father and Son, yet one with them as God in essence/substance/nature/being.

He was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit. On the eighth day after His birth He was given the name “Jesus” by Mary and Joseph (Luke 2:21). This is the name of His human nature. Of course, the name has a theological (Matthew 1:21) and historical (the name “Jesus” is the same as “Joshua”) import. It’s a name, however, given to Him in His newborn humanity.

“Christ” is the title for God’s chosen King over all (see Psalm 2). This is a name properly His after His resurrection, when He had received full authority in all things (Matthew 28:18). It is a name related to the Davidic covenant.

Even as the Son, in His humanity, is located at the right hand of the Father in heaven, His divine nature is spiritually involved in the “dance” with the Father and Spirit as fully God. He is not limited in His divinity.

This is glorious mystery. We joked that as you begin to get a grasp of how to speak of the Trinity rightly, we are introduced into the union of eternally divine and human in the Son and have to work through even more amazing concepts.

He is worthy of our studying, discussion, learning, and mental wrestling – this, too, is worship (especially when we do it together). It is obedience to the command to love God with all of our minds (Matthew 22:37//Mark 12:30//Luke 10:27). Give Him glory by working to think and speak rightly of Him, beloved!

The Omnipresent in a Manger

After finishing Louis Berkhof’s Systematic Theology a month ago with my Thursday men’s theology reading group, we’re planning on starting John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion early next year. Along with trying to memorize Hebrews 10:4-10, I’ve been studying the Institutes in my “personal” study time.

I came across this passage in the Institutes today: “They thrust upon us as something absurd the fact that if the Word of God became flesh, then He was confined within the narrow prison of an earthly body. This is mere impudence! For even if the Word in His immeasurable essence united with the nature of man into one person, we do not imagine that He was confined therein. Here is something marvelous: the Son of God descended from heaven in such a way that, without leaving heaven, He willed to be borne in the virgin’s womb, to go about the earth, and to hang upon the cross; yet He continuously filled the world even as He had done from the beginning” (2.13.4).

At least two Scriptures point us to the Son’s omnipresence (note that both of these are direct quotes from the Lord Jesus):
• “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that [as it says in Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15] by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father Who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst” (Matthew 18:15-20).
• “…the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:16-20).

Of course, the Son is present with His covenant people by the presence of the Holy Spirit, Who is “the Spirit of Christ” (Romans 8:9; 1 Peter 1:11) and “the Spirit of Jesus” (Acts 16:7; Philippians 1:19). But He is also, because He is “God of God…very God of very God…being of one substance with the Father” (Nicene Creed) and “in this Trinity none are before or after another, none is greater or less than another…equal to the Father as touching His Godhead” (Athanasian Creed), omnipresent as God. We attribute to God omnipresence, and therefore, since the Son is fully God, we must attribute omnipresence to the Son.

We may stumble over this confession, especially during Advent, as we consider the mysterious wonder of the eternal, divine Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us (John 1:1,2,14). How could the Son be omnipresent and yet in a body dwelling as one of us among us during the years of His earthly life? How can the New Testament, after His ascension, locate Him at the right hand of the Father in heaven (Acts 2:33; 7:56; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1 Peter 3:22; Revelation 3:21)?

Why is this strange? If we confess the Son to be fully God, are there not lessons from the Old Testament to learn about His omnipresence? God, Who cannot be contained in space or time, manifests His glorious, Personal Presence in places like the Tabernacle and Temple in the Old Testament. No one believes Him to be located solely between the cherubim, or solely even on the throne in Heaven. Just as God was manifest between the cherubim and yet omnipresent, the Person of God the Son is manifestly present in His human nature/body, and yet as God is omnipresent.

As Stephen preaches before his martyrdom: “Our fathers had the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen. And having received it in their turn, our fathers brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David. David found favor in God’s sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for Him. However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says [in Isaiah 66:1,2]: ‘“Heaven is My throne, and earth is the footstool of My feet; what kind of house will you build for Me?” says the Lord, “Or what place is there for My repose? Was it not My hand which made all these things?”’” (Acts 7:44-50).

Hercules Collins, a 17th century Baptist pastor, gave his congregation a teaching on the Son’s omnipresence. After speaking of Christ’s ascension into heaven, Pastor Collins writes: “Q. 46. Is not Christ with us then until the end of the world, as He has promised? A. Christ is true God, and true man, and so according to His manhood is not now on earth, but according to His Godhead, His majesty, His grace and Spirit is at no time apart from us. Q. 47. Are not by this means the two natures in Christ pulled apart, if His humanity be not wherever His divinity? A. No. Seeing His divinity is incomprehensible, and everywhere present, it follows necessarily that the same [the Son’s divine nature] is without the bounds of His human nature which He took to Himself, and yet is nevertheless in it, and abides personally united to it” (Orthodox Catechism, 1680). 

This Advent, as we adore the baby in the manger, let us worship in awe at the reality of the omnipresent God the Son.

Seeing Christ in the Spirit

I preached from Job on Resurrection Day. He makes a gutsy statement of faith while walking through the valley of the shadow of death: "Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God; Whom I myself shall behold, and Whom my eyes will see and not another" (Job 19:26,27).

Moses' request is equally surprising: "I pray You, show me Your glory!" (Exodus 33:18).

Then there's Philip. The Greeks had come to him, requesting audience with Jesus: "Sir, we wish to see Jesus" (John 12:21) . Not long after this, he asks Jesus to see the Father (14:8). Jesus responds, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (14:9).

The Bible teaches that God (the Father) is invisible (Deuteronomy 4:15; John 1:18; Romans 1:20; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 6:16; Hebrews 11:27; 1 John 4:12). He is Spirit, and has not a body like men (Catechism for Young Children, Q.9). But some of the greatest moments of faith displayed in the Bible have great saints proclaiming either a belief that they will see God or making request to see God. Seeing the invisible God. The Bible has no problem with tensions that drive us apart from each other in intramural battle.

Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). I suspect He is all we will ever see of God the Father. In the Revelation (a very descriptive book), the Father is only described as "the One sitting on the throne" (4:2,9,10; 5:1,7,13; 6:16; 7:10,15; 19:4; 20:11; 21:5). When we look at the Son, we see the Father.

But what about now? The Son has ascended to the right hand of the Father. We cannot see Him. This does not hinder our relationship with Him, of course. "Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:8).

In my meditation on 1 Peter this week, I've paid attention to how the apostle speaks of the Holy Spirit.

He is "the Spirit of Christ" (1:11). The Son and the Spirit are distinct Persons of the one true God. The angel tells Mary "the Holy Spirit will come upon" her, causing her to conceive "the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). The Holy Spirit did not become the Son in her womb, but was the power that caused the virgin to conceive. The "Holy Spirit descended upon [Jesus] in bodily form like a dove" (3:22) at His baptism. Jesus teaches His disciples to pray to the "heavenly Father" to ask for "the Holy Spirit" (11:13). The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God, but three distinct Persons. And yet, despite the distinction, there is such a unity in essence, an inter-penetration (the theological term is perichoresis - an eternal dance of the Three-in-One). The Son and Spirit are distinct Persons of one God, so we can speak of "the Spirit of Christ" without confusing the two Persons or separating them into heterodoxy. Paul proclaims of the risen Christ that "the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit" (1 Corinthians 15:45). The Son and Spirit are distinct, but they are One. In Romans 8:9, the Holy Spirit is "the Spirit of God" and "the Spirit of Christ" (a parallel underlining the fact that "God" and "Christ" are One). In Philippians 1:19, Paul tells the Church he is resting in "the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." The Spirit in us "intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:26,27) and the Son "Who is at the right hand of God...intercedes for us" (8:34). The Spirit Who is in us is One with the Son Who saves us.

He is "the Holy Spirit" (1:12), and the One Who makes us holy (1:2). Just as the heavenly praise of God focuses on His holiness (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8), Jesus is described throughout early Christian preaching as "the holy One" (Acts 2:27; 3:14; 4:27,30; 13:35). "By [the Father's] doing you are in Christ Jesus, Who became to us...sanctification" (1 Corinthians 1:30). How does the holiness of the Father mediated through the Son come to us? Through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

He is "the Spirit of glory and of God" (4:14). Likewise, the Son "is the radiance of [the Father's] glory" (Hebrews 1:3). When Jesus was present, the apostles (and all the other witnesses) "saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father" (John 1:14). It is the glory of Yahweh, the very glory Isaiah saw (John 12:41; see Isaiah 6:1-5). The divine Spirit Who glory Who fills believers brings the glorious Son, Who is the glory of the Father, to us by His presence. It is in the Person of the Holy Spirit that we are made to "see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4).

"...you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (2:5). We need to remember: the adjective "spiritual" should have a capital "S." While you and I have countless friends, co-workers, family members, and neighbors who would describe themselves as "spiritual" with a lower-case "s," the Bible doesn't have this category. If you are truly spiritual, it is because of the presence and work of the Person of the Holy Spirit in your life. A "spiritual house" is a house for the Holy Spirit, not a vaguely spiritual attitude or awareness or leaning. It is Personal (capital "P"). "You are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:22). And, as I've pointed out before, we may need to have a more carefully nuanced reading of a passage typically used to teach the stewardship of our personal physical bodies: "...do you [plural] not know that your [plural] body [singular] is a temple [plural] of the Holy Spirit Who is in you [plural], Whom you [plural] have from God, and that you [plural] are not your [plural] own? For you [plural] have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your [plural] body [singular]" (1 Corinthians 6:19,20). Paul uses "bodies" (plural) in 6:15. I think he's transitioned into a bigger statement here. He is speaking of a different Body at this point, a Body elaborated on further later in the letter (10:16,17; 11:24,27,29; eighteen times in chapter 12!). A "spiritual house" (to bring us back to 1 Peter 2:5) is the collected group of believers fit together, cleansed, and sanctified to be the very place the Presence of God is manifested. It is built and dwelt in by the Holy Spirit, and that alone makes it "spiritual." Peter also speaks of "spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." This is a statement of Trinity. "Spiritual sacrifices" are "Holy Spirit-empowered and -originated sacrifices." They are "acceptable to God," Who is identified as "God the Father" in 1:2,3. They are offered through "Jesus Christ," the Son. These are not three separate acts, but a single Mind and Will operating simultaneously as three Persons for His eternal glory and our eternal joy.

The Father, the invisible One Who has given us the saving Son and relationship-sealing Spirit, receives for His glory.

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The Son, Who is High Priest and Mediator between us and God (and is the visible image of the invisible God), is the One through Whom we offer ourselves completely.

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The Holy Spirit, Who indwells us, holds us in relationship with God, and "fits us for heaven to live with Him there" (to paraphrase "Away in a Manger"), is the One Who works the Word He authored through us by His power and wisdom, so that our actions are "Spiritual sacrifices." He also reveals the Son, Who is the invisible image of the invisible God, to us through the Word He has authored. We see the Father by seeing the Son through the Word illuminated to us by the Holy Spirit.

These days 36 days before Pentecost (a day we should consider as importantly as Easter, if we want to value what the early Church valued in the N.T. - the work of Christ was unto the giving of the Spirit), let us take the time to think carefully through these biblically-revealed truths about the Holy Spirit!

Dust storm on NM-146. Jesus' comparison of the Spirit with wind (John 3:8) is apt. The wind is invisible, but its effects are undeniable.

Rejoicing in Citizens of a Different City

“I said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord. All the good things I have come from You.’ As for those in the land who belong to You, they are the great ones in whom is all my joy. Those who have traded for another god bring many troubles on themselves” (Psalm 16:2-4a, New Life Version).

My youngest daughter has discovered the joy of reading in the last year, and, much to her parents’ joy, seems to enjoy only reading her Bible. She has a little notebook in which she copies passages of Scripture. A few weeks ago she brought me her copy of Psalm 16. That night she read it in family devotion before bedtime. It was the same day as the second debate among those seeking the Republican Party’s nomination for the 2016 presidential race.

Read the excerpt from Psalm 16 again. I didn’t watch the debate. Surveying the reactions and commentaries of fellow believers on social media was far more informative to me – not necessarily concerning the candidates, but the worldview and political theory my fellow believers were proclaiming (whether they intended to or not). A question which first occurred to me four years ago came to mind again, especially in the context of the Psalm of that day: If a candidate thinks most like us in the areas of economy, foreign policy, social issues, and governmental theory, but not in Christology, and we still support that candidate, what does that say about the priority of Christ in our thinking (not to mention our lives)?

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1,2, New American Standard).

“But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (Ephesians 4:20-24).

We are not supposed to think like non-believers, even if the non-believers are in our political party and/or share certain political ideals. I have seen many Christians get heavily involved in politics with a good desire to bring a godly influence into that realm, only to be more influenced by the ideals of that domain than they are the Scripture and true Christian doctrine (especially when they spend far more hours in the week dedicated to politics rather than sitting under biblical teaching or studying the Word with others). It would seem that the Old Testament adage is true: holiness is not contagious, but uncleanness certainly is (Haggai 2:11-13).

“Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘And do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,’ Says the Lord Almighty. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1). Does this have application for believers and civil politics?

I freely grant that the New Testament doesn’t explicitly address how believers are to operate in a democratic Republic. However, I would suggest that there are a lot of questions rooted in systematic theology that believers need to have answered from the Scripture before they either operate in the realm of politics or speak their political opinions in public. For just one example: How do you understand the Bible’s doctrine of sin in unbelievers? How is this sin to be dealt with? What is the remedy for it? Can we be united politically to someone who doesn’t believe in the need for divine forgiveness of sin, or someone who bows down before graven images, or someone who seeks a relationship with God through any mediator but the “one mediator...between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5)? Answers to these questions should and will radically (from the root, that is) determine your political language and decision-making. There are many other questions that come to mind, but ultimately they all come back to a trinitarian view of God (and, by extension, a biblical Christology) and how our commitment to that God should determine our politics and political alliances. Can support of a non-Christian candidate logically reconcile with your understanding of Christian theology and biblical doctrine? Believers should be “continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42), for the Spirit works through these. When we do not do this, I am not the least surprised that Christianity becomes more political (in a worldly sense) than biblical.

Further, I worry about our seeking common ground based on the “Judeo-Christian God” or “Judeo-Christian morality.”

I know there is not a “Judeo-Christian God,” for “who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also” (1 John 2:22,23). From a biblical standpoint, there is only the Christian God. The claims of Christ and the teachings concerning Him in the Bible cannot legitimately be separated from a conception of God and still be Christian or biblical. Anything else is “antichrist.” If there is not a “Judeo-Christian God,” then it follows that there is no true “Judeo-Christian morality” or ethic. Because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, all morality and ethics are seen through what He has accomplished and what He demands (Matthew 28:20). Can a Christian really separate morality and ethics from the claims of Jesus Christ in Bible to be bound with those who reject Jesus Christ and all the words of His apostles (the New Testament – and the Old Testament, since we must read the O.T. through the N.T., 2 Corinthians 3:14-16)?

I fear we want “a king...like all the nations” (1 Samuel 8:5) more than we want a leader passionate for and wholly submitted to “the King of the nations” (Jeremiah 10:7). During the 2012 election season, I saw many Christians throw their support behind a non-Christian (Mormons are not Christian because they do not confess the Christ as the Church has historically and biblically confessed Him for two millennia). Can we fellowship in our politics without fellowshipping in our worship? Can a Christian really separate devotion to Christ from the arena of politics so neatly?

Return to the Bible and its Christ. Build a solid foundation of biblical Christian theology and ethics, and from there evaluate the candidates. Build no bridges with those who take the name of Christ upon themselves in vanity, but cling to the Christ with all you are and in all you do. If he or she does not confess the Christ of the Bible, then I cannot cast my vote in that direction. Preach the biblical Christ and His Gospel to yourself and others every day. Sit with other believers under biblical teaching as often as possible (especially with others not as on-fire for politics and current events as you are – you need that balance). And think, think for the glory of God in Christ, my beloved. Think clearly and biblically on these things.

“I said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord. All the good things I have come from You.’ As for those in the land who belong to You, they are the great ones in whom is all my joy. Those who have traded for another god bring many troubles on themselves” (Psalm 16:2-4a, New Life Version).

May our joy be like that of the Psalmist, found in others in relationship with God through Jesus Christ. All others are objects of evangelism and prayer - not hope, joy, or even political support.

Push for the summit in the Mount Taylor 50K (2014).
Scripture tells believers to be ever-climbing to heaven
in this life in all we do (Philippians 3:13-31; Colossians 3:1-4;
Hebrews 11:13-16).

Glory in the Lament of the Believer

“But of the Son He says [in Psalm 102:25-27], ‘...You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands; they will perish, but you remain; and they all will become old like a garment, and like a mantle You will roll them up; like a garment they will also be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not come to an end’” (Hebrews 1:8,10-12).

Who is this “He” Who speaks of the Son as the unchanging Creator and Consummator of all material existence? He is “God” in Hebrews 1:1, a “God” Who “in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, Whom He appointed heir of all things, through Whom also He made the world” (1:2). God the Father speaks of His Son in this quote from Psalm 102.

Yesterday I was reading through the Psalms for the day (12,42,72,102,132 – one of our men called us to worship with Psalm 42) and noticed something interesting in Psalm 102. This Psalm is the one which is quoted in Hebrews 1 to prove the absolute and eternal uniqueness of the Son, relying on the Father’s witness from the Scriptures. How does the Father testify? Through God the Holy Spirit. Twice in the letter to the Hebrews the Holy Spirit is said to be speaking through ancient inspired Scripture (3:7-11//Psalm 95:7-11; 10:15-17//Jeremiah 31:33,34).

The Father speaks of His Son through the Spirit-breathed Scripture. Trinitarian scripture-based theology. Today. And it shines through in far more than pulpits or theology classes. Consider the Psalm from which we drew this precious truth.

The title: “A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD.” After the title, verses 1-11 live up to the title.

Verse 12 is the hinge of the Psalm. Like so many Psalms, the inspired singer is never reluctant to vent his heartbreak and complaint. Just lamenting is not enough, though. The Psalms almost always follow this by speaking truth (about God) to pain. The Psalm doesn't deny the pain, but it doesn't let it dictate worldview or reality. It speaks truth in the midst of the pain. Verse 12 begins with that great scriptural word “but” (in the Hebrew it’s a single prefixed letter, ו). After this verses 12-28 speak truth about the eternal God (102:12), the compassionate and gracious God (102:13), the building and revealing God (102:16), the hearing God (102:17), and the condescending God (102:19,20).

Then we come to our text from Hebrews 1:10-12. I want to quote it again, but not in its New Testament context (the Father testifying about the Son through the Holy Spirit). When the Holy Spirit originally inspired this text, it was in the midst of pain, loneliness, weakness, and mocking. Not of God, of course, but of the Psalmist. A human being having a very human day:

“I say, ‘O my God, do not take me away in the midst of my days,

Your years are throughout all generations.

Of old You founded the earth,

And the heavens are the work of Your hands.

Even they will perish, but You endure;

And all of them will wear out like a garment;

Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed.

But You are the same,

And Your years will not come to an end.

The children of Your servants will continue,

And their descendants will be established before You” (Psalm 102:24-28).

In the midst of a prayer of pain and sorrow, the Holy Spirit inspired words that testified to the Father’s exalting of the Son. This is the treasure of the Psalter, and why it needs to be the regular spiritual diet of the believer. We need the balm of its truth applied to our struggles, doubts, fears, and pains every day. The Holy Spirit speaks great transcendent truth that raises us up out of today (into God’s faithfulness into future generations and eternity) and out of ourselves (into the glorious eternal Son of God). The text of Hebrews 1:10-12 doesn’t arise out of a theology textbook. It arises out of Psalm 102:25-27 in the plea of a hurting believer.

Even in our grieving prayer, the Holy Spirit does the will of the Father by glorifying the Son (this is the beautiful truth of Romans 8:26-39). Pray the words of truth in the Psalter and be part of this glory, beloved.