Wisdom for Parenting in God's Grace

The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,
but the mouths of fools pours out folly.
- Proverbs 15:2

Wise parents are called to commend or entrust knowledge to their children (Deuteronomy 6:6; Ephesians 6:1-2) that they may be built up for the end of the law, which is love (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Matthew 22:37-40). Foolish parents live and speak as though there is no God who commands love and their children run to death in the follies of their parents. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God”. Therefore, there is none who does good. (Psalm 14:1). The foolish parent who says this in his heart lives this in his life, for his heart is turned away from God in the fear of man and runs after the strength of man, and after him his children run to their misery and destruction.

Where are the wise parents of the day? They are the fools of the day. They are the fools for the sake of Christ, but their children are wise in Christ. They are the weak in Christ, but their children are the strong in Christ. They are those in the community who may be held in disgrace for the sake of Christ but their children in honor. They are those who will sleep not, and go without the latest fashions, those who will live simply, and labor to put bread on the table and Godly knowledge in the heads and hearts of their children. They are those who when reviled bless and when afflicted endure and when slandered pray. They are parents who will become nothing in humility to be fathers and mothers leading their children to the knowledge of God in Christ through the gospel. (1Corinthians 4:10-16). These are the wise parents who lead their children to Christ in the gospel where they are found by God and He gives them new life, and in that life love to Him and those who are near to them.

Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (Matthew 12:34). The heart of the parent that is turned to the One True and Living God will speak of the knowledge of God in all things. Their children will know that everything is from Him and through Him and to Him for His glory in the earth and the heavens (Romans 11:36).

If I watch my son lose a baseball game 24-7, how do I speak during and after the game commending the knowledge of God to my son and my other children who are with me? If I yell from the stands at the umpires for seemingly “bad calls”, if I yell at the players for watching the third strike go by, if I yell at them for foibles in the field, or if I yell at them because they are dragging around the field like the “Bad News Bears”, what am I displaying is in my heart? I have participated in this foolishness, and when I do I display my unbelief. Therefore when I go to games I pray continually, I look for someone to share the gospel with, and I seek to only speak that which will encourage and build up that fits the occasion (Ephesians 4:29) before and after the game. The reason I do this is because God has shown me His greatness and majesty that rules over all, even a 24-7 loss. Therefore, my aim becomes how can I encourage my son to do all that God has given him to do for the glory of God (1Corinthians 10:31) by trusting Him, praising and thanking Him, and being obedient to Him before, during and after a game. I want my children to learn to abide in the love of Christ, following Him in the way He commands and leads them by His grace, so that His joy will be in them and that their joy may be full in Him.(John 15:9-11). When I seek my joy in the performance of the umpires, players and the score, then I lead my son in the way of foolishness, and I have had my share of this foolishness. But when God gives me the grace and my heart is turned to Him in love then I find Him to be my joy and my children also follow with me in this joy. So whether we win or lose playing our best players we do this in way that God may be glorified in us.

Wise parents commend the knowledge of God and the true knowledge of man to their children, and in this they lead them in the pathway of the knowledge, righteousness and holiness of God.

Thoughts on Psalm 2

In the time of the united kingdom of Israel this psalm was written. It points to David the anointed king of God’s people (v.2) who has been put in place by God (v.7) in Jerusalem (v.6) in fulfillment of his covenant promises to David (v.7-9; 2Sam.7:14) and the descendants of Abraham (v.8-9; Gen.17:3-8). This psalm manifests the continuing redemptive purposes of God where we see the seed of the serpent warring with the seed of the woman (v.3; Gen.3:15). But the peoples and the kings of the earth would be wise to consider God who reigns and rules in the heavens and does whatever he pleases (Ps.115:3), and come and bow down and worship him and submit themselves to him by coming under his rule in the earth (v.10-12).

Where the psalms do not attribute this psalm to David, the apostles do in Acts 4:25. This psalm is frequently quoted or spoken of in the New Testament (Mt.3:17; 17:5; Acts 4:25-27; 13:33; Rom.1:4; Heb.1:5; 5:5) because this psalm finds it’s fulfillment in Jesus Christ who comes in the line of David to fulfill the Davidic covenant (2Sam.7:14) as the King of Kings (Isa.9:6-7) establishing His kingdom forever (Mt.3:2) which is not of this world (Jn.18:36).

God is the Lord of the universe (Dan.4:35) and He is in the heavens doing all that He pleases (Ps.115:3), and it his pleasure to bring His covenant people into their promised inheritance and there He rules over them with His anointed king. But the nations who do not seek God will have not a Lord or a king over them. They assemble together with great noise and devise great schemes to overthrow the Lord and His king, so that they can rule in the earth for the pleasure of their passions. And in this noisy scheming and plotting they feel the weight of God’s judgment against their unrighteousness so they seek to gather those around them who will join with them in their rebellion to throw off the chords of the knowledge of God, His righteousness and holiness in the earth so that they can continue in the paths of unrighteousness in the earth (vv.1-3).

God is sitting down enthroned in the heavens in his place of authority and power. There His throne is established and will not be moved by the noise and the schemes of men, and from His throne His decrees go forth unhindered by man. Therefore, He laughs at those who rebel against him and mocks them in their place of weakness and foolishness (v.4). But His judgment comes forth from his throne as He establishes His king (v.7) and all who will not bow down and worship Him, submitting themselves to Him will be crushed under His wrath and judgment (v.8-9; Rom.1:18).

The nations of the earth will be wise when they submit to God’s rule in the earth by serving the Lord in worship in repentance and faithful obedience (v.10-11). Those who take refuge in God’s rule will find the grace and favor of the Lord as their great delight, but those who continue to rebel in unrighteousness and the love of the world, who fear man rather than God, will perish in his wrath (v.12).

God has revealed His King, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the ruler of the kings of the earth (Rev.1:5). He is the anointed one of God who rules from Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, who has been given a name that is above every name (Phil.2:11), and who is establishing His kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom.14:17). And though all the nations of the earth wage war against the knowledge of Him, God has established Him as the wisdom and power of all the earth. It is He who will judge the world in righteousness and give to all who are the righteousness of God in Christ, a crown and robe of righteousness and His inheritance forevermore. But to all who continue in rebellion with unrepentant hearts he will cast into everlasting darkness and torment under His unending wrath. Let us draw near and kiss the Son of righteousness, delighting ourselves in Him, and live under His reign and rule in the earth in His righteousness so that our lives, our homes, our communities, our states, our nation may be exalted with him in peace and joy, fleeing from the sin that entangles and is to all who walk in it a reproach (Pr.14:34). “The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” (Habakkuk 2:20).

Preaching and Prayer

The week of Easter, from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday, we had a week of preaching and prayer. I preached eight of the ten sermons while Ryan West, our director of Mercy Ministries at the church, preached two of the ten. We preached all week answering the question, "Why did Christ die?"

These sermons are available on the church's website http://www.redeemerbrunswick.com/. Each night from Monday through Saturday we would gather at 7:00 PM. I would lead the congregation in a hymn sung accapela, I would then pray and preach for thirty minutes or close to it. I would then sit down without anything else said and we would start praying. We prayed for repentance, reform, renewal, and awakening in His church. We prayed for the spread of the gospel in our community and around the world. It was a great way to spend Easter week around the cross of Christ in preaching and prayer.

I found it difficult to preach every night and I grew tired by the end of the week, but I found the strength of Christ in my weakness and I gloried in His grace which enabled me to press on. I look forward to doing this again next year, if the Lord wills.

Reflections on Psalm 1

The song book opens into the first book (Psalms 1-41) covering the “golden age” of Israel’s united kingdom. In the first psalm we plant our feet in the ground of wisdom where we have contrast between the righteous (vv.1-3) and the wicked (vv.4-5) and in the end (v.6) the contrast is those whom the LORD knows, the righteous, and those whom He does not know, the wicked. Those who will walk fearing God in wisdom using the Psalms in worship must hold fast to God’s law. Here there is a strong connection to God’s law and to the worship of the God from whom the law comes.

“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.” (Ps.19:7-9)

“The chief end of man is to know God and enjoy Him forever.”(Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q./A.1) The knowledge of God through His Words brings His creatures into the enjoyment of Him. Here is where the Psalmist begins, bringing us into the pathway of wisdom. The man who enjoys the grace and favor of the Lord makes his delight the wise instructions of God (v.2). He is the man who meditates or abides in the commands of the Lord. The disciples of Jesus were promised this blessed life in the same manner in John 15, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be full.”(vv.10-11). The way of joy for Christ was in the knowledge and obedience of His Father’s will and this is the way of His followers joy. True worship in communion with God is found when the body of Christ is abiding in His commands by thought, word and deed. But the worship of God in the knowledge and enjoyment of who He is will be false when His worshipers do not hold fast to His commands but rather walk after the way of the lawless. When the church is sitting in the easy chair of the world that scoffs at God, or walking in the fairways where the folly of evil men is exchanged, or standing shoulder to shoulder with those who have forgotten God for the exaltation of self, then there will be know wisdom and know worship of the true God in the land.

J.I.Packer describes the Puritans of old as the Red Wood trees of the forest, (A Quest for Godliness) just as the Psalmist is describing the wise man who walks in the knowledge and enjoyment of God in the way of His instructions. The man who lives in the knowledge and enjoyment of God is a fruitful man. His way is a prosperous way for the glory of God, for the fruit he bears is for his heavenly Father’s glory (Mt.5:16; Jn.15:8). When he comes with the saints to worship the living God he comes bearing fruit and is a blessing to all who draw near by faith. But those who bear the fruit of their wickedness do not know God nor are they known by God. They do not have the blessing of abiding in the presence of the living and true God. They are cast out of His presence and from the blessing of abiding with His people who dwell in the knowledge and enjoyment of God. God dwells with his own forever for his glory and their good. But the wicked know not the goodness of dwelling in the Lord’s presence who would be their exceeding joy (Ps.43:4). Rather they dwell with those who go down to an eternal death with the lawless. God has provided the way of righteousness in Jesus Christ. He delighted in His Father’s will, keeping the law of God in perfect obedience even to the point of death. Therefore, all who would believe in Him for their salvation would be called the righteousness of God, and their way becomes His way in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake and their blessed life in the worship of God forevermore.