Mark spoke from Isaiah 43:1-4 this morning, particularly looking at verse 2 which says “When you pass through the waters,I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”

When the Bible talks about ‘waters’ in this way, it is talking about chaotic, stormy seas. The Hebrew word ‘mayhim’ (somewhat reminiscent of our ‘mayhem’) is also used in Gen 1:10 and indicates uncontrollable water forces. Water can be dangerous as well as beautiful, and the circumstances described in Isaiah 43 are anything but pleasant.

In Isaiah 42, God’s judgment has been poured out on Israel because of their disobedience and sin (‘burning anger…. violence of war‘), but in Isaiah 43 we see God renewing His covenantal promises and speaking of His unfailing love. God’s ‘but’ is big! When He speaks, He changes the situation around from punishment to protection and acts as our Redeemer. He is the God of the second chance. We are owned by Him, but that does not simply imply slavery and duty; we are cherished and protected by Him.

When we pass through the waters, it is not a pleasant experience. Mark talked of the film ‘The Perfect Storm’ which recounted the story of the crew of the Andrea Gail which got caught in the Perfect Storm of 1991. That film gives a graphic account of fierce storms at sea:

Nonetheless, whatever the circumstances, God has promised to bring us through the waters and help us to stand in the fast-flowing waters of rivers. He gives us His presence to guide us and lead us through. Similarly, fire is a terrifying experience to have to go through (think of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego), but God has promised to bring us through these circumstances. He will never leave us or forsake us.

The message last night was from Mal 1:6-11, challenging verses from the prophet Malachi to the people of Israel about their lack of honour of God. Honouring those above us (respecting, revering, listening to, looking up to, serving and being obedient to in submission) is a Biblical theme, but the priests at that time – those who should have known better – were failing to honour God by offering to Him sacrifices that were not the best. Instead of offering unblemished lambs and doves, they were offering maimed creatures. God is not satisfied with second-hand offerings. The attitude ‘it’ll do’ does not sit well with the God who gave His all for us. God, who gave His only Son as the sacrifice for our sins, expects our best.

God wants us to give our wholehearted devotion to Him. He would rather us give no sacrifice at all than offer simply a hollow ritual. He cannot abide the lukewarm.

What is the quality of what we bring to GOd? Do we give our best? Failure is not the problem, for God sees our hearts and knows when we have given Him our all, even if we do fail. The problem is if we come with half-hearted offerings. We have all been given talents by God, but what do we do with those talents?

If we think God asks too much from us, we need to spend time looking at the Cross, for He did not spare His own Son. He does not ask us to do anything He was not willing to do Himself. Let us offer ourselves in wholehearted service to God.

The superscription at the start of Psalm 89 tells us that it is a ‘maskil’ of Ethan the Ezrahite. We don’t know much about these literary or musical terms, but it is true that all of Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching (2 Tim 3:16).

What did we learn from Psalm 89 today, then?

(1) We can approach God honestly, bringing to Him all our questions, doubts, hurt and bewilderment. We do not have to pretend to God at all. He knows our hearts and our thoughts anyway, so there is no point in pretending, but there is great relief in being able to be honest with God.

(2) We live in the middle, where the vantage point is not always that clear. It was much easier to see the whole of Paris from the top of Sacré-Coeur or the Montparnasse Tower than it was from street level! When we are in the middle of our lives, in the middle of difficult situations, it is always hard to see how God will work things out. In the middle, we don’t have all the answers. In the middle, we vacillate between what we know is true and what we hope for and what we are currently feeling and experiencing. As Casting Crowns put it in their song, ‘Somewhere in the Middle’
Somewhere between the hot and the cold
Somewhere between the new and the old
Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be
Somewhere in the middle, You’ll find me

Somewhere between the wrong and the right
Somewhere between the darkness and the light
Somewhere between who I was and who You’re making me
Somewhere in the middle, You’ll find me (Casting Crowns, ‘Somewhere in the Middle’)
Casting Crowns, ‘Somewhere in the Middle’

(3) Our middle is lived in the context of a bigger story. Our lives are not insignificant and meaningless, however random they may seem to us. We are God’s children and He is weaving our story into His story.

(4) We can know who God is and what He is like, even when we are ‘caught in the middle.’ As Kutless, sing ‘Sometimes all we have to hold onto/ Is what we know is true of who You are.’ (Kutless, ‘Even If’) No matter what we are going through, God does not change: ‘You are who You are, no matter where I am’ (Casting Crowns, ‘Praise You In This Storm’)
Casting Crowns, ‘Praise You In This Storm’

Psalm 89, written by Ethan the Ezrahite, looks back at the events narrated in last Sunday’s sermon in 2 Samuel 7 where David receives God’s ‘no’ about building a temple for Him but gets an amazing promise about the future! The psalm looks at this promise: “Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness—and I will not lie to David—that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun; it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.” (Ps 89:35-37) and the same sense of awe that David recounts in 2 Samuel 7 is reflected in Ethan’s words in this psalm too: “For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings?” (Ps 89:6) and then “Who is like you, LORD God Almighty? You, LORD, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.” (Ps 89:8)

The first half of the psalm is rooted in the historical revelation of who God is and what He has promised. Ethan talks about the faithfulness and love of God (see vs 1-2) and recounts the history of David and of Israel. The second half of the psalm (Ps 89: 38-51) has a very different tone, however. Ethan knows all about God’s nature and knows all about God’s promises. But he is having a hard time reconciling these things with what is currently going on in the nation. This is the time of the Babylonian captivity, where there was no king in Israel and God’s promises seem to have been forgotten: “So where is the love you’re so famous for, Lord? What happened to your promise to David?” (Ps 89:49, The Message).

Ethan is living ‘somewhere in the middle’ and this is the place we often find ourselves: confused, uncertain, hurt, bewildered, not sure at all what God is doing or how He is going to work things out in our lives. In the middle, we feel abandoned at times. In the middle, we feel confused. The facts of God’s power and character do not seem to line up with our experience. We recite the promises of God, but then we say in bewilderment, like Ethan:“But GOD, you did walk off and leave us!” (Ps 89:38)

When we are living in the middle, we can’t see the end of our story. But the Bible repeatedly teaches us that our lives fit into a wider context than what our eyes can see in the now. It teaches us that we are part of God’s story. As we look back in history, we can see how God works all things together for good: the years of captivity in Egypt coming to an end through the miracles of God, the miracles of God in leading Israel into the promised land, the provision of judges to lead Israel, the ongoing protection and provision of God over years and years of history; even, ultimately, the crushing of the Babylonian empire and the restoration of the Davidic kingdom through the line of the Messiah. We see that God’s faithfulness really did last forever and that His love could work even the apparent disaster of the crucifixion of His only begotten Son into something good. We can trace God’s hand throughout far more history than Ethan had at his disposal and still we see God’s love and faithfulness. There are many, many dark periods in that history – plagues, diseases, natural disasters, man’s inhumanity to man – but even in our own lifetimes we have seen God’s deliverances: the defeat of Nazism, the fall of Communism, kingdoms falling that seemed invincible and impregnable to the modern mind. That doesn’t mean we always understand God. Like Habakkuk, we are often bemused at how God works and find His methods incomprehensible. But through it all, we see God’s faithfulness.

Through it all You are faithful
Through it all You are strong
Though we walk through the shadows
Still You shine on (Matt Redman, ‘Through It All’)

Psalm 89 teaches us that we can rely on God’s love, faithfulness, mercy and promises even when we cannot see how these can possibly be worked out in our own story. Ethan may not have ever been able to see how things would work out; he simply ends the psalm by faith with ‘Praise be to the Lord forever! Amen and Amen!’ (Ps 89:52) We may not be able to see how things will work out in our story either, but God has promised us that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)

James 3:13-18 talks a lot about practical living and about wisdom. James starts this section by saying that if we are wise and understanding, this will be seen by the way we live (something of a recurring theme by now!) Wisdom and understanding are often linked together in poetical parallelism (see Prov 2:6, Prov 3:13) in the Bible. The Wisdom writings (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon) are thus named because they offer us insights into right and godly living. Wisdom has been defined as ‘applied knowledge’; it is not just knowing something or having information about something but knowing what to do in specific situations. James clearly contrasts earthly wisdom and heavenly wisdom in this section.

Biblical wisdom shows us how to live God’s way, which arises from having correct reasoning and thought patterns which shape our behaviour (rather than simply having right behaviour without any understanding). Rom 12:2 tells us not to conform to the pattern of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Transformation (the same word that is used to describe Christ’s transfiguration) means being changed into another form; renewal is the same word used in building projects where total renovation is required.

Wisdom arises from having our hearts and minds set on the things of God (see Col 3:1-3). We used to walk and think in certain ways, but God now wants us to walk and think His ways. Biblical wisdom seeks to elevate God (earthly wisdom is full of bitter envy and selfish ambition) and has definite characteristics that reflect God’s character (after all, Jesus is described as ‘the wisdom of God’ (1 Cor 1:24)). These characteristics are that it is “first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”

Just as James has reminded us that our speech shows us our hearts, so our lives will reflect whether we are driven by earthly wisdom (which ultimately leads to disorder and every evil practice) or by heavenly wisdom. “The fruit shows the root,” as Garry reminded us. If we want to live wisely, we need to obey Col 3:16: “teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” The Wisdom writings can give us clear guidance about how to live wisely before God, showing us the paths of wisdom and the ways of folly. In all of this, we have to look within to find out what is motivating us and being careful not to harbour wrong thinking that will ultimately taint our walk with God.

God needs to be the focus of both our attention and our affection.

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (Col 3:1-3)

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Heb 12:1-3)