[sound doctrine pt. 5]

Something I think I’ve been learning lately is that Christian discipleship is largely growth in being satisfied in Jesus. We were created in God’s image to glorify and enjoy Him as the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism so directly reminds us:

Q. What is the chief end of man?

A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

The tragedy is that, as sinners, we are bent and deviant from this end. We take God’s good created things–other people, our abilities and talents, prestige, sex, food, whatever–and try to make enjoying one or many of those created things our chief end. We are idolators. And we self-destruct in pursuit of these things that, divorced from the enjoyment of God, can never satisfy. Whenever delight in God is first, all of these lesser delights fall into their proper place and can be truly enjoyed with gratefulness toward their Creator.

The Gospel is the good news that God has given us Himself in the life, death, and resurrection of the God-Man Jesus Christ. He has paid the price of our idolatry, and wants to put away our sin so that He, the only One Who can satisfy, can be the treasure of our hearts again. As John Piper has put it, God Himself is the Gospel.

Once God has rescued our idolatrous hearts, we begin the painful and joyful process of cultivating joy in Him above all. We are all trying to get to the place where we can say with Asaph in Psalm 73,

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

There is nothing that I desire besides You; that is, literally, there is nothing I want as much as You. We have other good desires, but all of them ought to pale in comparison to our desire for God Himself and be tempered by gratitude towards Him.

So this song is a musical meditation on that Psalm, and hopefully it will be of some use to us in cultivating satisfaction in Christ. You can get the audio by clicking on the title.

All I Want (Psalm 73)
music and lyrics by Jonathan McGregor
I’ve looked around, and I’ve seen
All the violence and the riches of the proud.
I’ve looked around, and I’ve seen
That righteousness is vanity.
I’ve felt the rod of wrath,
And I have walked a hard and narrow path,
And I have found no rest,
Just a bitter bleeding in my chest.

[tag]

I look to You, and I see
Your glory in the sanctuary.
I look to You, and I see
You governing with equity.
You hold my hand, and I know
To be near You is good for me.
And You will spare no cost to bring
Me with You into glory.

[tag]

Oh, all I want is You.
Oh, all I want is You.

(It cost the cross to bring me near to You.
It costs my life for me to come to You.
My heart, my flesh will fail, but You will not.
You are the Rock Who bears up my heart.
You are my refuge; I will hide in You.
There is no one for me in heaven but You,
And none on earth I want beside You.
You are Your gift, and I receive You.)

[sound doctrine pt. 4]

Happy Christmas, everyone. Here’s my version of one of my favorite carols. Sorry about the sound quality.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And mild and sweet the words repeat,
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had roll’d along th’ unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bow’d my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play.
And through the warp and woof of wrong,
They yet ring out their hopeful song.

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play.
And through the warp and woof of wrong,
They still ring out their truthful song.

The Lord will come and make an end
Of all our woe and all our sin.
His heavy blow fell in that fray
When Christ was born on Christmas day.

Hallelu, Hallelu
Hallelu, Hallelu
Hallelu
Hallelujah

Words by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Music by John Calkin
Additional words and music by Jonathan McGregor

[the power of words and the wonder of God]

Video from the Desiring God national conference this weekend is up here:

Conference Video :: Desiring God

I watched Sinclair Ferguson’s message on James this afternoon, and it was good stuff.

[sound doctrine pt. 3]

We’re going to take a break from following the flow of redemptive history in this series, [sound doctrine]. If you remember, part 2 concerned God’s revelation of Himself in the created order, in Christ, and in Scripture, which is the foundation of all our knowledge. The only reason we know about God’s action in history to redeem lost sinners is because He has revealed it to us! The song that went along with that post was my musical adaptation of Psalm 19. This week we’re gonna back up a notch for a meditation on Psalm 18.

The title of Psalm 18 tells us that David “addressed the words of this song to the LORD on the day when the LORD rescued him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.” It’s a Psalm about rescue and warfare, about the Lord going to war on behalf of David and rescuing David from his enemies.

Man, where I’ve been at this summer, this Psalm is a salve for my soul. I’ve been embattled with mind-games and anxiety and been close to despairing. Throughout the month of May the Lord was teaching me about how to daily go to war against sin and for faith, and in the ensuing weeks I abandoned that teaching and chose to believe lies. I’ve failed to oppose temptation and succumbed to sin. But the Lord went to war on my behalf, and He is mighty to save! He has delivered me from my enemies.

I can’t say like David that “The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.” (v. 20) But I can say that He dealt with me according to the righteousness of Christ, Who stood condemned in my place on the cross and bore the wrath that I deserved. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21)

The Lord has “trained my hands for war” just as He trained David’s. (v. 34) But not against physical enemies like David faced. Rather, I battle against the sin that still dwells within me, the Enemy, Satan, who attempts to accuse and confuse me, and all the other enemies mentioned in the previous post. And the outcome of this battle is sure, because part of what happened at the cross is that God triumphed over evil in Christ. “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” (Col. 2:15)

I don’t know if where you’re at this summer accords in any with me. But if it does, I hope you are encouraged, because you’re not alone. For all who have trusted in Christ alone for the forgiveness of our sin, God doesn’t treat us as we deserve. He treats us according to Christ’s perfect obedience. And he trains us and empowers us to go to war against our enemies, especially indwelling sin, and we can know victory just like David. This week the Lord has delivered me from a miserable month into knowing His joy again.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” (Eph. 6:10)

The song that came out of this meditation on Psalm 18 is entitled Warfare Psalm. Just like what is written above, it takes the truths of Psalm 18 and sets them in New Testament context.

For your joy in the Divine Warrior,

Jonathan

Here’s a link to the file for your enjoyment and edification, and the lyrics are below:

http://www.mediafire.com/?1i9j2gqtl3j

Warfare Psalm

I love You
O LORD, my strength.
You’re my Rock
And Fortress sure.
When I call
On Your great Name,
Worthy of praise,
Then I am saved.

You, You are the LORD;
You train my hands for war,
And my steps are secure.
You are the LORD,
Mighty in wrath, mighty to save.

You have dealt
Well with me,
Not as I
Deserve, O LORD:
According to
The righteousness
Of Your Son
Given to me.

You, You are the LORD;
You train my hands for war,
And my steps are secure.
You are the LORD,
Mighty in wrath, mighty to save.

The humble You will save,
For You equip with strength.
By You I run against a troop,
And leap a wall.
As I pursue my sin,
In this war within me,
Spirit be my strength to kill it
Until the end.

You, You are the LORD;
You train my hands for war,
And my steps are secure.
You are the LORD,
Mighty in wrath, mighty to save.

[sound doctrine pt. 2]

How can we know anything at all?

How can we know Who God is or who we are or anything about the purpose and progress of history? How do we know the answers we pose to these questions are correct?

We don’t have to guess and hope at these matters because God has revealed Himself. In the order and beauty of creation, the laws of physics that govern motion, the moral truths that we recognize intuitively about the value of human life and private property, God shows His character. But more than this, from the very beginning God has revlealed Himself in language that humans can understand. In the Garden of Eden, He spoke and gave Adam instructions. He gave the Ten Commandments at Sinai. He delivered prophecies throughout the ages.

And He gave His final revelation in His Son, Jesus Christ.

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” Hebrews 1:1-3a.

We can know God because He has revealed Himself to us in creation, His Word, and the Word made flesh- Jesus Christ.

As the Westminster Shorter Catechism tells us, “The Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.” There can be no other source for our knowledge about His purpose in history. The Bible is the only foundation for everything in [sound doctrine].

Psalm 19 is one of the most potent statements of the doctrine of God’s self-revelation in Scripture. Let us apply ourselves to the study of the Word. As a pastor of mine once said, “How can you know the God of the Word without the Word of the God?”

For your joy in the God Who reveals Himself,

Jonathan

http://www.mediafire.com/?eydxxectoct

Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God;
The sky proclaims His handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech;
Night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, there are no words
Whose voice is not heard.

Their measuring line goes out through the earth;
Their words go to the end of the world.
In them He set the sun a tent.
It comes out radiant, like a bridegroom,
And runs its course with strength and joy;
From its heat nothing is hidden.

The law of the Lord is perfect,
Reviving the soul.
His testimony is true,
Making wise the simple.
His precepts are right,
Rejoicing the heart.
His commandment is pure,
Enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean,
Enduring forever.
The rules of the Lord are right
And righteous altogether.

Your rules are more precious than gold,
Sweeter than drippings from the honeycomb.
Even more, by them I’m warned.
In keeping them is great reward.
Who can know his errors, Lord?
Declare me innocent, declare me innocent.
Keep me back from willful sin;
Let it not reign over me.
Then I shall be blameless
And innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth
And my heart’s meditations
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

[based on the ESV text]

[the idol]

The Idol 08.18.07
“When you grow silent, I start to fall…” -Jon McLaughlin

The dirty earthen statue stands,
Precarious on his pedestal
Of cold cash and empty music.
The mob, the crowd of manwoman worshipers,
Forms without faces falling to the gritty ground
Of the open-air temple,
Contort and cry their glossolalia.
Their sonic force of praise
Upholds the tottering icon.
But in this Areopagus are other idols found.
And other sonorous statues seduce the fickle mob.

Their worship wanes to quiet
As they heed the others’ call,
And when the crowd goes silent
The idol begins to fall.

A man steps forward from the shadows,
Immaculate in his black suit.
He cleans the clay shards scattered
Across the temple floor.
He gathers up the money from
The fallen statue’s pedestal
And loads it up into a large black bag.
He wanders in amidst the mob
And taps one on the shoulder,
Offering him the bag with his right hand.
The formless man accepts the bag
And changes in an instant
To another earthen statue
Adding noise into the fray.
The suited man rebuilds the altar
Of cash and hollow music, setting
This quaking man of clay on top
To be adored again.