Once we've been redeemed, God doesn't simply send us out of to do better. He also doesn't expect us to just mindlessly float through life. Today on Truth for Life Weekend, we'll discover how God personally guides us and instructs us along the way.
Alistair Begg is teaching from verses 8 and 9 in Psalm 32. Now, these kind of pictures perhaps are not as good as the picture of a mother teaching her son or her daughter to walk. It may be sometimes, since you remember this experience, you may have seen somebody in the process of it not long ago, and you realize that the mother hardly takes her eyes off the child. Starts off as they're able to get up and bounce around a little, and usually she has both of her hands out holding the hands, either behind and urging the little one forward or in front and beckoning them towards her. And when she feels that there is enough steadiness without the complete hands, then she usually goes down to two fingers. And when she has managed it with two fingers, she often goes down just to her two little fingers, if I remember correctly, until eventually the point comes where, having watched and watched and watched, eventually the grasp is removed and the little one goes off on her own. It would be a strange thing if your mother was doing that for you when you were in seventh grade, wouldn't it?
And it would be very, very embarrassing at the elementary school events. No, the mother never takes her eyes off, but eventually she lets go. Our heavenly Father is just as tender in his care, watching out for us. If you look at the eighteenth verse of the next chapter, you see that it says, The eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love. The eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him.
You've ever played in a school orchestra, or you sang in a choir, and you performed in some event, and your parents came to see you, or perhaps your father was coming lately from work, and you were searching constantly out into the auditorium to see if you could see your father and to see if actually he was there and if he was watching you. And it made such a difference just to be under his watchful eye. Here then in verse 8, we have a wonderful reminder of the vigilance and the intimate care of Almighty God.
If you think about this for a moment or two and allow your mind to range around it and think about the vastness of the universe, think about the extent of human population, think about the company of God's people as vast as it is, transcending racial barriers and the barriers of time and space in many ways, and then say to yourself, "'This God, who is sovereign over the affairs of all of these billions of people, actually knows my name and cares about me and has promised to put me in his school and to provide me with instruction that is vital and practical and intensely caring.'" But as I suggested last time, it is possible for verse 8 to kind of induce in the reader a sort of dreamy thoughtlessness or carelessness. And verse 9 comes like somebody grabbed a tumbler of water and pitched it right in our chin, waking us up and causing us to think very seriously about things. Verse 8 could make us, perhaps, stop thinking. And verse 9 is a reminder to us that we daren't stop thinking.
So that brings us to the final point out of the four that we had, namely, that this instruction is not only vital and practical and watchful, but it is rational. The notion here in verse 9, I think you would agree, is that of confronting us with the horse and the mule with the issues of irrationality or a form of stubborn willfulness, a reminder of the need for pressure and constraint if we're ever going to bring these massive creatures under control. That is exactly the picture which Jeremiah uses when he describes the condition of the people of God not paying attention to the requirements of God. Isaiah describes it in terms of sheep who are going astray. In Jeremiah chapter 8, he describes us as those who are like horses plunging into battle.
I think that's the phraseology he uses. Jeremiah chapter 8 and verse 6, I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Each pursues his own course, like a horse charging into battle. Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift, and the thrush, observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the Lord. And the picture that he uses for this wilful waywardness is that of a horse that is unconstrained and untamed. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding, but must be controlled by bit and by bridle. In other words, instead of acting emotionally or subjectively or even irrationally, we are, says the Psalmist, to be those who are, in Pauline terminology from Romans 12, being transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that the Christian experience is a call to think. It is not a call to the disengagement of our minds. It is not a call to some kind of subjective journey whereby whatever we feel moving us and stirring us is sufficient to constrain our activities.
That is a dangerous road to go. If we are not to be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding, and we are to act rationally, sensibly, thoughtfully, and if we are to be put in the school of God's instruction, what is it that God uses to bring rational constraint on the minds of those who are his own? Or, if you like, putting it in a series of questions. How is the child of God to be revived or made wise or experience joy or live in the light? How do I become wise? How do I experience joy?
How are my eyes lifted in light? How am I converted and revived? The answer in every case in Psalm 19 is the same. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commandments of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
Do you get it? How is the child of God, then, not to be like this kind of silly animal but rather moving in the direction of God's purposes? I think we've spoken in the past about the notion that is alive and well in our generation, that the reason that men particularly are no longer enjoying all that God has for them is because they have not been given permission to live from their hearts. I'm quoting now an author—I don't need to give you his name—but he suggests that the reason that men in contemporary America are not as effective as they might be is because no one has given them permission to live from their hearts.
I'm not sure just exactly what that means. Except that he goes on to say that instead of having been given permission to live from their hearts, they are simply living in the light of what they should do or what they ought to do. And that the call to should and the call to ought, says the author, has left these men simply tired and bored.
Well, do you think that's really the answer? Or would you rather go with the one who said the root cause of our moral flabbiness is that we have neglected God's law? In other words, the very thing that the author says we need to get away from is the thing that another says we need to draw close to. Now, let me remind you that the catechisms can help us when we find in difficulty in getting our way around. So, for example, in the shorter catechism, we'll very quickly get to this answer. Question one, we know, what is the chief end of man? We know the answer to that, to glorify God. Question two—most of us don't know question two—what rule has God given to us to direct us as to how we may glorify and enjoy him? The answer to that is the Word of God in the Old and New Testament. Question three, what do the Scriptures principally teach? The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man. The thirty-ninth question picks that up. What is the duty which God requires of man?
Answer? The duty which God requires of man is obedience to his revealed will. Now, says John Murray, the old, now-in-heaven Scottish theologian of some significance, the statement of this position is exceedingly distasteful to many phases of modern thought, both within and without the evangelical family. It is agreed that the conception of an externally revealed and imposed code of duty, norm of right feeling, thought, and conduct, is entirely out of accord with the liberty and spontaneity of the Christian life. We are told that conformity to the will of God must come from within, and therefore, any stipulation or prescription from without in the form of well-defined precepts is wholly alien to the spirit of the gospel. It is inconsistent, they say, with the spirit or principle of love. Don't speak of law, nor of moral precepts, nor of a code of morals. Speak of the law of love. Now, I was struck by that quote, and I know the quote, when in the course of my preparation for Psalm 32, I turned to a volume that I don't often go to, but it was lying on the floor along with a number of others, and that is the Interpreter's Bible commentary. And I decided, well, why don't I just look and see what the Interpreter has to say, concerning this statement here, Do not be like the horse or the mule.
And this is what he says. Mere rules and regulations, sourly obeyed, are not enough. Henceforth, we are not to be under law, but under grace, according to Romans 6.14. Now, there are a number of things to notice, and it's not my purpose to take that apart, but one of the things is to note the very negative way in which the notion of obedience is addressed.
Do you notice that? Mere rules and regulations, sourly obeyed. Well, let's drop the mere, and let's drop the sourly obeyed. For there is no sense in which the rules and regulations are mere rules and regulations, and there is no call in the whole of the Bible to obey those rules and regulations with a disposition that is sour or is tainted. A careful reading of our Bibles—and I urge that upon you—makes it very, very clear that God's law is the rule by which we as Christians reshape our lives after the image of Christ. We know our Bibles well enough to know that the law of God is such that it cannot justify us. Therefore, as Christians, we are not under the law as a way of justification, nor are we incidentally seeing the law as the dynamic for our sanctification. But Samuel Bolton, in an earlier era, helps us when he says, the law sends us to the gospel that we may be justified, and the gospel sends us to the law again to inquire what is our duty in being justified. Because if you read the Ten Commandments, you're a lawbreaker, right? And the harder you try to obey the law, the more you try to obey the law, the worse it gets. And people tell you, come on, now try a little harder.
Confess your sins and try a little harder. As if somehow or another the Ten Commandments was a ladder of which we climb, and when we finally make it to the top rung, then we can be sure of going into heaven. But every time we start up the ladder, we find that we can get beyond number three or number five, and then we're back down again, and we're stuck. And that is purposeful, because the law cannot set us right before God. And so when we realize that we're in this predicament and we say, Where do I go now? The answer is, I go to the gospel. That Jesus has kept the law in its perfection, that Jesus has died for the fact that I am a lawbreaker and a sinner, and that Jesus promises to credit those who believe with the very righteousness of his perfect life and the benefits of his atoning death. But having been sent to the gospel in order to be put right with God, we're not then left just to wander willy-nilly around the universe, deciding what to do on the basis of how we feel. But we are sent back to the moral law as the means for showing us what it means to live as justified. You see, if the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and our discovery of its significance does not fulfill in my life, in your life, a passion of righteousness, then we have actually misinterpreted the complete scheme of divine redemption.
Those whom God justifies, he sanctifies. He conforms us to the image of his Son. And the mechanism that he employs under the Spirit of God, unless we're going to be stubborn and irrational like horses and mules, is none other than the law of God.
Now, for those of you who say, well, I'm not sure I fully grasp all of this, let me try and put it to you as simply as I can. If you go around with your ears open, you will very, very quickly come up against somebody, perhaps even in Parkside, in the next hour or two, who will suggest to you that really all that we need to do, what needs to be done, is to go with the judgments of our own hearts. And just whatever our hearts prompt us to do—after all, we've been given a new heart. Yes, we have been given a new heart. But when the writer to the Hebrews describes the nature of that new heart in Hebrews 10, he quotes Jeremiah 31, and he says that the new heart that we've been given is perfectly shaped to take the law of God.
You see, before you're a Christian, when you come up against all of that stuff, it's just a complete aggravation, isn't it? Oh, goodness gracious, what do you mean you can't tell lies? I need to tell lies.
How am I going to be a successful salesman if I can't lie about the delivery time on my product? What do you mean you can't commit adultery? That's some of the things that I've been hoping for, says somebody. What do you mean you can't covet your neighbor's car? I just love looking out the window, and the law condemns and condemns and condemns. And then we discover in Jesus the transforming power. And suddenly the law, kept from an evangelical ability, is now our delight. Jesus said, I delight to do your will, O Lord. And the genuine Christian reveals the fact of the genuine nature of regeneration in a life of obedience. Remember, Jesus said, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments. If a man loves me, he will keep my commandments, and I too will love him, and the Father will love him, and we will come and make our home with him. You can read all of that in the Upper Room Discourse in John 14 and 15.
Now, let me draw this to a close with a couple of quotes. Samuel Rutherford, another good Scot, writes, The law of God, honeyed with the love of Christ, has a majesty and power to keep from sin. Or, in the words of John Owen, A universal respect to all God's commandments is the only preservation from shame. Our continuance in a relationship with God does not take place, irrespective of our persevering in God's commands. It is as we heed the warnings and rest upon the promises that the Holy Spirit works in our lives a supernatural principle which cannot be acquired by the fulfilling of our duties, but which is preserved by them.
Now, for those of you who like phraseology, that is good, and that will help you and steer you in the right direction. Think about any time that you have fallen into temptation and failed, and then set it against Owen's observation. If I'd had a universal respect for all of God's commandments, then I would not face the shame that I now face. Says John Murray, It is one of the most perilous distortions of the doctrine of grace, and one that has carried with it the saddest records of moral and spiritual disaster.
What is that? To assume that past privileges, however high they may be, guarantee the security of men, irrespective of perseverance in the faith and holiness. Did you get that? In other words, it doesn't matter if you have success and giftedness and usefulness in your career and in your Christian testimony. No matter how high you may have gone, none of that guarantees your security, irrespective of perseverance in faith and in holiness.
Oh, says somebody, Well, I don't know about all of that. Well, let me just say to you, do not be like the horse or mule, which have no understanding. Do you want to be free? Do you want to live in complete freedom? Do what God says.
Do you want to live to the end of your days, being able to walk in your community and keep your head high? Do what God says. A universal commitment to the commandments of God is the only secure preservation from shame. And the final word to the psalmist, I will always obey your law forever and ever. I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts. Do not be like a horse or a mule. Do not be ridiculous and think that you can persevere to the end without taking heed according to every warning in this book and resting on the strength of every promise it provides.
You're listening to Truth for Life Weekend with Alistair Begg. As we are learning, God uses a variety of means to instruct us, personal time in his word, the instruction of others like pastors or teachers. It's one of the reasons local church is so vitally important.
And in fact, if you're not currently attending a local church, or maybe you've recently moved and you're searching for a Bible teaching church, you will be helped by a blog post Alistair has written called What to Look For in a Church. Simply visit truthforlife.org slash find. While you're on the website, check out the book we're recommending today. It's called Future Proof, How to Live for Jesus in a Culture That Keeps Changing. This is a compelling overview of our culture's anxieties about the future, how we're trying to deal with the rapid pace of change that is now characteristic of the world in which we live. This book paints a clear picture of where we're headed and helps us understand how as believers we are to respond to the changing landscape that keeps moving further away from biblical truth. Find out more about the book Future Proof by visiting our website today, truthforlife.org. Thanks for studying God's word with us this weekend. Many people wander down a variety of pathways pursuing happiness, but the question is, is true happiness even possible? Next weekend, Alistair explores the answer to that question. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.
