The Crucial Eccentricity

Their heart was not steadfast toward him;

they were not faithful to his covenant.

Yet he, being compassionate,

atoned for their iniquity... —Psalm 78:37,38

This is a long song that surveys Israel’s dreary history from Egypt to Jerusalem and God’s amazing grace. One sentence sums up the story: "(Israel's) heart was not steadfast with (God)…but He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity" (78:37, 38).

The psalm searches my conscience for it reflects my penchant for wandering away. At the same time, it warms heart for it speaks of a grace that never gives up, and ends on a triumphant note at Mt. Zion where God demonstrated His love for us "while we were yet sinners" (78:67-72; cf., Romans 5:8).   

When we turn away from God we know misery—the psalm makes that point quite well. But when we turn back to Him there is immediate forgiveness. There are "no arrows dipt in wrath to pierce the guilty, but returning soul," William Cowper assures us.

This is what someone has called "the crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith"—this crazy assertion that we are saved by grace alone. It is a gift. And, it would seem, the ability to reach out and take it is a gift as well.

God has done everything that needs to be done to bring salvation to me. There’s nothing I have to do. There’s nothing I have to do. There’s nothing I have to do.

She takes the blame;
She covers the shame;
Removes the stain;
It could be her name—

Grace —U2

But, in another eccentricity, it is grace that calls me to obedience. Pascal wrote, "The property of mercy is to combat sloth (indifference to sin) by exhorting us to good works, according to that passage: 'The goodness of God leads to repentance...' And thus mercy, far from authorizing slackness, is on the contrary the quality that formally attacks it" (Pensées).

Shall I keep on sinning so God can keep on forgiving? What nonsense! How can I turn my back on One who is so gracious and kind?

David Roper

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Fair Winds and Following Seas

The floods have lifted up, O Lord,

The floods have lifted up their voice;

The floods lift up their waves.

The Lord on high is mightier

Than the noise of many waters,

Than the mighty breakers of the sea. —Psalm 93:3,4

A storm–lashed ocean. Howling winds. Crashing breakers. Pounding surf. Sturm und drang. A world in chaos.

But "the Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, mightier than the mighty breakers of the sea," a testimony that is "very sure" (93:5).

God word is “true truth” in this age of terrible uncertainty and subjectivity. Read all about it: "The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty; He has girded Himself with strength. Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved" (93:1). Peace. Be still.

God is working out his purpose 

'spite of all that happens here. 

Lawless nations in commotion, 

restless like a storm-tossed ocean. 

He controls their rage and fury 

so his children need not fear. 

Let our hearts then turn to heaven 

where he bides his time in peace 

Giving him our heart's devotion 

till the present troubles cease.

David Roper 

The Love that Names the Stars

He determines the number of the stars;

he gives to all of them their names.—Psalm 147:4

There are about 400 billion stars in our galaxy—what we call the Milky Way. (If you started counting stars in our galaxy this moment and counted 24/7 without eating or sleeping, it would take you 400 years to count to 400 billion.)

Several years ago two astronomers in Baltimore, Md. bought time on NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and conducted what they called the Hubble Deep Field Study: They took a 6100-hour exposure of a small patch of sky near the Big Dipper that appeared to be devoid of stars and discovered over 3000 galaxies (not stars). Based on that discovery, astronomers now estimate that there are more than a trillion galaxies in the cosmos, each containing billions of stars. The number of stars is beyond computation, a number so vast astronomers no longer name newly discovered stars; they give them numbers (PSR B1257+12).

God, on the other hand, gives each star a name.

If God knows and names the stars in the universe will He ever forget your name?

David Roper

The Little Verse That Isn't There

[The LORD is faithful in all his words

and kind in all his works.]—Ps 145:13b

Verse 13b is the little verse that isn’t there. No text of the Hebrew Bible contains it prior to the 3rd century A.D. Most modern versions place a verse in brackets to indicate that it is not in the original text.

Ordinarily we wouldn't know that a verse is missing, but Psalm 145 is an  alphabetic acrostic, each verse beginning with the next letter of the Hebrew Alphabet in sequence. The "mem" ("M") line is present (13a), but the verse that should begin with "nun" ("N") is missing in the Hebrew text.

Apparently some 3^rd century A.D. scribe, realizing that a verse had been omitted, made up one to fill out the acrostic. The "made up" verse is found in several versions—notably, the Greek and Latin versions and the Dead Sea Scrolls—and is the text that appears in brackets in most modern translations: ["The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works."]

I can’t think of a better summation of my thoughts about God. As Quakers say, “This scribe speaks my mind.”

If you were asked to make up a verse of the Bible—one that sums up your thoughts about God—what would you write?

David Roper

4/17/17