The Little Door

"The one who offers thanksgiving honors Me, and establishes a way by which I may show him the salvation of God!” (Psalm 50:23).

Gratitude is the way God brings salvation to us; the means by which He lavishes upon us all the good stuff that He has in mind for us. 

Rarely do we stop in humble acquiescence to say "Thank you" to the One who gave us "all things richly to enjoy”; we’re much too busy complaining about what we don’t have, in consequence of which we fail to enter into the fullness of God. In fact, if I read Romans 1 right, an ungrateful heart can lead us away from God and into all sorts of god-awful behavior (Romans 1:21-23).

I picked up a copy of Alice in Wonderland a couple of days ago and read this: "Alice came upon a low curtain she had not noticed before, and behind it was a little door about fifteen inches high: she tried the little golden key in the lock, and to her great delight it fitted! Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage, not much larger than a rat-hole: she knelt down and looked along the passage into the loveliest garden you ever saw."

Gratitude is the "little door” that leads us into a fabulous place, the means by which we enter into a more complete, intimate relationship with God, the way by which we “more of His saving fullness see; more of His love for you and me.”

"Alice tried to squeeze through the little door, but she was much too large." Humble gratitude is the only way in. (“Go ask Alice, when she's  ten feet tall.”) You have to become very small.

Footfalls echo in the memory

Down the passage which we did not take

Towards the door we never opened

Into the rose-garden. —T.S. Eliot

David Roper

Walking into the Darkness

Let him who walks in darkness

and has no light

trust in the name of the Lord

and rely on his God. 

Behold, all you who kindle a fire,

who equip yourselves with burning torches!

Who walk by the light of your fire,

and by the torches that you have kindled!

This you have from my hand:

you shall lie down in anguish.—Isaiah 50:10, 11

It’s very difficult to prophesy, especially with regard to the future. Indeed, the more we try to delve into things to come the more mysterious they become and the more anxious we become. That’s why we must trust in the name of the Lord and rely solely on Him.

The word translated “rely” in this text means “to lean on," and is the same verb used in Proverbs 3:5,6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths."

You ask: "How will I house, clothe, feed and otherwise provide for myself and my family going forward?” We have no light on the future and so we must rely on One who does. The alternative is to rely on our own understanding—Who walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that (we) have kindled—an expedient that leads to greater uncertainty and “anguish” (Isaiah 50:11).

There is a better way: We must “trust in the name of the Lord” and lean solely on Him. We are known and loved by One who knows what the future holds and who will be with us as it unfolds. The darkness is not dark to Him; "The night is as bright as the day" (Psalm 139:12). 

David Roper

8.5.17

Oh, What a Wonder

"The king is enthralled by your beauty" (Psalm 45:11).

Psalm 45 is a love song, written to be sung at a royal wedding.

The groom is handsome, gracious, humble, courageous, strong and good (45:2-9) He is a great king (45:11), and more... He is the eternal God: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions" (45:6,7) 

How odd: a God who has a God, a mystifying paradox that makes no sense apart from the incarnation. This can only be Jesus (Hebrews 1:6,7). 

The bride, a royal princess, is led to the king, "with robes interwoven with gold, in embroidered garments," filled with joy at the promise that she will be joined to her loved one forever (45:13-15). 

The groom is smitten: "He is wild about you!" (45:11 The Message).

Who is the bride? Well...you and me, of course, loved to perfection by the only love that can fully and finally assuage our loneliness. 

Think about that! The High King is wild about you! Incredible! 

Oh, if there’s only one song I can sing,

When in His beauty I see the great King,

This shall my song through eternity be,

“Oh, what a wonder that Jesus loves me!"

David Roper

8.30.17

The Corruption of Power

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”

—Lord Acton

This is probably one of the most–invoked, but least understood lines in literature. Acton truly believed that power corrupts, but his more important point is that power also corrupts those who are enamored of the powerful. 

The quote occurs in a letter Acton wrote to Anglican bishop Mandell Creighton. Creighton had asked Acton to review a history book he was writing, in which he was sympathetic to certain leaders, most of whom were very bad men. Acton wrote in response…

I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge the King unlike other men, with a favorable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any presumption it is the other way, against the holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely…

There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it. Here are the greatest names coupled with the greatest crimes; you would spare those criminals, for some mysterious reason. I would hang them higher than Haman, for reasons of quite obvious justice… The inflexible integrity of the moral code is, to me, the secret of authority. If we debase the currency for the sake of genius, or success, or rank, or reputation… we serve the worst cause rather than the purest.

It is beyond absurd to say that what one believes about good and evil has nothing whatever to do with his or her actions. Character matters. Therefore, we can and should hold kings, priests, popes, politicians, pastors, presidents and all others in positions of authority to what Acton called “the inflexible integrity of the moral code.”

I think of certain athletes whose off–field behavior is reprehensible, yet they get a pass because they “get it done” on the field of play.

And I think of certain celebrities and politicians whose personal lives are fetid and foul, yet they likewise are excused because they “get it done” in their field of endeavor.

In both cases it is those who approve them that are corrupted—absolutely.

David Roper

"Though it Be a Cross"

In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,

but you have given me an open ear [Heb: “my ears you have dug”].

Burnt offering and sin offering

you have not required.

Then I said, “Behold, I have come;

in the scroll of the book it is written of me:

I delight to do your will, O God…”—Psalm 40:5-8

Slaves in Israel's economy served for seven years and were emancipated (Exodus 21:1). There was one exception: A slave might wish to remain as a servant in the house because he loved his master. In which case an ear was pierced as a sign of his or her fealty: 

"If it happens that he says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your house, since he prospers with you, then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise.(Deuteronomy 15:16). 

This may be the historical background of that difficult Hebrew phrase, "My ears you have dug."[1]

The New Testament puts the words of this psalm in Jesus' mouth when He “came into the world,” to express his willingness to accept His Father's will (Hebrews 10:5-10). On this occasion, His Father’s will was the cross.

Can I take delight in God’s will “e'en though it be a cross that raise'th me”? ”The readiness is all," Hamlet said. Grace will do the rest.

David Roper

8.25.17

[1] Some commentators disagree with this interpretation in that "dug" is not the normal Hebrew word for "pierced" and, in historic practice, only one ear was pierced. The Greek version (the Septuagint), the version quoted by the author of Hebrews, does not translate the phrase, but offers a paraphrase: "A body you have prepared for me," a body in which Jesus rendered complete obedience. The meaning of the passage, “I delight to do your will,” is the same, however, no matter how you translate verse 5.

Help!

My heart is about to break; I'm burned out,

the light has gone out of my eyes. 

My loved ones and my friends avoid me like the plague,

those who used to be close to me now run away (Psalms 38:11,12).

The more we need help, the less we attract it. That's because neediness is off-putting. Hardly anyone likes to be around a deeply troubled soul. Most of us have enough troubles of our own. 

There is One, however, who's never disaffected by our neediness, who understands our sighs and the deep source of our tears (38:9). We should then, "draw near to Him with confidence that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).

"When bale (need) is att hyest, boote (help) is nyest.” So goes “The Ballad of Sir Aldingar." And so I pray with David, "Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!" (38:22).

David Roper

8.22.17

“Hello Darkness, My Old Friend”

"Darkness has become my only friend" Psalm 88:18.

This is the saddest song in the psalter, a mournful tune with no resolution. No praise, no thanksgiving, no celebration, no eulogy. We look for a glimmer of light but find none. The poet’s soul was “full of trouble"; his dark mood all engulfing. Unlike other psalms, there is no happy ending. The poem ends with a plaintive sigh: “Darkness has become my only friend.” (88:18). And “with this complaint, the harp falls from the poet's hands” (Keil & Delitzsch).

God has never promised that our days will be filled with unbroken sunshine and our skies will always be blue. Indeed, unrelieved suffering may be our lot in this world. 

But like Israel's poet, we can reach out for God in the darkness (88:13), in which case the darkness will have pushed us a little closer to Him. And if the goal of life is not ease but intimacy with God then the darkness has indeed become our “friend.”

And though the psalm is silent about life-beyond-this-life it is a reminder that something better awaits us: “We wait for… the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:22f.).

David Roper

8.18.17