Voices Low and Gentle

 

"The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness." — Proverbs 16:31:

 

I read Old John Keble's meditation for the "25th Sunday after Trinity" this morning and thought of you folks out there that shepherd God's flock. Here are Keble's thoughts and my glosses: 

 

Pride of the dewy morning! 

The swain's experienced eye 

From thee takes timely warning, 

Nor trusts the gorgeous sky. 

 

For well he knows, such dawnings gay 

Bring noons of storm and shower, 

And travelers linger on the way 

Beside the sheltering bower. 

 

Country folk know that bright, beautiful mornings can deteriorate and become clouded with "storm and shower." They don't presume that a day that begins well, will end well. 

 

E'en so, in hope and trembling 

Should watchful shepherd view 

His little lambs assembling, 

With glance both kind and true; 

 

'Tis not the eye of keenest blaze, 

Nor the quick-swelling breast, 

That soonest thrills at touch of praise-

These do not please him best. 

 

Good Shepherds are delighted when God's "little lambs" make a good beginning, but must wait and watch over them as they mature and never presume that they will grow beyond the point where they no longer need pastoral care.

 

But voices low and gentle, 

And timid glances shy, 

That seem for aid parental  

To sue all wistfully, 

 

Still pressing, longing to be right, 

Yet fearing to be wrong, 

In these the Pastor dares delight, 

A lamb-like, Christ-like throng. 

 

These in Life's distant even 

Shall shine serenely bright, 

As in th' autumnal heaven 

Mild rainbow tints at night,

 

Sheep, as they grow older, still long ("sue") for parental, pastoral care. Good shepherds will take delight in aging sheep that are pressing, longing for righteousness at "life's distant even." 

 

We take delight in young folks and their spiritual pilgrimage. In our enthusiasm for these lambs, however, we may think that older, more mature sheep, having made a good beginning, can make it on their own. 

 

But the hardest tests lie in the "even" of our lives. Older believers, though well established in their faith, remain "a lamb-like throng." They will always need a loving pastor to help them finish strong.

 

David Roper

Rain

Psalm 65

You visit the earth and water it;

you greatly enrich it;

the river of God is full of water....

—Psalm 65:9

Rain. We take it for granted. Or we consider it a nuisance, if we have a picnic planned. ("Who'll stop the rain?")

But David saw rain as a sign and a sacrament, pointing us to God's eternal love for growing things. Rain is God "visiting the earth" to water it and enrich it (65:9).

Showers sweep across the plowed ground, "watering it's furrows, settling it's ridges, softening the dirt clods, blessing it with growth" (65:10). Rain is God, walking through the earth like Johnny Appleseed, leaving behind His bounty: "The paths on which He walks overflow with goodness" (65:11).

Here's a dimension of truth that most folks have lost. It’s a vision, a perspective, a way of “seeing.” Put simply, it is the capacity to see "through" rather than "at" creation.

Nature is a signpost pointing to God, but tragically, most people only look at the sign. C.S. Lewis described our foolishness as a "dog-like" way of seeing. (If you point at your dog's food dish and say "Eat," he will stare at your finger, confusing the sign with the thing signified.) 

A little thing like rain reveals the face of God if we have eyes to see it. The little hills, the pastures, the valleys take in God's love. They shout and sing together for joy!" (65:13).

So should I!

Sweet the rain’s new fall

Sunlit from heaven,

Like the first dew fall

On the first grass.

Praise for the sweetness

Of the wet garden,

Sprung in completeness

Where His feet pass. —Eleanor Farjeon

David Roper

[Yes, I know, rain also brings floods, raging streams, stagnant ponds and anopheles mosquitoes. We don’t rhapsodize over the beauty of these aspects of nature. It’s because of the existence of such things, however, that we realize that something has gone wrong.]

The Pillars of the Earth

Psalm 75

When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants,

it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah —Psalm 75:3

There is a panic-stricken reaction to crumbling moral foundations in Psalm 11 and the answering reminder of God’s guiding hand. Here, in this psalm, the poet supplies another aspect of God’s control of all things: He is a stabilizing influence within society. 

Theologians spell out this influence in terms of “common grace,” his gift of wholesome ideas and institutions that shore up society; and the influence of godly men and women. Ten godly citizens would have saved even Sodom (Genesis 18:32). 

We vote for the game-changers, the movers and shakers, those that can get things done. It is God, however, who establishes the human framework of a nation: "I myself keep steady her pillars" (75:3). He raises up rulers—good leaders, fools and naves—to get His work done. 

Here's Paul's take: "For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth" (Romans 9:17). Pharaoh? An uncouth, duplicitous, bigoted, unbalanced, narcissistic fool? I wouldn't vote for him if he was the last man standing! Yet God in His wisdom exalted this man to bring salvation to His people.

Thus the poet can say with reference to those who govern us, “Don’t  toss your horns at Heaven for exaltation does not from the east or from the west or from the south, but it is God who executes justice, putting down one and raising up another” (75:4 ,5). 

We vote, but God determines the outcome. That’s mystery and a comfort as I watch the evening news. 

David Roper

Black Sheep

Psalm 44

“It is for your sake we are killed all day long" (44:22).

Psalm 44 is the "black sheep" of the Psalter, a lament psalm with no resolution… or so it seems.

The poet begins by recounting Israel's past victories and the means by which his ancestors drove the Canaanites out of the land—"not by their sword" but by the strength of God's almighty arm (44:1-4).

So...Israel went out to battle again, counting on God to fight for them: "Not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me..."

...and suffered historic, humiliating defeat (44:5-28). It was a slaughter (44;11). They bit the dust; their bellies were dragging the ground (44:25). Georgia Tech vs. Cumberland College. 222-0.

All this came about although Israel had not forgotten God, nor had they been false to His covenant (44:17).

What gives?

Ah! A flash of insight at the point of greatest perplexity: "It is for your sake we are killed all day long" (44:22). The battle is more than local. We're part of the struggle of "the kings of the earth … against the Lord and his Anointed" (Psalm 2:2). We suffer the slings and arrows of the evil one because we're on the Lord's side.

Paul cites this psalm and spells out our "defeats": tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and sword. (I would add sickness, sorrow, disappointment, pain and loss.) Nevertheless, he insists, "In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us"  (Romans 8;37).

Though we get overrun now and then, there is this assurance: "Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!" (Romans 8:38,39). Some days we’ll lose; some days we’ll lose BIG. But no matter. We are loved with everlasting love!

The psalmist saw this: "Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!" (44:26).

David Roper

Straight to the Goal

Augustine gathers up all the interpretations of Genesis 1 that were extant in his day—most of which are still around—and concludes that any meaning, if true, is acceptable: “What harm is there if a reader holds an opinion which you (God), the light of all truthful minds, show to be true, even though it is not what was intended by the author, who himself meant something true, but not exactly that” (Confesssions, XII.18.27). 

In other words, if I arrive at an interpretation of a text other than that which the author intended I have done no harm as long as the concept is true in itself, i.e., “true” to the overall teaching of scripture. 

His hermeneutic seems irregular to those of us who w ere taught to hopnor E. D. Hirsch’s rule that a text has only one meaning and the “true meaning of a text is the meaning that its author intended.” Augustine accepted the idea of authorial intent, but went beyond critical theory to state that “the author’s (ultimate) intention must be sought in love.” 

Having listened to all these divergent opinions (interpretations of Genesis 1) and weighed them, I do not wish to “bandy” words, for that serves no purpose except to ruin those who listen (2 Timothy 2:14). The law is an excellent thing for building us up provided we use it lawfully, because its object is to promote the love that springs from a pure heart, a good conscience and unfeigned faith (1 Timothy 1:4,5–8), and I know what were the twin precepts on which our Master made the whole law and the prophets depend (Matthew 22:40).

The “twin precepts” to which Augustine refers are the Great Commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself.” All scripture is summed up in this tenet. 

Thus, when I approach scripture I must come with this question: “In what way does this text encourage greater love for my Lord and my neighbor?” This is the“lawful” (God-intended) use of scripture. Paul saw this clearly: “The end (“telos”—outcome) of our instruction is love…” (1 Timothy 1:5).

I may miss the precise meaning of a biblical author, but if my understanding is in accord with the overall teaching of scripture—any given text is understood in the light of all texts, what the Reformers referred to as The Analogy of Faith), and if my exegesis encourages me to love God and my neighbor, I will have achieved the ultimate intention of God’s word. Put another way, the purpose of Bible reading and study is not to perfect our understanding of the text, but to perfect our love. 

This, Paul calls, “cutting straight to the goal.” (2 Timothy 2:15).[1]

David Roper

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[1] This is the verb that the AV translates, “rightly dividing (the Word of  truth.)” The verb, orthotomeo means to “cut a straight path,” and was used in the Paul’s day, on one occasion, of laborers building a road through a forest snd “cutting straight” to their destination. 

Desire

Psalm 37

"Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4).

Desire is the mainspring of our hearts, the driving force of our lives, hidden from others, but always lingering just under the surface of our thoughts. We can’t put the feeling into words; it’s beyond us. C.S. Lewis called it sehnsucht—a bitter-sweet longing for something just out of reach.

Fame and fortune don’t assuage it; they only beget more desire. The more we get the more we want. Like a child opening a dozen Christmas gifts, we keep looking for that elusive "something more." Whatever the object of our quest, when we find it, it never contains the joy we sought.  

Disappointment, thus, is the rule, not the exception in this life. No thing, not even a very good thing, can fully satisfy us. That's why there's always a tinge of sadness in our greatest pleasures. 

On the other hand, the Psalmist writes, "Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires (the "askings") of your heart" (Psalm 37:4). This the secret of satisfaction and joy: Knowing that everything we ever wanted or desired is found in God’s love. There's no other way to be really, truly happy. Period!

Whom have I, Lord, but Thee,

Soul-thirst to satisfy?

Exhaustless spring! The waters free!

All other streams are dry. —Mary Bowley Peters

David Roper

“E'en Though It Be a Cross.”

Psalm 40

In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,

but you have given me an open ear.

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 my God;

your law is in my heart” (Psalm 40:6-8).

“You have given me an open ear…” Literally, “You dug out my ears”: a reference to the ear canal God "excavated” in both sides of my head.

To what end? That I may hear, of course, but preeminently that I may hear what God has to say and put it “in my heart.” And then, with my entire body, willingly, joyfully  comply. The author of Hebrews, quotes the Greek version of the Old Testament: “a body you have prepared for me,” substituting the whole for a part. Hearing involves putting my entire body on the line. 

The New Testament puts these words in Jesus' mouth as he assures his Father that he will do his will no matter what it will cost. (Hebrews 10:5-10). On this occasion, his Father's will was the cross.

God's will may indeed entail something akin to a cross. Can I hear it and bear it manfully, not as my duty but as my "delight" (40: 8)?

Bearing up isn’t easy, but if I make a start, grace will do the rest. "The readiness is all," Hamlet said.

David Roper