Word of the Day

The Hebrew word hesed is one of the most pregnant and potent words in the Old Testament. Psalm 136 repeats it in a refrain in each of its 26 verses: "His hesed endures forever." Notice how different translations often render this term:

"unfailing love" [NIV]

"lovingkindness" [NASB]

"steadfast love" [ESV and NRSV]

"mercy" [KJV, NKJV]

"faithful love" [NLT]

One my favorite theological books of all time, The Jesus Storybook Bible, hints at the idea of hesed when it frequently refers to "God's Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love."

This idea of hesed is the ultimate sentiment between YHWH and His covenant people. The meaning of hesed is bound to YHWH's covenant promises to Abraham. It is not mere love or emotive adoration. Hesed includes and implies covenantal favor, love, mercy, fidelity, and kindness. The word almost tells a story in itself.

We can rejoice with the prophet Micah when he says, "Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression? You do not retain Your anger forever, because You delight to show hesed."

[for more word studies on hesed, read here, here, here, and here]

Oh Israel, Trust in YHWH

I got one of those ESV Study Bibles for free. My old NASB has endless scratchings on nearly every page - highlighters, pens of various colors, and tons of notes in the margins. So, the first thing I did in this new Bible was read straight through the book of Psalms. I just finished. It was so refreshing.

In my Psalter journey, I underlined every time the word "trust" was used. If this is the way God has desired His people to relate to Him throughout history [Hebrews 11], I figured the OT's hymnbook was a good place to discover the nature of true faith/trust.

The word itself is used close to 50 times in Psalms. Out of its 50 uses, YHWH or YHWH's promises are generally the object or aim of the faith/trust exhibited. In fact, it is only used negatively 7-8 times [i.e. Ps 44.6: "For not in my bow do I trust"].

Thus, as Paul says that idols are not real gods in 1 Cor 8, so faith/trust in other things apart from YHWH is not really faith/trust at all. It has the appearance or the sense of faith/trust, but not the essence. Truly trusting can only be done toward one Being. Any faith/trust between humans is too mingled with our selfish ends even if it appears to be serving or sacrificial. However, believing and trusting God is the grounds for us to have a kind of sincere honesty among the people of God.

Individually and corporately walking in this faith/trust is God's desire for His people. First, vertically. And in turn, horizontally.

Those who trust in YHWH are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever [Ps 125.1].

Sara and I are ready to go.

Please go read this.

MY WiFE JUST SAiD:

I remember thinking in middle school that when I get to heaven I'm going to have an eternally long Kit-Kat bar in one hand and an eternally long Slim Jim in the other.

On a much more sweet, beautiful, and maternal note, her last blog is fun.

THE THOMPSONiAN PSALTER

Some of the following I have posted elsewhere online. But since Little Mr James has made the scene, it has been so satisfying to me to write songs out of the book of Psalms. Some of them are for him and some are for me.

The book of Psalms is actually divided up into five books [1-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-105, and 106-150]. Some say this in order to liturgically reflect the themes and narratives in the Pentateuch. Whatever the case, the divisions were very important to the editor(s) of the Psalter.

So, along with other psalms, I'm trying to write a song for the first and last psalm in each book of the Psalter. Here are several of my meager efforts thus far.

Psalm 1

Psalm 29

Psalm 42

Psalm 77

Psalm 106

PSALM 9.10

And those who know Your name put their trust in You,

For You, O YHWH, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Much of the OT poetry is written in couplets, two lines that are getting across one primary point. These can also be called "parallelisms."

I love the parallel we are confronted with in Ps 9.10. It shows that trusting God and seeking God are intertwined realities. There is always an initial saving arrival at belief or trust in God in the broad theological sense, but here David is delighting in the ongoing pursuit of God as trust. The righteous kingship of YHWH in Ps 9.1-12 is grounds for David's believing and pursuing.

antipsalm 23 vs. psalm 23

By David Powlison. Here.

A THEOLOGY OF FATHERHOOD [part 3]

There's no doubt I love my boy like crazy. I love him when he stinks to high heaven. I love him when he shows off his sprinkler skills and urinates on me and/or himself. I love him when he is sleeping. I love him when we take walks in the morning when it is crisp outside.

What I love about my love for my son is that it puts the sloppy, stupid, worldly definition of love to shame. The spirit of our culture generally defines love as sex and tolerance. It paints love to be a thing that acts in view of what it will receive for its action. But the unconditionality of much of the love I have for Little Mr James puts this selfish nonsense to shame.

I also understand Jesus a little more when he said,

I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

In this text, I do not think our Lord is necessarily getting at simplicity, immaturity, neediness, or innocence. What he is getting at is dependence. James is totally and completely dependent on Sara and me for cleanliness, food, safety, care, and so much more. He is still not even a month old. I can only imagine how this list will grow in the future. Let's put it this way: you are never fully conscious of the breadth and depth of your dependence. This is a good thing.

Sometimes there will be no poop or pee in the diaper, he will have just fed, he will have just burped and farted, but he will still not be calm. He still wants to show us the back of his throat and see how big of a red-faced scream he can give us. His cool, little, vibrating chair will not fix it. Talking in high pitch psuedo-baby speak won't do. Changing the ol' diaper for good measure doesn't cut it. However, it is quite often fixed by just holding him near and taking a walk. There is something about the nearness of the dependent that seems to bring peace. David understood this.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever... The nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge that I may tell of all Your works.

DABAQ [hebrew word of the day]

But you who HELD FAST to YHWH your God are alive today, every one of you [Dt 4.4].

You shall fear YHWH your God; you shall serve Him and CLING to Him, and you shall swear by His name [Dt 10.20].

For if you are careful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love YHWH your God, to walk in all His ways and HOLD FAST to Him, then YHWH will drive out these nations from before you [Dt 11.22-23].

You shall follow YHWH your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and CLING to Him [Dt 13.4].

[also see Dt 30.19-20]

Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of YHWH commanded you, to love YHWH your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and HOLD FAST to Him with all your heart and soul [Jsh 22.5].

My soul CLINGS to You; Your right hand upholds me [Ps 63.8].

But the first usage of this word in the Bible sets the stage and the imagery for these others. Keep in mind, the first employment of "dabaq" is before sin/curse/deception ever entered the picture:

For this reason, man shall leave his father and mother, and be JOINED to his wife; and they shall become one flesh [Gn 2.24].

BREASTFEEDiNG 101

The girl who is teaching our birthing class says that breastfeeding can be tougher than giving birth. Clearly, I have no clue and I never will. But there are a couple things about it that I find intriguing, beautiful, remarkable, and/or just dang weird. 

First, if you're a believer, you're called to think about this. It's a picture of our dependence on what God has revealed. Read 1 Pe 2.1-3.

Secondly, when a child is born, the extent of their vision is usually about 18 inches or so. This happens to be about the distance from the mother's breast to her face. Newborns are hardwired for intimate dependence and not mere provision from a distance. This is explicitly the product of nothingness, chaos, chance, random mutations over billions of years, and people with real emotions surviving because they're better than others [like Hitler]. Or... even as Darwin suggets ["To suppose that the eye... could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree."], there is likely another Source for its intricate design and beauty.

Lastly, [and I'm sure I'll miss some miniscule biological detail here], when a baby first latches on to breastfeed, he/she exchanges fluid with mama through the breast. This newborn spit tells mama's body what the appropriate balance of nutrients should be for that child. Thus, mama's body makes a special batch of milk for her kid that wouldn't be the best for any other kid.

Again, because we worship the scientific method and human reason, this is easily explainable as surviving to be fit. But if you actually think about it, it's humans needing humans to remind humans that we need something other than humans. Any school of thought demands that we need external means to survive. But surely that cannot apply spiritually because spirituality is a product of the human psyche to pacify humanity so that they can get through tough times. It is "the opiate of the masses" [Marx]. Or... There is a good and wise God who sent Jesus [who went through more crap on earth than you'll ever go through] in order to make whole those who trust Him.

This is how theological neatniks think about breastfeeding. Maybe this is also what Jesus had in mind when he said, "Consider the lilies." I sure hope so.

THE KiNGDOM OF GOD

I love tracing the kingdom of God through the OT with my Redemptive History students [10th grade]. Some of them totally get it and others just write stuff down to pass the next test. We've talked about how important this idea of the kingdom is to the God's story and the storyline of the Bible.

In creation, man is described in kingly terms; creation is about the kingdom [Gn 1.26-31].

When the people sing and dance after being freed from the clutches of Pharoah, the last line of their song is about YHWH as the King of the kingdom [Ex 15.18].

The covenant YHWH makes with them at Sinai is about them becoming a kingdom of priests [Ex 19.4-6].

When they finally get into the land and struggle through 200 years of deliverers [the book of Judges], the last verse in Judges is about them lacking a king and how problematic this is for them as YHWH''s people [Jdgs 21.25].

The people then beg Samuel for a king so they can be like the other nations. YHWH tells Samuel that this is because they have rejected Him as king and have lost their vision of His call to them to be a kingdom of priests [1 Sam 8.4-7].

YHWH then initiates an unconditional covenant with David in which He promises David that one of his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandkids will be YHWH's king over His kingdom forever [2 Sam 7.8-16].

David finds these promises so sweet and good that he won't shut up about it. He wrote scores of songs rejoicing that God is King and will prove it one day in a HUGE, covenantal way! Some of these are: Ps 24.7-10, 47.5-9, 93.1-2, 95.1-5, 97.1, 99.1, 100.4, 103.19-22, 145.8-13, 149.1-14, and others.

After the kingdom split, the prophets continued to declare that God's kingship was coming in the same way David sang about. However, for those who were rebellious and did not delight in YHWH as king, His kingly coming would be judgment for them. Some of these prophetic texts are: Is 6.1-3, Is 9.6-7, Is 44.6-8, Is 52.7, Jer 23.5-6, Ezk 1-2 [the throne imagry], Ezk 34.23-24, Dan 4.34-35, Dan 7.9-22, Obad 1.21, Zeph 3.14-17, Zech 14.9-21, and others. And, like Jesus said, all the prophets prophesied until John [Mt 11.13].

But then.

He arrives.

YHWH's King. David's Son. Isaiah's Servant-King. Ezekiel's Shepherd-King.

In the NT, the first thing we have recorded from the mouth of John the Baptist and from the lips of our Lord is shattering: "Repent! The kingdom is at hand!" [Mt 3.2, Mt 4.17]

This changes everything. Roman oppression will die. YHWH's people will finally be a kingdom of priests. All covenants will be totally fulfilled. All wrongs will be righted. Justice will finally be served!

But it didn't happen exactly like they thought.

However, there is still hope [this is where it clicked for a lot of my students]. We went to Gen 1-2 and saw that in creation, the kingdom is seen in its perfection - man reigning with God, like God and for God over His created order. Then, we flipped to the end of the story in Rev 21-22. Can we see anything in the New Creation that was similair to the creation in Gen 1-2? Yes. We see man reigning and ruling with God, like God, and for God over the new heavens and the new earth.

If we know that this snapshot will be the fruit of God's gracious promises in Jesus, we must have humility and confidence to live as His kings and priests right now. This hope is the lens through which we must view the word of God and the world around us, serving the King of all kings.

"ON AFFLiCTiON" [puritan excerpts]

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word. I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are righteous and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me [Psalm 119.67, 75].

• A sanctified person, like a silver bell, the harder he is smitten, the better he sounds [George Swinnock].
• Poverty and affliction take away the fuel that feeds pride [Richard Sibbes].
• We often learn more of God under the rod that strikes us, than under the staff that comforts us [Stephen Charnock].
• When I am in the cellar of affliction, I look for the Lord's choicest wines [Samuel Rutherford].
• It is said that in some countries trees will grow, but will bear no fruit, because there is no winter there [John Bunyan].

O people in Zion, inhabitants in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. Although the Lord has given you the bread of affliction and the water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold Your Teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you saying, "This is the way. Walk in it." [Isaiah 30.19-21]

why i read Psalm 51 at the Lord's Supper

Because it’s an appeal to the unconditional covenant love and compassion of God [51.1]. David is flagrantly open and vulnerable concerning his sin. David acknowledges that his sin is against God and God alone [51.4]. The need for purity and holiness before God is clear [51.7-11]. He knows that broken bones will rejoice [51.8]. It reminds me that those things which our Lord delights in are humility, contrition, and joy in His righteous salvation [51.12, 51.17]. Another aspect of this that provokes my spirit is that David prays these things for the sake of others… “Then I will teach transgressors Your ways” [51.13]. And for the sake of God being honored… “Open my lips that my mouth may declare Your praise“ [51.15].

I hope that in doing this, I’m examining myself so I don’t eat and drink unworthily [1 Cor 11.27-29]; I’m remembering Jesus’ work on the cross [1 Cor 11.24]; and I’m proclaiming the glory of His death until He comes [1 Cor 11.26].

PSALM 150

1. What? [praise]
2. How? [“with” in vs.3-6]
3. Who? [everything/everyone that has breath in v.6]
4. Where? [“in” in v.1]
5. Why? [“for” and “according to” in v.2]
6. When? [the eternality of “Hallelujah” as in Rev 19]

eschatological HALLELUJAH

The book of Psalms is really five books [1-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106, and 107-150]. There are only 9 psalms in the whole Psalter than begin and end with the unique Hebrew word “Hallelujah” [106, 113, 117, 135, 146, 147, 148, 149, and 150; often called “Hallel Psalms”]. All of these psalms are in book 5 of the Psalter, except Psalm 106; it is the last psalm in book 4, awaiting the unhindered praise of book 5.

Furthermore, the last 5 psalms in book 5 are all Hallel Psalms. It seems to me that this joyous and triumphant praise is saved for last because of the sense of finality that it carries. Derek Kidner says that “the psalms are a miniature of our story as a whole, which will end in unbroken blessing and delight.” But further still, the revelation of Jesus to John on Patmos appears to give insight here.

Nowhere in the NT do we find the word “Hallelujah” until we arrive at Rev 19. The great Babylon of Rev 18 has fallen. The table at the marriage supper of the Lamb is set for its guests. Also, the choir of voices that echo this distinct praise includes: a great multitude in 19.1 and 19.6; the 24 elders and the 4 living creatures in 19.4; and the bond-servants of God in 19.5. Some even see Rev 19.1-6 as the last of 5 doxological scenes in John’s apocalypse [4.5-11, 5.11-14, 7.9-17, 15.2-8, and 19.1-6]. Even if this is stretching it, there is no doubt that the Biblical shape of Hallelujah directly entails eschatological hope and consummative jubilee.

EX NiHiLO

To Him who made great lights, His steadfast love endures forever. The sun to rule over the day, His steadfast love endures forever [Ps 136.7-8].


















From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord be praised. The Lord is high above all nations, and His glory above the heavens [Ps 113.3-4].