25 My soul clings to the dust;
give me life according to your word!
Genesis 2:7 KJV And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Genesis 3:19 KJV In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Psalm 119: 25 KJV My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.
26 When I told of my ways, you answered me;
teach me your statutes!
The Lord answers prayer. And where and what is the answer? In the word of scripture, including the commands, law and statutes of the Lord. The Spirit reveals all truth of scripture when we genuinely seek the Lord’s will with all of our heart (soul).
Does your soul cling to the dust in humility before the Lord? Do you remember that we are dust and to dust our flesh will return?
27 Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
28 My soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word!
Is anything too hard for the Lord? – Genesis 1:18a
Though our soul clings to the dust and our spirit is downtrodden, how uplifted is our countenance when we look higher to the strength of God and glorify His mighty works and the grace of His compassion.
29 Put false ways far from me
and graciously teach me your law!
30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I set your rules before me.
31 I cling to your testimonies, O Lord;
let me not be put to shame!
32 I will run in the way of your commandments
when you enlarge my heart!
And from the dust and ashes we shall rise in Christ Jesus!
Hosea 6:1 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
Deuteronomy 10:16Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
The Lord has torn you down to build you up. He pierces your calloused heart to breathe His love into your life. He shocks your soul to repentance that you might not wither to the ashes of hell. He calls out to His sheep: You with ears to hear, hear.
I am neither Prophet nor preacher – qualified not for either office or its responsibilities. I am only a voice from the pew, a sinner like you – first and mostly convicted by the same scripture by which I cut to your hearts of stone as fellow fallen believers, dependant on Christ as our Lord.
Therefore, by disagreeing with some you have heard preached – with some you have heard taught, even by most respected men of God (though all are fallible), I yield for your benefit to the teaching on the Beatitudes by another: Matthew Henry (1662-1714).
Matthew Henry – Commentary excerpt on Matthew 5 – The Beatitudes.
None will find happiness in this world of the next who do not seek it from Christ by the rule of his word.
vs. 3-12 Our Savior here gives eight characters of blessed people, which represent to us the principal graces of a Christian.
The poor in spirit are happy. These bring their minds to their condition, when it is a low condition. They are humble and lowly in their own eyes. They see their want, bewail their guilt, and thirst after a Redeemer. The Kingdom of grace is of such: the kingdom of glory is for them.
Those that mourn are happy. That godly sorrow which worketh true repentance, watchfulness, a humble mind, and continual dependence for acceptance on the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, with constant seeking the Holy Spirit, to cleanse away the remaining evil, seems here to be intended. Heaven is the joy of our Lord: a mountain of joy, to which our way is through a vale of tears. Such mourners shall be comforted by their God.
The meek are happy. The meek are those who quietly submit to God; who can bear insult; are silent, or return a soft answer; who in their patience, keep possession of their own souls, when they can scarcely keep possession of anything else. These meek ones are happy, even in this world. Meekness promotes wealth, comfort, and safety, even in this world.
Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are happy. Righteousness is here put for all spiritual blessings. These are purchased for us by the righteousness of Christ, confirmed by the faithfulness of God..
The merciful are happy. We must not only bear our own afflictions patiently, but we must do all we can to help those who are in misery. We must have compassion on the souls of others, and help them; pity those who are in sin, and seek to snatch them as brands out of the burning.
The pure in heart are happy: for they shall see God. Here holiness and happiness are fully described and put together. The heart must be purified by faith, and kept for God…
The peace-makers are happy. They love, and desire and delight in peace; and study to be quiet. They keep the peace that it be not broken, and recover it when it is broken. If the peace-makers are blessed, woe to the peace-breakers!
Those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake are happy. This saying is peculiar to Christianity; and it is more largely insisted upon than any of the rest…Blessed Jesus! how different are thy maxims from those of men of this world! … With these enjoyments and hopes, we may cheerfully welcome low or painful circumstances.
Here is proper teaching and conviction of the words of Jesus from the Beatitudes. And of verses 13-16, Henry teaches:
Ye are the salt of the earth. Mankind, lying in ignorance and wickedness, were as a vast heap, ready to putrify; but Christ sent forth his disciples, by their lives and doctrines to season it with knowledge and grace. If they are not such as they should be, they are as salt that has lost its savor.
And in conclusion (though not nearly complete application of Matthew 5), of verses 17-20:
Let none suppose that Christ allows his people to trifle with any commands of God’s holy law. No sinner partakes of Christ’s justifying righteousness, till he repents of his evil deeds. The mercy revealed in the gospel leads the believer to still deeper self-abhorrence.
A call to follow
Do I speak too severely to the church?
Are my words too harsh for a brother?
Do Henry’s teachings point too severely toward our great wickedness?
Is Jesus’ call to you for perfection in the Law and in your heart too much to bear?
Indeed we must take up our cross and follow him.
Matthew 7:28 – 8:1
And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:14
Matthew 10:11 And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
IF anyone will not listen.. Shake off the dust of your feet when you leave that house.. It will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah. + “Jesus – Matthew 10:14-15
35 For I have come to set a man against his…
… nearest and most beloved family members.
Rejection! Rejection by loved ones for taking up your cross…
His Cross… and His reward.
36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Rewards
40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.
41 The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.
10 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves…
Do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you…
10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say,
11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’
16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
The Light in You
Luke 11:33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light…
35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”
Acknowledge Christ Before Men
Luke 12:8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.
You Must Be Ready
35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.
Not Peace, but Division
49 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!
50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! 51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three.
Repent or Perish
Luke 13: There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
The Narrow Door
22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?”
And he said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’
26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’
27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth…
Temptations to Sin
Luke 17: And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,
29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all
— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
The Death of Jesus
Luke 23:44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Then Jesus,calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!”
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
Luke 24: Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them,“Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit…
44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,
47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things…
The Ascension
50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple blessing God.
The Risen King has sent them out…
It will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah
A servant of the Lord comes to you. He needs a room. He needs work. He needs food. He asks for your love and friendship. And he shares Christ Jesus, his Lord with you.
He invites you to be part of His family and fellowship of lasting true love.
25 My soul clings to the dust;
And from the dust and ashes we shall rise in Christ Jesus!
