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  • Psalm 34: Like-minded with Peter – 5

    Psalm 34: Like-minded with Peter – 5

    We might describe Peter and David as like-minded, that is, men after God’s own heart.

    Of course, Psalm 34 is a Psalm of David. So what does this Psalm have to do with a letter from Peter (where we left off previously by asking, ‘Why Submit?’)?

    Psalm 34 would have been familiar to first century believers and Peter quotes David’s message as a unifying foundation of hope for these new believers in Christ.

    1 Peter 3:

    8 Finally, all of you be like-minded and sympathetic, love one another, and be compassionate and humble, 9 not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you may inherit a blessing.

    Stick with this short list of characteristics of relationships between believers.

    • like-minded
    • sympathetic
    • love one another
    • be compassionate
    • be humble
    • do not return evil for evil
    • never insult
    • bless your brother or sister in Christ.

    Remember the church’s persecution as exiles and their hope from many familiar stanzas of this Psalm Peter does not even mention. We have much to unpack from Peter’s instruction to the church here.

    For now, because he moves on to the Psalm and we most likely lack the familiarity of the first century believers, I will attempt to open the scripture of Psalm 34, returning later to Peter’s letter.

    Psalm 34

    Introduction to Psalm 34

    Charles Spurgeon provides some helpful insight into this Psalm.

    Although the gratitude of the psalmist prompted him thankfully to record the goodness of the Lord in vouchsafing an undeserved deliverance, yet he weaves none of the incidents of the escape into the narrative, but dwells only on the grand fact of his being heard in the hour of peril…

    David in view of the special peril from which he was rescued, was at great pains with this Psalm, and wrote it with considerable regularity, in almost exact accordance with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

    C.H. Spurgeon

    Spurgeon also helpfully points out that this Psalm of David divides into two parts: a hymn [vs.1-10] and a sermon [vs.11-22].

    Have you ever been in such a situation as David when your life as you know it is at stake? Did you praise the Lord for saving you?

    Perhaps this hymn was sung by the persecuted first century church. And maybe the church receiving Peter’s letter already knew well the sermon David preaches. From this context the Apostle’s recalls Psalm 34 in his first letter to the church.

    I will bless the Lord at all times

    [[A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.]]

    לְדָוִ֗ד בְּשַׁנֹּותֹ֣ו אֶת־֭טַעְמֹו לִפְנֵ֣י אֲבִימֶ֑לֶךְ וַֽ֝יְגָרֲשֵׁ֗הוּ וַיֵּלַֽךְ׃ אֲבָרֲכָ֣ה אֶת־יְהוָ֣ה בְּכָל־עֵ֑ת תָּ֝מִ֗יד תְּֽהִלָּתֹ֥ו בְּפִֽי׃

    Psalm 34:1 WLC

    I will bless the LORD at all times;
    His praise shall continually be in my mouth. – Psalm 34:1 NKJV

    Most contemporary Christians know that David was a man after God’s own heart. Certainly the newly founded and persecuted church to whom Peter wrote knew the same. Bless the LORD at all times! It is a good start.

    3 O magnify the Lord with me,
     And let us exalt His name together.
     4 I sought the Lord, and He answered me,
     And delivered me from all my fears.

    6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
     And saved him out of all his troubles.
     7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,
     And rescues them.

    Spurgeon commentary – Psalm 34:6

    Once again Spurgeon relates David’s verse from from the Psalm in a way Peter also knew would resonate with Christians in fear for their lives.

    Verse 6. “This poor man cried.” Here he returns to his own case. He was poor indeed, and so utterly friendless that his life was in great jeopardy; but he cried in his heart to the protector of his people and found relief. His prayer was a cry, for brevity and bitterness, for earnestness and simplicity, for artlessness and grief; it was a poor man’s cry, but it was none the less powerful with heaven, for “the Lord heard him,” and to be heard of God is to be delivered; and so it is added that the Lord “saved him out of all his troubles.”

    Peter then refers to this next stanza [in 1 Peter 3:10]:

    8 O taste and see that the Lord is good;
    How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

    Psalm 34:8 NASB

    Peter’s Psalm 34 Sermon

    Peter urges the men of the church to whom he writes:

    1 Peter 3:

    10 For the one who wants to love life
    and to see good days,
    let him keep his tongue from evil
    and his lips from speaking deceit,
    11 and let him turn away from evil
    and do what is good.
    Let him seek peace and pursue it,

    Keep your tongue from evil, Peter urges. Also turn away from evil to do what is good. Pursue peace (with each other, between members of the church).

    12 because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
    and his ears are open to their prayer.

    This too is from the Psalm [v.15].

    Do you, beloved believer, pray to the Lord? His eyes look toward the righteous.

    Are your actions now righteous because of Christ? His ears are open to your prayers; therefore pray to the Lord in whom you now take refuge. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

    And a reminder from Peter as he continues quoting from Psalm 34 [v.16]:

    But the face of the Lord is against
    those who do what is evil.

    1 Peter 3:12b CSB

    This is actually encouraging to those who have turned to the Lord. For in Christ we no longer want to do what is evil.

    The vengeance of the Lord will prevail against the enemies of God, as when David called on the Lord for help. Again, this Psalm of David will be familiar to the persecuted church of the first century.

    Psalm 34 beyond Peter’s quote

    9 O fear the Lord, you His saints;
    For to those who fear Him there is no want.

    Do we realize that all like-minded servants of the Lord are referred to as saints?

    11 Come, you children, listen to me;
    I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
    12 Who is the man who desires life
    And loves length of days that he may see good?

    Like Peter, the Apostle John also encourages the church. We are called to be like-minded faithful, ‘children of God.’

    But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name

    John 1:12 NASB

    When Peter earlier referred to ‘not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult‘ his advise came from Psalm 34 and other scripture.

    13 Keep your tongue from evil
     And your lips from speaking deceit.
     14 Depart from evil and do good;
     Seek peace and pursue it.

    15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
     And His ears are open to their cry.
     16 The face of the Lord is against evildoers,
     To cut off the memory of them from the earth.
     17 The righteous cry, and the Lord hears
     And delivers them out of all their troubles.
     18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
     And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

    Like-minded believers

    What do the faithful do with Scripture?

    Peter’s readers applied Old Testament Scripture to the promises of their faith in Christ Jesus.

    The Lord has done this before and the Lord promises these things; therefore we have faith.

    David, a man after God’s own heart, preaches the sermon of Psalm 34 to the church. Yet first century persecuted followers of Christ probably seemed just as crazy to others as David had when he pretended madness before Abimelech.

    The Psalmist assures us that God hears the cries of the righteous and sees our suffering. Furthermore, the Lord prevailed and saved David.

    The Lord also saves us in spite of humanly impossible circumstances many times; therefore the faithful hear:

    Psalm 34:21 Evil shall slay the wicked,
     And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned
    22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,
     And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned

    Is your soul saved?

    The Lord redeems the soul of His servants.

    Are you a servant of the Lord? Will you become like-minded with Jesus in suffering?

    Do you take refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ?

    Once again, turning to the preaching of Spurgeon:

    “The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants”—with price and with power, with blood and with water. All providential helps are a part of the redemption by power, hence the Lord is said still to redeem. All thus ransomed belong to him who bought them—this is the law of justice and the verdict of gratitude. Joyfully will we serve him who so graciously purchases us with his blood, and delivers us by his power. “And none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.” Faith is the mark of the ransomed, and wherever it is seen, though in the least and meanest of the saints, it ensures eternal salvation. Believer, thou shalt never be deserted, forsaken, given up to ruin. God, even thy God, is thy guardian and friend, and bliss is thine.

    Charles Spurgeon commentary Psalm 34:22

    Peter continues

    Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, Peter asks, are you all these things in Christ?

    • like-minded and sympathetic?
    • Do you love one another?
    • Are you compassionate and humble?

    Peter will continue by asking the church to be Christlike.

    • Do not return evil for evil and never insult anyone.
    • Bless your brother or sister in Christ.

    Do good, even if you suffer for it.

    If we are in Christ we must be like-minded. For we are now children of the Living God through Christ Jesus!

    Do not fear what they fear; do not be terrified.

    Isaiah 8:12b;1 Peter 3:14b CSB
    To be continued...
  • Why Submit? – a letter from Peter – 4

    Why Submit? – a letter from Peter – 4

    Why should we submit to anyone? If a follower of Christ Jesus encounters difficulty from your community, your boss, your spouse or anyone else, why submit to their will rather than your own?

    We began last time with Peter telling us the purpose of our good works through Christ Jesus:

    Submit to every human authority because of the Lord… For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves.

    1 Peter 2:13a,15-16 CSB

    The Apostle opened his first letter to the persecuted church with blessings and encouragement concerning this salvation through Christ Jesus. But Peter quickly proceeds, warning the faithful against those opposed to the risen Savior.

    He assures us that Jesus is the cornerstone of the church and that faithful followers of Christ are living stones. Yet because of Christ some will stumble because they disobey our Lord.

    Peter now adds specific applications to their lives and ours.

    Remember Our Example Before Men

    No witness is better than a personal witness.

    For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

    1 Peter 2:21

    Although Peter had been part of the inner circle of the Lord, most first century believers had only the good works of the Apostles as their image of Christ risen and the power of the Holy Spirit.

    Part of Peter’s authenticity becomes evident by his own admissions of failings. We first hear of this humility in Peter when Jesus first called him.

    Luke 5:

    The crowds are pressing into Jesus who is teaching near Lake Tiberias, as the Romans called this Sea of Galilee. He sees two boats having returned from less than successful fishing that day.

    3 He got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the land. Then he sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat.

    Peter, of course, also listens to Jesus preach from his boat.

    4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

    5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we’ve worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I’ll let down the nets.”

    6 When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets began to tear…

    When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’s knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!”

    Luke 5:8 CSB

    Peter, James and John that day all became Jesus’ closest Disciples and friends. Surely believers who witnessed Peter during his brief years following the Lord’s resurrection came to know this humble, yet sometimes boisterous redeemed sinner who writes this letter.

    1 Peter 2:

    9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

    1 Peter 2:9 CSB

    If you are the one receiving this letter doesn’t this make you feel special, that is, set aside for God?

    God chooses you through Christ! Peter is just the Lord’s humble messenger of the Good News. But then he explains this further to the largely gentile or non-jewish hearers of his letter.

    10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

    In Christ Jesus we are chosen, therefore we must act differently than the world around us. By God’s grace we have received mercy and can show our good works to others.

    How to submit to others

    13 Submit to every human authority because of the Lord…

    We have already looked at the list of those we resist by our lack of humility. Peter will remind us later in his letter:

    Since Christ had to suffer physically for you, you must fortify yourselves with the same inner attitude that he must have had.

    1 Peter 4:1 JB Phillips New Testament

    In this sense we feel the prescribed holiness of the priest made possible only by the grace of God through the Holy Spirit.

    Masters

    We abhor slavery. Yet in a sense all are slaves of servants to someone; Christians moreso, as Peter insists.

    19 For it brings favor if, because of a consciousness of God, someone endures grief from suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is there if when you do wrong and are beaten, you endure it?

    This is a fair question the Apostle asks. For such a situation, whether physically or metaphorically, our beating is punishment for sin, a transgression of some law of man or a Law of God.

    But when you do what is good and suffer, if you endure it, this brings favor with God.

    Christ’s example before men

    21 For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

    This witness of Jesus by Peter stands as a question to new Christians for every example to follow his mention of slaves or servants.

    • Are you a servant of God? Then the Father is your Master.
    • Is Christ Jesus your Lord? Then Jesus must be your new Master.

    Why then do you not follow Jesus’ example before men?

    22 He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth; 23 when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.

    We just have trouble doing that, new Christian or long-time believer, don’t we?

    Then Peter reminds us of the reason Christ came to us as a man, the suffering servant predicted by scripture.

    24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree [cross]; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness.

    The sinless Son of Man, Jesus, became the sacrificial lamb, His Blood the covering for our own sins. Therefore, we must live to righteousness.

    For you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

    1 Peter 2:21 CSB

    Submission to Husbands

    In the same way, wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands…

    Once again, a topic perhaps as malaligned as slaves serving masters.

    Some translations soften the blow of this topic offensive to some women of the church. Wives are often more zealous for Jesus than their husbands.

    It may be helpful for Christian wives to remember that Peter was a devoted husband, who called Jesus his Master. MacArthur’s outline heading: Submission in the Family may be most appropriate.

    1 Peter 3:

    Peter tells our sisters in the Lord why they must submit and how they must act to reflect Christ’s glory.

    … so that, even if some disobey the word, they may be won over without a word by the way their wives live when they observe your pure, reverent lives.

    Pure and reverent lives. How often do we hear this call even to Christian men? Other translations shed additional light on Peter’s meaning:

    • While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. KJV
    • when they see your respectful and pure conduct. ESV
    • as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. NASB

    Twenty-first century culture nearly everywhere has strayed far from these original meanings and we must not devalue Christian women in any way simply because the Bible clearly states the roles of both men and women.

    Chaste and respectful behavior

    ἁγνός – hagnos chaste – exciting reverence, venerable, sacred, pure; pure from carnality, chaste, modest; pure from every fault, immaculate; clean (in the Hebrew sense of cleansed)

    Paul, in his letter to Titus uses this same word for wives when he encourages older women to mentor younger women in the church:

    ‘to be sensible, pure, G53 workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.’

    Titus 2:5 Strongs Concordance BlueletterBible.org

    φόβος – phobos respectful – fear, dread, terror or alarm, that which strikes terror; also: reverence for one’s husband

    What does it mean to reverence the Lord God? Or reverence Jesus Christ as your Lord?

    Let us not confuse fear and dread with respect and reverence, not even of husbands, who must honor their wives. For the enemy of Christ would have some men fear their wives, having no reverence for Christ or God our merciful Father.

    ἀναστροφή – anastrophē behavior – manner of life, conduct, behaviour, deportment” from G390; behavior:—conversation.

    Of course our good works (or evil works) quickly become most evident by our words in women and especially in men. Peter’s additional encouragement to wives faithful to their husband and faithful to the Lord points toward a Christ-like example from women as well. The writer of Hebrews uses this same word also translated as conduct when he writes:

    Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, G391 imitate their faith.

    Hebrews 13:7 NASB Strong’s concordance from BlueLetterBible.org

    Your inner beauty

    Remember, Peter is married. He may also have a sister or daughter – the Bible does not confirm this. Many, perhaps most of the Apostles were married, had daughters and sons, sisters and brothers.

    Isn’t it most familial that in Christ the early church referred to each other as “brother” and “sister,” and greeted each other with a kiss?

    Therefore acknowledging our humility of role, as Christ also humbled Himself as a servant, Peter points inward to our soul rather than the desirable outward appearances of the world.

    3 {NASB} Your adornment must not be merely external…

    The cultural particulars of the time or locale carry less importance, but reflect the appropriateness of the saints.

    The imperishable qualities of a wife in Christ

    4 [NASB] but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

    She is a quiet and gentle soul. Oh, such a compliment to her husband, such a witness to a gentle Jesus. She also will submit to the Father – a bruised reed she will not break.

    Peter puts forth the example of Sarah, wife of Abraham, as a holy example of a wife who does submit to her husband. She called him ‘lord,’ the Apostle reminds. A servant calls their master, lord.

    Do you call Jesus Lord?

    Peter also calls upon husbands to ‘live with your wives in an understanding way.’ What does he mean?

    The Apostle presumes that as a brother in Christ that you have a ‘gnosis‘ of scripture and the Lord; that is, a deeper more perfect and enlarged knowledge of this religion, such as belongs to the more advanced.

    She is ‘the weaker vessel,’ knowing less about God while she submits to you. It may have been so in the first century, yet in this day I must ask you, husbands who claim Christ, is it so?

    Do you know more about the Bible and about the Lord than your wife? Who is truly ‘a weaker vessel’ in knowledge of Christ our Lord?

    Is Christ your Lord?

    Are you an unrepentant sinner or by grace a sinner saved in Christ Jesus?

    In addition to living honorably as a witness to unbelievers, the Apostle next suggests how to live honorably among other Christians.

    Beloved Christian brother, dear sister in the Lord,

    Peter will next call upon all brothers and sisters in the Lord to do no evil. He has more instruction to those of us who submit to the teaching of Jesus. 

    To be continued...
  • Good Works – a letter from Peter – 3

    Good Works – a letter from Peter – 3

    What do our good works have to do with faith?

    Peter opens his letter to a persecuted church concerning this salvation with blessings.

    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…

    The Apostle calls us to holy living and then continues by defining it.

    1 Peter 2:

    Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.

    Peter asks new Christians to ‘desire the pure milk of the word, so that you may grow up into your salvation, if you have tasted that the Lord is good.‘ He then continues by contrasting Christ, as the Living Stone of the Temple, to those who reject Jesus as a stone over which they stumble because they disobey God.

    This brings Peter to call upon all Christians to do good works now that we are no longer part of worldly unbelievers destined to destruction.

    Good Works

    1 Peter 2:11-

    11 [YLT] Beloved, I call upon [you], as strangers and sojourners, to keep from the fleshly desires, that war against the soul…

    Where do you stand with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, asks Peter?

    • Are you now a stranger to the worldly and sojourner through this mortal life?
    • Or do you cling to those same fleshly desires which always drag our flesh into sin and our souls into judgement?

    Live honorably among unbelievers

    12 [CEB] Live honorably among the unbelievers. Today, they defame you, as if you were doing evil.

    Young’s Literal Translation speaks of ‘having your behaviour among the nations right’ and the NASB states: ‘Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles.’

    Believers know God and true followers of the Way of Christ Jesus have received the Holy Spirit through His grace. We must live differently, Peter urges us. And he also gives a reason for good works through our honorable witness to those who do not yet believe.

    Though unbelievers accuse us as if we are doing evil (which, of course, they commit as well), ‘they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.’ [NIV]

    How do others recognize Christ through our good works?

    In a word, subjugation; Christians submit to authority for our Lord’s sake.

    Submit yourselves

    I can tell you right now that you are not going to like this next part… because I don’t. I resist it and want to talk about freedom and grace instead.

    Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good.

    1 Peter 2:13 CSB

    You may say, “Emperor? That doesn’t apply to me.” But other versions use the example of ‘every human authority’ as ‘the king.’ And note that governors are sent out to praise those who do good, but to punish those who do evil.

    The sword of scripture gets even sharper by our examination of other versions.

    Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme… 1 Peter 2:13 KJV

    “Every ordinance of man?”

    A King, County Commissioner, Mayor… President of either political party? Ordinance, as in every Law passed by Congress or Parliament? I don’t like it one bit.

    The one in authority.

    Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

    Philippians 2:3-4 NASB

    “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,” Paul writes to the church in Philippians 2:5.

    Submit yourself for the Lord’s sake.

    It’s hard for us to act like Jesus. His humility is not the first thing that comes to mind in our witness of His benefits to us. Paul give us the reason in his letter to the Romans:

    “because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so.” – Romans 8:7

    We do not want to submit to anyone, yet because of our faith must do so ‘because of the Lord.’

    1 Peter 2:15 For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. 16 Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves.

    Slaves

    There’s another word we don’t like. (Not very politically correct either.) -Slaves! Submit as God’s slaves.

    Shall we water it down or dilute scripture’s meaning?

    Some English translations call on us to become ‘bondservants’ of God and others simplify it with the word ‘servant.’

    Maybe that’s a little better, like a butler, gardener, waitress or food delivery person at your door. I might occasionally take on the role as a servant of God with minimal complaint. The actual Greek word is δοῦλος doulos.

    • a slave, bondman, man of servile condition
      • (of the Lord, maybe, but not likely to other men)
    • metaph., one who gives himself up to another’s will those whose service is used by Christ in extending and advancing his cause among men
      • How can I do that?
    • devoted to another to the disregard of one’s own interests
      • This is Peter’s meaning for Christ’s servants.

    Honor by Christian Servants

    I could mention names here, causing dissension between the believers, but honor in our public witness by ‘christians’ frequently falls far short. I’ll just ask you (and myself), “Do you honor those Peter lists as a bondservant of God?

    Honor everyone. Love the family of believers. Have respectful fear of God. Honor the emperor.

    1 Peter 2:17 Common English Bible

    Honor everyone? I cannot keep words that do not honor some from my witness to unbelievers.

    Love everyone in our church? Is Peter serious? We are a bunch of sinners! And as Paul once suggested I can claim, ‘of whom I am the worst.’ The good works of Grace between Christians can be our most challenging witness. I have already mentioned that ‘the emperor could be the king, president or other most powerful government leader. Examine your own witness.

    Please note that Peter points to everyone or the world first. Then he narrows into our relational connection to others in the church. Peter reminds us to fear God. (Look it up.) And lastly, in essence, honor civil leaders responsible for the good works of our society at all level.

    Good Works of Christ’s Good Servants

    Next Peter will outline the reasons for us to serve from our various stations of this life in the flesh, a moral life of good works serving others. These include: masters and slaves, husbands and wives.

    Will you witness Christ when persecuted?

    Do your good works glorify God?

    To be continued...