Toby J. Sumpter's Blog

Introduction
This last weekend has reminded me of the necessity of classical education and of the fact that we still have work to do, speaking of which, I look forward to seeing many of you in Nashville next week. So last Friday I posted an article entitled “Israel is Our Apostate Brother,” and as I told one friend, it was like catnip for internet anons. And let me be clear, I don’t mind the honest questions at all. I don’t mind even very direct disagreement that engages the actual arguments. Happy to spar. But the funny thing was the number of unhinged comments, completely disconnected from reality. I lost track of how many comments accused me of taking money from Israel. There were other comments speculating that said-non-existent-money was how Canon Press was able to offer 10 Million for Christianity Today (ha!). Other comments accused me of “shilling for Israel” and spouting “Zionist slop” and “selling my soul.” 

But look, if I had to guess, most of those comments are coming from people who have listened to three podcasts about alleged Israeli corruption and interference in American politics (OK, maybe four). But here’s the deal: when I visited Israel, I was meeting with conservative Jews who *acknowledge* Israeli corruption. They were not hiding the fact that Israel has been dominated by progressive and globalist socialists. They actually invited one such member of the Knesset to talk to us so we could hear directly from the horse’s mouth. 

I was invited to Israel because these conservative Jews know that there is deep state corruption and conspiracies in both of our nations, and they want our respective nations to be truly free, independent, and self-determining. They are Israeli/Jewish nationalists who want to establish an Israel-First doctrine, even as they want and respect the need for America to be America-First (and Christian). These are conservative Jews who would want to see all the ponzi-cash games and blackmail to stop. 

But I Repeat Myself
What I wrote in my article is that Israel is a cut-off natural branch, a disinherited old covenant brother. And the only way back into God’s blessing is through Jesus the Messiah. I don’t know how to be more clear than that. My *only* point was to take Paul’s language in Romans 11 seriously: “As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Rom. 11:28-29). Yes, I fully realize that some good Reformed brothers take the central claim of Romans 11 — of a re-grafting-in of Jews into the covenant vine as something that already happened in the first century AD, prior to the destruction of the temple. But you should know that the futurist position has been a mainstream view in the Reformed tradition. If what I wrote is shilling for Israel and you call yourself Reformed, you’re accusing much of your own tradition. And this tradition is not dispensationalist. Let me repeat that: I’m not a dispensationalist. I’m what I guess you could call a “soft supersessionist.”

But even if you take the “in-grafting” of Romans 11 as already fulfilled, I’m still not sure how Romans 11:28-29 can possibly mean that modern Jews are absolutely no different than any other pagan: “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” Some translations say “irrevocable.” How can they be “irrevocable” if they were in fact “revoked” at 70 AD? Israel lived in exile in the Old Covenant for hundreds of years without temple, without sacrifices, and yet God restored them. Why couldn’t He restore them to Himself after thousands of years, if they turn to Christ?

At any rate, I also wrote that as with any apostate family member or friend, the apostasy really matters. Given the apostasy, there would be any number of tensions, disagreements, and perhaps even periods of time where there was little-to-no contact. How could this be taken as anything other than implying the same thing about modern Jews and the modern nation of Israel? And while I agree that Jews and the modern nation state of Israel are not necessarily synonymous, they do heavily overlap. To the extent that Israel self-consciously considers itself Jewish, that overlap is hard to disentangle. Bur regardless, depending on what they’re doing, it could be necessary to oppose them, resist them, reject them, or avoid them entirely. If that’s “shilling for Israel,” that’s some 4D chess for you, and I have no idea how it works. Faithful are the wounds of a true friend, and we are no “friend” of Israel if we do not resist every form of corruption and blasphemy.

And Another Thing
One of the other slanders raised in the aftermath of our recent CrossPolitic episode was that I am calling modern Israel some kind of bulwark against the LGBT movement. Ha. Double ha. A number of “helpful” people have been linking news stories of Pride Parades from Haaretz and other progressive propaganda rags to help me see the error of my ways. Look, I *know* that Israel has been a progressive haven. I acknowledged the Pride Parade in Tel Aviv on our CrossPolitic show. Heck, I saw the Pride flags in Tel Aviv with my own two eyes. But I also saw a Trump flag in Jerusalem, for whatever that’s worth. A bunch of you didn’t listen to the whole show and listened to slander about it and then spread that slander around like a bunch of gullible old ladies. 

What I said was that there is a “conservative resurgence” in Israel that is a frontline against all forms of barbarism — including LGBT perversions in Israel. Slow down and try to breathe: “a conservative resurgence in Israel.” I’m talking about people I met personally who take the 10 Commandments seriously, believe in natural marriage, male and female, the blessing of children, are pro-life, and are working for constitutional law and justice. And what I said on the show was that insofar as global LGBT perversions align with Hamas and Islamic barbarism (witness all the Palestinian flags next to Pride flags), the conservative Israelis are on the front line of that battle. Read my words carefully. Think about what I’m actually saying, not the bad thing you wish I were saying so you could keep screeching. I know there are massive forces of progressive perversion in Israel, and I know that our American progressive perverts are in bed with them (literally and politically and economically). But there are *some* conservative Israelis fighting back. For example, did you know that there is an anti-Pride parade in Jerusalem every year? Don’t you think that matters? Israel also has the highest birthrate among Western nations. Doesn’t that matter at all?

A number of bots (I believe this is the most charitable reading) wondered if I had “kissed the wall” and of course several AI generated photos appeared with yours truly wearing a kipah. But if anyone had cared to actually listen to our CrossPolitic episode on our trip to Israel, you would know that we closed the episode describing the incredibly sad scene at the Western Wall, and how I cannot describe it as anything other than a form of lost superstition. But it is also true that God gave me a deep compassion for the Jews, a deep sorrow for them, and for our friends in particular, a true love for them and prayer for their salvation in Jesus Christ. A bunch of the hysteria surrounding these recent conversations appears to me to be nothing but unfettered rage and hate. If you can’t write a coherent response to a pastor on social media without gnashing your teeth and spitting at your screen, yeah, I’d call that real live antisemitism. And ironically the same “hate” you seem to want to expose in the Jews is growing like a malignant tumor in your own heart. Remember the old saying, bitterness is like eating rat poison and hoping the rat dies. Talk about shilling for Israel, only very ironically.

Conclusion: A Way to Hold it All Together
Look, it’s possible to assume that there is great corruption and conspiracy at the highest levels of societies (CIA, FBI, Mossad), as I do — heck, if there’s a deep state in the US, why wouldn’t there be deep states in other countries, including Israel? It’s possible to believe that, and to also believe that God sits in Heaven and laughs at all their pitiful attempts to conspire against gravity, basic math, and the Lordship of Jesus Christ — as I also firmly believe. This means that Christians should work to expose, resist, and destroy every vestige of that corruption (in America, Israel, England, and wherever we’re entangled), but they should do so while believing that Christ is King and the machinations of men are futile, worthless, and vain. 

And closely related to all of this is the fact that I believe every nation on earth has demented elements that must be resisted, rejected, and destroyed. And I believe that every nation on earth has elements that are either good and glorious or else natural goods that can and should be redeemed. America, England, France, China, and the modern nation of Israel have elements of these things: some true Christian glories, some demented and foul sins and idols, and some natural goods that are not yet redeemed in the blood of Christ. Natural goods are always a bit dicey to praise and affirm. On the one hand, we should be truly grateful for the common grace that allows unbelievers to produce good things for the world, like inordinate numbers of Nobel Peace Prizes. On the other hand, we have to recognize that natural goods are also sources of pride that keep many out of Heaven because they think they don’t need Jesus. So it takes wisdom. By the same token, I can be thankful for Israel’s resistance to Islamic barbarism, and at the same time uneasy about the likelihood of nationalistic hubris that denies the need for Jesus Christ. The true form of every nation is found in Christ, and apart from Christ, no amount of common grace can overcome the demented elements — and that’s true for America, as well as Israel.

Introduction
In these incendiary days, it’s hard to get people to take their own positions seriously. And what I want to talk about is the virtue of natural affection, the Jews, and the nation of Israel. 

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of discussions surrounding the virtue of natural affection, love of family, community, and nation. The Greek word for this is “storge,” and the Bible uses its opposite twice to describe the depravity of man: “without natural affection” (Rom. 1:31, 2 Tim. 3:3). As Paul says, “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel” (1 Tim. 5:8). In other words, there is a natural instinct to care for those nearest to you that even unbelievers ordinarily understand. 

This natural, instinctive love of families, parents, children, and siblings is part of the foundation for broader societal cohesion. Through covenant bonds in marriage, church, and nation, natural affection is oriented toward higher goods and loves like human friendship, as well as selfless love of enemies, and ultimately God Himself. 

Ruth the Moabitess famously expresses this natural affection bound by God’s covenant with Israel: “for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried” (Ruth 1:16-17). 

However, in some of these conversations, the discussion has turned strangely bitter and dark, or as some of us have taken to calling it “dank.”

Our Older Covenant Brother
If we are to take the virtue of “natural affection” seriously, it really must be part of our conversation surrounding our relationship to Israel and the Jews because the Bible teaches that the Jews are our apostate older brother. 

In the parable of the Prodigal Son, the story’s glorious ending is cut off in something of a cliff hanger with the stubborn refusal of the older brother to enter into the celebration. While there are any number of applications, one of the clear points of the parable is that the Gentiles are the younger prodigal brother who wasted God’s gifts in riotous, sinful living for centuries, but they are coming into the Messiah’s kingdom ahead of the Jews, who are offended by God’s mercy and grace. “And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him…” (Lk. 15:28). 

In the other parable with two sons, Jesus explicitly ties it to sinners and the Jewish leaders: one son says he will obey but then doesn’t; the other son says he will not obey but then changes his mind and obeys. And Jesus explains the parable, “Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him” (Mt. 21:31-32). 

Romans 11 explains this situation the same way: “As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Rom. 11:28-29). The Jews are enemies concerning the gospel, but they are beloved because of the fathers – which fathers? Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And those fathers have now become our fathers in the covenant. 

Romans 11 says the Jews are natural branches that were cut out of the covenant vine. Believing Gentiles are wild branches that have been grafted into the vine. This image is describing something like adoption. God’s natural son, unbelieving Israel, is currently estranged and disinherited, and His adopted son, the Gentile Nations, have been welcomed home by faith in Jesus Christ. This really is amazing grace.

But Paul says there is no room for boasting against those branches that were cut out, since God can still remove fruitless, arrogant Gentile branches, and he says that those apostate branches are still “natural” branches. Don’t miss that word “natural.” And Paul underlines his point explaining that when Jews believe in Christ, they take to the vine far more easily: “For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?” (Rom. 11:24, my emphasis)

Putting this Together
So the Bible teaches that the Jews are our apostate older brother. Imagine your own older brother grows up in the faith and apostatizes. Apostacy means someone has fallen away or rejected a faith formerly embraced. In this case, we are referring to the covenant of God, which the Jews were members of until they rejected Jesus as the Messiah. 

Obviously, depending on any number of details, you may or may not get along with your estranged, apostate brother, but do you owe your apostate brother anything at all? Is your apostate brother just another random human being in the world? Or does the fact that you are biologically and naturally related still matter even if the relationship is severely strained? The question answers itself. 

Even unbelievers know the answer to that question.

To whatever extent it is possible to honor that natural, familial bond, a Christian ought to seek to do so. This may be as superficial as attending birthday parties, or sending anniversary cards, or civil family gatherings at holidays. Of course this also means certain careful distinctions. Just because you are brothers, doesn’t mean you go along with whatever he says or does. Sometimes it will be necessary to strongly disagree or rebuke or even resist, and there may be periods of silence or no contact at all. Jesus says that loyalty to Him will sometimes seem like hatred of family (Lk. 14:26). And yet, he is your brother for all that. If he were destitute, you would want to do anything you could to provide for him (1 Tim. 5:8). Your heart breaks for the broken fellowship. You pray for his restoration and salvation constantly, and you regularly think about how you might be used by God toward that end.

And so it is with Israel and the Jews. They are enemies for the sake of the gospel, but they are beloved for the sake of our fathers. And because of the virtue of natural affection, we owe them a kind of care that is different from all the other nations of the earth. They are lost; they are apostate apart from faith in Christ. And so like Paul, our hearts should break for them. They were Paul’s kinsmen according to the flesh, and he insists that they are our “kinsmen” according to the old covenant. 

Samuel Rutherford was no dispensationalist, but he understood the situation well, changing the image to that of an older sister: “I could stay out of heaven many years to see that victorious triumphing Lord act that prophesied part of His soul conquering love, in taking into His kingdom the greater Sister, the Jews… Oh, what joy and what glory would I judge it, if my heaven should be suspended till I might have left to run on foot to be a witness of that marriage-glory, and see Christ put on the glory of His last-married bride, and His last marriage love on earth; when He shall enlarge His love-bed, and set it upon the top of the mountains, and take in the Elder Sister, the Jews, and the fulness of the Gentiles!”

Conclusion
Of course there are Jews we must resist and rebuke, and there are no doubt Israeli policies that must likewise be rejected. A bunch of these apostate brothers have run pell-mell into all kinds of pagan and progressive wickedness, and many others are still trying to earn their righteousness by the law and standing like the older brother, fussing outside the party. And if we run the analogy out a little further, it seems that our Father got tired of our older brother’s insolence and kicked him off the family estate for about two thousand years. And now (apparently), since 1948, the Father has allowed him to move back on to the estate. It seems like a perfectly reasonable question to ask how well it can go for him while he is still at odds with our Father.

At the same time, to whatever extent he’s fighting off bad guys that want to destroy all of us, I don’t see any problem thanking him for that. And when some of them win Nobel Peace prizes for breakthroughs in medical science and technology, we ought to acknowledge that and honor them. When some of them work alongside us for the end of sexual confusions and perversions and celebrate natural marriage and the blessing of children, we can and should appreciate that.

But none of this means that Israel should be free to manipulate American domestic or foreign policies (to whatever extent that may or may not be happening). Natural affection means that Christian Americans should be committed to a kind of biblically framed America-first policy, just as a faithful Christian father cares for the needs of his own household first. A man who does not do this is disqualified from pastoral office: for how can a man rule in the church of God who does not rule his own household well (1 Tim. 3:5)? And how can we be very helpful to any other nations, if we do not have our own nation in order?

But just as an estranged brother still bears the family resemblance and even acts in some ways reminiscent of our family culture, out of love and honor for your parents, you would do anything you could to show care and kindness that doesn’t compromise the gospel or other duties, so too, we ought to think, pray, and act, toward our apostate older brother so that he might come home to our Father.

Introduction
It appears to me that we may be living in a post-exile moment. For the last 70 years, America has been in a kind of “exile” of humanistic secularism, but over the last several years, perhaps beginning in earnest during Covid, accelerating in the assassination attempt on Trump, and culminating in Charlie Kirk’s murder and his memorial service, the conservative movement has increasingly insisted that America must return to Christ, that America is and always has been a Christian nation.

The Jewish exile in Babylon and the socio-political dynamics that led to their return to the land seems to me to be one of the more intriguing stories in Scripture. You have Daniel and his three young friends in Babylon early in the exile, standing courageously, exerting a growing influence, no doubt protecting many other exiles. You have the story of Mordecai and Esther saving many Jews and thwarting the plots of Haman. And you have Ezra and Nehemiah leading the return back into the land, rebuilding and renewing covenant with God. And there’s a chance that they all knew one another, or at least overlapped somewhat. There’s a long and tangled debate about the exile and post-exile chronology – who is Cyrus or Artaxerxes or Darius, exactly? And I won’t go into the theories here, but it’s at least possible that some of those names are actually royal titles (like Pharaoh/Caesar) and not proper names, and it’s therefore possible that the “queen” mentioned in Neh. 2:6 is none other than Esther.  

This means that the miracle of the return from exile in Ezra and Nehemiah was a miracle that God worked through the means of a number of different men and women being raised up by God to stand firm in the face of fierce opposition. And it appears that God has been doing something similar for us over the last number of years. Just think about the odd and colorful coalition of voices and figures: Rush Limbaugh (like a voice in the wilderness), Charlie and Erika Kirk, Tucker Carlson, Tulsi Gabbard, Elon Musk, Pete Hegseth, Douglas Wilson, and of course, Donald Trump in the middle of it all. And I’m not assigning any particular parts to any of these characters. As these things go, people can play different parts and blends of parts. And of course there are a multitude of other parts in the background: other podcasts and writers and mothers and pastors and friends. 

A Couple of Lessons
If something like this is correct, there are two main conclusions, I would draw from this lesson. 

First, the need for courage, heroism, and hard work is now. There was not a “breakthrough” moment when all the faithful coasted back into the land and reestablished the kingdom. It was a slog all the way through. From Daniel and his three friends standing faithfully against the constant corruptions of the Babylonian deep state to Esther and Mordecai’s daring exploits to Nehemiah rebuilding the city walls with swords and trowels to Ezra and Haggai and Zechariah teaching, preaching, and admonishing the people: Reformation comes by the work of the Spirit and the sweat, blood, and tears of the faithful. And it’s not just one person; there were thousands upon thousands doing their part faithfully, courageously sacrificing, serving, keeping their hands to the plow, risking lives, livelihoods, and reputations for the glory of God and the restoration of Israel. Our moment calls for the same thing: an uncompromising persistence, pulling toward the goal: all of Christ for all of life, all of Christ for all of America. 

Second, I want to underline a particular part of the persistence required. While God clearly worked through a colorful coalition in those days, and therefore we too need to learn to work with and alongside people that are crusty, creepy, or simply loose cannons (Nebuchadnezzar, Haman, and numerous antagonistic court officials in Babylon, the princes in the land harassing Nehemiah and the people, not to mention the many Jews who themselves often compromised), at the same time, there were numerous principled stands against compromise that could have resulted in death and destruction. This is what God uses. Daniel and the three friends refused the king’s food and wine; the three friends refused to bow to the statue; Daniel refused to stop praying; Esther interceded when it could have cost her life; Nehemiah stood against the enemies in the land; and Ezra rebuked the people for their intermarriage with pagans. 

Conclusion
This moment, this Charlie Kirk moment, has clearly revealed the absolute impotence of the seeker-friendly models of cultural engagement. The David Frenches, Russell Moores, and Rick Warrens of this age sold their principles for seats at the tables of the blind magicians of the king’s court. It is the Daniels that refused the king’s meat who have something to say to the king, and because they refused to compromise, the Elon Musks and Don Jrs. are confessing that the God of Charlie Kirk is the true God of Heaven. Whether or not they truly believe (yet), they can see the difference between integrity and chasing fads. 

This Charlie Kirk Memorial moment seems to me to be the signal to “return to the land.” With the entire presidential cabinet at the memorial, and the President giving his enthusiastic blessing to the whole proceedings, whatever his remaining confusions, whatever the state of his soul before the Lord, our nation just confessed faith in the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. We just recommitted ourselves to be a Protestant Christian nation. And God does not take these things lightly. He takes these things seriously. We just renewed covenant, or at least we said we fully intend to, and the whole world watched and it was glorious. And now we have work to do.

We have many high places that need to be torn down. Now the work begins in earnest. Now we need to rebuild the walls of Christendom, and we have to expect more opposition, more mockery, and all kinds of pressures to slow down, to compromise, to not speak out. This moment still requires wisdom and grace, but it requires even more courage, even more sacrifice, even more hard work, and a certain hard-headed persistence in the work. They will try to get you to come down off the walls, but as Nehemiah insisted, we cannot come down, the work is too great.  

Introduction
Bald-faced evil is always shocking. But this just hits harder.

The crack of a rifle and the slumping over of a 31-year-old husband and father, who has given his life to going to college campuses to engage in open dialogue, free speech, and Christian persuasion – is simply a horrific, unspeakable evil. A good man was intentionally murdered in what appears to be a well-planned assassination in broad daylight, in front of a crowd of thousands, and then, if that were not all evil enough, eruptions of gleeful, frenzied, and delirious celebrations of the murder. A young man willing to talk to anyone, answer anyone’s questions in good faith, and the determination of someone or several someones that it had to be silenced permanently, cheered on with ghoulish delight. 

Evil has tried this before many times, and it has failed every time. It has celebrated with similar repulsiveness. But it still knocks the wind out of you.

Ultimately, what the shooter and his demonic cheerleaders are aiming at is the Triune God. What this Devilish evil really wants is to pull Christ down from His throne and try to crucify Him again. But they can’t, and so they put bullets in the necks of His faithful servants and bay at the moon. But they still haven’t succeeded. Charlie Kirk is more alive now than ever. He was welcomed to the great cloud of witnesses in Heaven. And the Spirit that cleansed and animated him is alive and well in all who believe. Not only that, we know that Christ takes these kinds of attacks personally. When Jesus confronted Saul on the road to Damascus, He asked, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” In the immortal words of Johnny Cash, “Sooner or later, God’ll cut you down.”

You Done Messed Up A-Aron
Right after the obvious grief and sorrow, my next thought has been to think that the Murderous Left has just shot itself. I do not mean that we do not still have much work to do: beef up security, punish crime swiftly, execute murderers, root out all the corruption, defund every vestige of DEI communism, clean up our cities. But I suspect that this evil act will do far more to wake up the Conservative Christian Church than perhaps anything else could. When a young husband and father cannot go on college campuses and share the gospel and talk culture and politics without getting shot, none of us are safe. As a number of people have pointed out, Charlie stood for ordinary Christian Americans; he stood for us, and the Murderous Left just made it clear that they want us all dead-silent.

But there’s no chance of that. The Conservative Christian movement just got ten times stronger, maybe many factors more. And the way that many on the Murderous Left are openly celebrating Charlie Kirk’s death or justifying the violence publicly is only many more nails in their cultural coffin. They will be fired, cancelled, and exiled from polite society. Careers are ending, public shame will descend, and one hopes and prays that at least some of them are delivered from the demonic rage and restored to their right minds through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Different points of view vigorously defended and debated are welcome — even really wrong ones; celebrating political violence publicly because someone holds a different point of view is nothing short of yelling “fire!” in a crowded theater and ought to be prosecuted as such.

Speaking of our language, we need to keep our eye on this ball. They hate us because of Jesus Christ and His truth. Yes, they are fixated on race and ethnicity and sexuality and income and oppression because they are committed to their atheistic and materialistic religion, but we must not be lured into their rhetorical traps. We can certainly answer their folly, but the fundamental divide is between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, the children of Abraham and the sons of the Devil. And if Charlie had been black, they would have killed him just the same. They want Clarence Thomas dead too. They hate white people because as it happens the Christian West has been largely white.

Conclusion
We know God doesn’t allow these things without very good reasons. On the one hand, nothing can give a young wife and mother her husband back; nothing can replace the father of two young children, and yet, Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life. His peace passes all understanding, and He is our infinitely wise Lord and King. We are His servants, His soldiers, and where He commands, we willingly go. And as we go, faith seeks understanding. There will always be elements of providence that we will never understand until we stand before His majesty in glory, but nevertheless, faith leans forward, looking to see what our King is doing. And I think we can see just a little bit at the moment.

Charlie was a good man and a Christian man, and he was at the forefront of engaging our dark culture (college campuses) with the light of Christ. He was hated because of that, and he was killed because of that. And therefore, he should rightly be considered a Christian martyr and a true patriot. He died for his faith in Jesus Christ and his love of our Christian nation.

The first martyr Stephen was killed in Jerusalem, and the disciples were scattered preaching everywhere. The very thing that the Jewish leaders were trying to silence, went viral. And that is what I anticipate here. Nothing can replace Charlie Kirk. He was a unique human being who was a beloved husband, father, son, friend, and leader – whose presence will be sorely missed. But we serve the God who always turns what wicked men mean for evil into astonishing good. And it’s not even close. He is working for us an exceeding and eternal weight of glory. 

Jesus said that unless a seed goes into the ground and dies, it will not bear much fruit. And so I am praying that this is a real Turning Point, what Charlie gave his life for, a moment where America turns back to Christ in an unmistakable way, rejects every vestige of the false idol of secular neutrality, decisively rejects and drives all evil and lies from this land, and insists that we are a Christian nation, a Christian people, under God and His good law, which Charlie spent his life insisting, is the only basis for a truly free and prosperous society. 

Introduction
Well, the internets are ablaze with the yapping howls of feminists and their male lapdogs. Their holy sacrament of voting has been questioned by thoughtful Christians, and they are breathing heavily into brown paper sacks. Even the Secretary of Defense has given us a friendly cheer, “All of Christ for All of Life,” and so panic has set in, along with the usual accusations of handmaid tale atrocity, racism, and whatever other old vegetables they can find in the back of their fridge. Part of the panic in certain sectors is simply the fact that we don’t care. A CNN story about Christians who really believe the Bible used to get a bunch of important people slightly nervous or embarrassed, but this time hardly anyone has flinched.

Everyone knows that in God’s providence Doug Wilson is the catnip of liberals everywhere. I suspect it’s the way he chuckles when he is really amused; it really is offensive to angry people for someone to be that happy. But of course they insist that it’s all kinds of other things like hatred of women, racial bigotry, and machinations of world domination. But when those slanders hit everyone who actually knows the man as utterly ludicrous, they fall flat, because it sounds like you’re accusing Santa Claus of something nefarious. And then right on schedule, you have all the rhetorical effectiveness of Jadis the White Witch of Narnia.

My 16 Seconds
But this time around, I got 16 seconds to speak into the microphone, and even though I wouldn’t claim it was my favorite 16 seconds of an hour or so interview, I certainly stand by every word I said, and I’m grateful to say it again here. When asked about women voting, I said that in my ideal society we would vote by household and, being that the head of the household is ordinarily a man, I would be the one that would usually cast our vote. When Pamala Brown asked me what would happen if my wife and I disagree about who to vote for, I said that would make for a good discussion. She also asked my colleague Jared Longshore specifically about repealing the 19th Amendment, and Jared cheerily announced that he would support that. And the high-pitched screeching commenced on the interwebs.

Now there is much that could and should be said about this entire discussion, and we don’t have time or space for it all here. And I should also note that the 19th Amendment is hardly something that any of us spends much time thinking about or worrying about here in Moscow. I honestly can’t remember the last time anyone mentioned it. I’m a lot more concerned about my garden. But for anyone who is honestly interested, perhaps even some moderns who view such an idea as an archaic curiosity, here are a few thoughts on the subject. 

Our First 150 Years
First, let us recall that our country functioned for almost hundred and fifty years before the 19th Amendment. And while there were no doubt sins and evils needing correction during that time, the reputation of America, particularly with regard to how it viewed and treated women, was incredibly high. For example, Alexis de Tocqueville writing in 1835, said: 

“As for me, I shall not hesitate to say it: although in the United States the woman scarcely leaves the domestic circle and is in certain respects very dependent within it, nowhere does her position seem higher to me; and now that I approach the end of this book where I have shown so many considerable things done by Americans, if one asked me to what do I think one must principally attribute the singular prosperity and growing force of this people, I would answer that it is to the superiority of its women.” 

Nearly a hundred years before women’s suffrage, the reputation of America was that it’s singular prosperity and growing force was due to the superiority of its women, who by and large concentrated their efforts on the “domestic circle,” in which she served in a position of high honor and authority – and all without having the so-called “right to vote.” Try to let that sink in for a minute between sobs. 

Real Representation & Limited Government
Now part of what moderns cannot get their head around is that I do not actually believe in disenfranchising women (and neither do my colleagues). We actually believe, like Tocqueville noticed, that women have the highest position in society when they rule their houses well. Not only that, but when households voted, the women were better represented. In other words, I believe women had more of a vote and more influence on society before the 19th Amendment. 

Even Richard Weaver once wrote: “The reestablishment of women as the cohesive force of the family, the end of the ‘long-haired men and short-haired women,’ should bring a renewal of well-being to the whole of society… George Fitzhugh’s brutal remark that if women put on trousers, men would use them for plowing has been borne out, and I think that women would have more influence actually if they did not vote, but, according to the advice of Augusta Evans Wilson, made their firesides seats of Delphic wisdom” (The Southern Tradition at Bay, 325).

The point is not to have less godly feminine influence on society. The point is actually to have more.

Even as it stands today, if we were to take the current screeching logic, I would like to point out that women do not vote on any of the bills that appear before Congress. Female citizens are denied the right to vote on every single one of them, all day long, even on Tuesdays. And you call this a civilized society?! Of course, male citizens are denied the right to vote on bills before Congress also. We all vote for “representatives” and “senators” and those folks vote on our behalf (sometimes well, sometimes poorly). So I might ask Mrs. Brown what she does when she disagrees with her senator, and I suspect that she would say something like, ‘if it’s really important she would have a conversation with them, write them a letter, send an email, call their office, etc.’ Ah… but do you feel that your dignity as a woman has been threatened by being represented? (I assume not.) Of course, some progressives would swallow the reductio and insist that we will not have true freedom until we have pure democracy, every citizen voting for every bill, every law, everywhere. But that sort of blinkered folly is a joke for another day.

So it was that for a hundred and fifty years, these United States recognized the government of the family, that a family is a unit, and while it is a unit that can disfunction, it is a natural and created good part of a healthy, functioning society. The demand for a woman’s right to vote was the demand for the federal government (and thereby the states) to assume the disfunction of the family. The implicit assumption was that the head of the household was not representing his wife well or in some way was utterly incapable of representing her, which was an implicit attack on the goodness and cohesion of the family unit. While families have always still had the option of ignoring the attack, and working to preserve unity and like-mindedness, the legal pressure has continued to build. There is a logic that flows from the assumption of disunity and disagreement. It was sort of an electoral prenup — based on the likelihood of disagreement and dissolution.    

Edmund Burke called the various associations and governments outside civil government (e.g. businesses, schools, families, churches) “little platoons,” and in a free and virtuous society, they function as checks on totalitarian governments. If the only point of integration and unity is the central government, then that government will inevitably have all the power. But classical Christian political thought has insisted that the centralizing of political power inevitably leads to corruption and tyranny (aka Babel). The notion of “limited government” is a thoroughly biblical concept, and it goes hand in hand with the idea of “separation of powers,” the idea that power should be spread out as much as possible.

Despite all the claims that “Christian theocracy” would be a totalitarian hellhole, you should remember that during the forty years surrounding the founding of our country, the single most quoted text in all the writings of the founding fathers was the book of Deuteronomy. It was cited twice as often as John Locke. And so we have three branches of our federal government, but originally, we also had states that checked federal power, and counties that checked state power, but there were also these “little platoons” throughout society, and the principle one was the family.

Conclusion
Now, you may have any number of remaining questions or concerns about exactly how voting ought to operate, but at the very least, any reasonable person ought to be able to explain why for a hundred and fifty years, the worldwide reputation of our nation was that our women were in some of the highest positions as they ran homes and supported their husbands. I mean, now that we have scaled the great civilizational heights of OnlyFans and the possibility of gay dudes renting your womb, or super gay dudes dressing up like women in order to share your restrooms, I mean, you can at least understand why some of us think we took a wrong turn at Albuquerque.

One final question, and I realize that this is no slam-dunk argument, but it’s an interesting thought experiment. Maybe you’re a center-right or maybe even a center-left type who laments the destruction of the family. Maybe you aren’t sure biblical ethics are entirely applicable to modern nations, but you look around and see the hellhole progressivism has created and you think to yourself, “it sure seems like things were better when there was more marriage, less divorce, and kids grew up in intact families.” So here’s the question: Would you be willing to trade the 19th Amendment for that? 

Yes, I understand that there are reasonable questions regarding whether the trade would actually work. Fine. But I think a reasonable person ought to consider the question. The old Christian notion is that God made the world in a such a way that it flourishes when we run along those grooves. One of those grooves is the goodness and blessing of family, and when that family is flourishing, it is a great blessing when a man can say, “As for me and my house…”  

Psalm 5

Prayer: Father, we confess that one of our great modern sins is a failure to hate like You hate. We have accepted the world’s warnings that hate is always evil, when the Bible clearly teaches that You hate evil, and that we must also. At the same time, we know that our hearts are slippery, so guard us on every side and rule us by this word, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Introduction
We live in a warzone. The world, the flesh, and the devil are enemies prowling to take us out. This is why we must be continually armed and on guard. And every day when you wake up you are either acknowledging this war and preparing for battle, or else you are constantly unprepared and regularly caught off guard. And central to this war is learning to hate like God hates.

One popular slogan is, “Hate has no place here,” but when we ask what they mean, they will say something like, “we are against bigotry, fascism, racism, etc.” And we might ask, do you hate those things? But if you don’t hate evil, you are evil.

“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate” (Prov. 8:13).

The Text: “To the chief musician upon nehiloth, a psalm of David. Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry…” (Ps. 5:1-12).

Summary of the Text
This psalm of David (like a number of others) was part of a collection for the choir director and was played (probably) on wind instruments (“nehiloth”). The psalm begins with a three-fold plea for God to hear his words, and he prays because God is his King and his God (Ps. 5:1-2). This is a prayer offered “in the morning,” at the beginning of the day, and the center of David’s meditation is that no evil can dwell with God, folly cannot stand before Him, and He hates all workers of iniquity (Ps. 5:3-5). God destroys liars because He hates their violent ways (Ps. 5:6). When David wakes up, his first thought is God’s war with evil. 

Instead of making peace with evil, David goes into the Lord’s house by God’s mercy, and he worships in reverent fear (Ps. 5:7). He does this in prayer. He asks God to lead him in righteousness because of his enemies because their mouths and throats are foul open graves (Ps. 5:8-9). Finally, David asks God to destroy the wicked by letting them destroy themselves with their sin, but he asks that God would fill those who trust in Him with great joy, surrounding them like a great shield with piercing spikes on it (Ps. 5:10-12). 

When You Get Up in the Morning
David says “in the morning” twice in a row (Ps. 5:3), underlining the fact that before he does anything else, He looks up to His King and His God (Ps. 5:2-3). In many ways, whatever you “look up to” first thing in the morning is what you are reckoning your King and your God. Your King and your God is what orients your life, your mission, your day. Is it your work? Your house? Friends? Social media? This need not be overly complicated: “Lord, please help me today.”

We’re not told the exact circumstances of this psalm, but David particularly asks God to hear his “groaning” – which is apparently related to the evil and enemies around him (Ps. 5:1). Sometimes our days are filled with groaning because we have not brought our groaning to the One who can handle all of it. “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Pet. 5:6-7). Beginning your day with prayer is an act of humility: He is God. He is King. 

One of the reasons you need to talk to God in the morning is because you are in a war zone. In 1 Pet. 5:8, the very next verse after the command to cast all your cares on God, it says to be vigilant because the devil prowls seeking whom he may devour. This is one of the reasons we need to pray and sing the psalms regularly: we have enemies and the psalms remind us of this fact. We are at war, and many of our enemies are aiming at our souls. Read Scripture in the morning, the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. 

God Hates Workers of Evil
Sometimes Christians says things like “hate the sin not the sinner,” but this is a platitude that doesn’t quite capture what the Bible teaches. Part of the problem is that we have been catechized by the world (our enemies) to believe that love and hate are mutually exclusive. But that is simply not true. God clearly hates all workers of iniquity (sinners) and has loved all of them to some extent, granting them life, causing the sun to shine on them and the rain to fall on their crops. Likewise, we are to learn to do this as well. We ought to hate evildoers, and we are to love our enemies (Mt. 5:43-45). So God hates and loves sinners in different ways, and so should we. 

The only place where God has determined to distinguish between sinners and their sin is in the cross of Jesus Christ. God does not merely send lies to Hell; He sends liars to Hell. He does not merely send lust to Hell; He sends adulterers to Hell. And the hatred of God is often to give people over to their evil demands: “let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions” (Ps. 5:10). 

We see this elsewhere also: “The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein” (Prov. 22:14). “When they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened… Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves” (Rom. 1:21-24). Godly hatred stands against evil, and then at some point lets the evil go unchecked. 

No Pleasure in Evildoing
Part of the insidiousness of sin is that it flatters us (Ps. 5:9). Flattery is a destructive lie that masquerades as goodness, justice, or pleasure. It says, even though my parents don’t approve, it’s really fun and God approves of fun. It says, I have to do this because it’s not fair and God cares about justice. Or it is entertained by filth and says, I just really like the acting, the story, the soundtrack, etc. 

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful” (Prov. 27:6). This is the primary weapon of our enemies and all evil: the kisses of enemies – flattering lies. It flatters you by promising you entertainment, wisdom, beauty, or friends. But evil is foolish because it doesn’t actually work in God’s world, but more than that it is violent and bloody (Ps. 5:5-6). It comes packaged as being cool, being smart, being sexy, being relevant, but it’s an open grave of reeking rot. Their throats are open graves. Paul quotes this verse in Romans 3 to describe the universal rot of sin. There is no benign sin. It consumes and destroys. God takes no pleasure in it, and therefore neither may we. He will destroy all of it, and we must not long for it like Lot’s wife or we may be destroyed with it. Drop it and run. A little lust, a little drunkenness, little lies, is like a little cyanide, a little cancer. 

Conclusion
God hates wicked people in the world, but God also hates wicked people in His church. Jesus says that there will be some who ate and drank with him, who listened to His teaching, and He will say to them: “I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth…” (Lk. 13:27). 

God’s wrath is against all sin, all workers of iniquity, and therefore, the only safe place is in Christ, where God’s wrath has already been satisfied. Everyone is born a worker of iniquity; everyone is born with a throat that is an open grave. Everyone is born under the wrath of God: “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)… For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:3-9). We have been brought near to God by His mercy. 

Repentance means turning around, going the other way. This means learning to hate, to completely reject the wrong way. This is why, in another place, Jesus says that if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off, if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out – it would be better for you to go to heaven with one hand or one eye than to be cast into everlasting fire with both your hands and eyes (Mt. 18:8-9). This kind of repentance requires you to hate your sin. Cut it off. Do whatever it takes to stop. Get rid of your computer, your smart phone, your credit card, Netflix; delete the app, delete the playlist, quit your job, move, stop hanging out with those friends. Legend says that when the Spanish landed in Mexico to conquer the Aztecs, Cortez burned their ships so they couldn’t retreat Spain. What evil has God assigned you to fight? Land your troops today and burn the ships. Treat your sin like Samuel treated Agag the King of the Amalekites and hack it to pieces. You have been saved by grace, do not let sin have dominion over you. You have been baptized into His deatha resurrection, do not let sin reign in you more. Christ is risen from the dead, go and sin no more. 

Prayer: Father, please do whatever it takes to show us our sin, show us the evil that You have called us to hate, and show us Your great mercy and love, so that we might hate like You hate and walk in the light as You are in the light. And we ask for this in Christ’ name, who taught us to pray…

Psalm 4

Prayer: Father, we are constantly tempted to forget Your grace. We are tempted to think that we are good religious people, and that we have done something good to make You like us. Please remind us today of Your great grace, so that we might walk in the confidence of Your goodness, and nothing else. We ask in Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Introduction
In a world of sin and tragedy, evil men and corrupt leaders, it is easy for God’s people to be tempted to panic, to give in to anxiety or anger, to lash out in desperation. But Christians are to be marked by faith that knows God is righteous, and therefore God is for us – God is on our side, and therefore He always hears us. But how is it that a righteous God can be on the side of sinners? Why would God be for us, much less listen to us? We are filthy beggars. Why doesn’t God just ignore us?

The Text: “To the chief musician on Neginoth, a psalm of David: Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness…” (Ps. 4:1-8)

Summary of the Text
This psalm is part of a collection for the “chief musician,” and this one is to be played on stringed instruments (“Neginoth”) and is a psalm of David. Psalm 4 has a number of similarities to the previous psalm and may come from the same time period (fleeing from Absalom) or may be from another time like when he was on the run from Saul. 

David asks God to hear him, and he addresses God as “the God of my righteousness,” which is explained by the fact that God has often answered David’s prayers to deliver him into a wide open place from the narrowest troubles (Ps. 4:1, cf. 3:1). God is righteous, and God has proven it in the past. And David knows that this is pure mercy/grace (Ps. 4:1). 

David addresses his enemies directly in this prayer, asking how long they will slander him with lies, and the psalm pauses to meditate on how empty it all is (Ps. 4:2). Worship is not a private religious gathering; it is in the presence of our enemies (Ps. 23:5). Worship is warfare, and one way we fight is by correcting and rebuking our enemies in worship. David insists that God has chosen him and will therefore answer him (Ps. 4:3). David’s confidence that God will hear him is grounded in the fact that God chose him. He says his enemies should stop their lying babble for a minute, tremble before God, stop their sinning, and meditate for a moment in silence (Ps. 4:4). If they did that honestly, it would drive them to repent and be cleansed by sacrifice and put their trust in God (Ps. 4:5). Notice that he calls the sacrifices, “the sacrifices of righteousness,” – this is our righteousness: blood and death. 

Finally, David contrasts two different kinds of joy (which are really two different kinds of righteousness): many are carnal and worldly and look for happiness/righteousness entirely in material goods (wealth, houses, cars, wine) – these people determine whether they are doing well based on bank accounts and parties, but David says he has more joy in the smile of God than all of that (Ps. 4:6-7). David’s righteousness and goodness is found in the pleasure of God, the benediction of God. And like Psalm 3, David says this gives him a kind of peace that allows him to lay down and enjoy deep and restful sleep (Ps. 4:8).

God of My Righteousness
So David begins with this plea for help and addresses God as the God of His righteousness. What does this mean? The doctrine of justification by faith alone means that God is our righteousness, our justice, and our vindication for the sake of Christ by faith alone. But this really is remarkable, and we need to underline this point. Some of you looked at porn this week. Some of you lost your temper with your kids. Some of you said something ugly or biting or cruel to your husband, your wife, a co-worker. Some of you disobeyed your parents. Some of you curses someone in your heart, hated them, and murdered them in your heart. Some of you posted things on social media that you know were immodest, and you meant to get all the wrong sorts of attention. Some of you lied. Some of you refused to forgive someone. We are a room full of sinners; we are a room full of lepers. There has been adultery, homosexuality, molestation, and abortions. This is not a room full of decent religious people. This is a room full of sinners. If you were looking for the decent religious church, try the Mormons. 

But here is the remarkable thing: you are righteous in the sight of God. God looks on this congregation and smiles. God looks on this congregation and is pleased. But how is this possible? How is that righteous? How is it righteous for a perfectly holy God, who knows all things, to look down on this congregation, knowing all our filth, all our crap – how is it possible for a righteous God to say that we are righteous, when we are not? You are not righteous, and as hard as you try you can’t stop sinning. So God the only Righteous One offers His righteousness to sinners. This is what it means for God to be your righteousness. God saves sinners by declaring them righteous for the sake of Jesus. Jesus is the only righteous man, and He came for sinners. He came to live the perfectly life that we cannot live, He died the death we deserve for our sins, and God raised Him from the dead, so that all who trust in Him may be united to Him and share His righteousness. This is what it means for God to be your righteousness. By faith, you are united to Christ, and His obedience becomes your obedience. His perfection becomes your perfection. His righteousness is your righteousness. 

But that means you must be a sinner to qualify. Christ did not come for the righteous but for sinners. He did not come for the healthy but the sick. The righteous do not need God’s righteousness. Do you need God’s righteousness? 

But when you have God’s righteousness, it is full and complete. God’s righteousness is solid, confident, and unshakeable: “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies” (Rom. 8:33). God declares sinners righteous for the sake of Christ, and there is no charge, no accusation that can be brought against them. There may be true accusations, but they have been fully paid for. And while it is painful to be falsely accused, it is not fatal for Christians because we stand before God and the world in the righteousness of Christ (Rom. 3:22, Phil. 3:9). He is our judge, our witness, and our jury, and Christ is stood in our place. 

But if the attacks and opinions of men constantly shake you, are you justified before God? If a stranger insults you, it might annoying, but it doesn’t usually hurt, but the closer someone is to you, the more the accusation or slander can hurt. But to be a Christian is to consider God’s opinion the one that trumps all others. To be justified is to be assured that nothing can separate you from God because you have the righteousness of God (Rom. 8:33-39). If God has given you His own righteousness, He will not turn away from you. He cannot turn away from you. “If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:31-32). Faith is the gift that rests in that strong tower.

Set Apart
David is once again appealing to God’s promise to him and his house, that his throne will be established forever (cf. 2 Sam. 7). This was a particular promise to David, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, but if you are in Christ, if you are united to Christ by faith, it therefore has a specific application to you, to all those who are in Christ: “According as He hath chosen us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will” (Eph. 1:4-5). Not only does God offer His righteousness to filthy sinners by faith alone, the Bible teaches that He chose you before the foundation of the world. He chose filthy sinners to be adopted as his children, to become holy and blameless before Him because of His great love. This is the doctrine of election. And if God chose you, knowing all your filth, and if God has declared you righteous in His own Son, then He will always hear you when you pray. 

The doctrine of election means all Christians can pray Psalm 4 with the same confidence: “The Lord hath set [me] apart for Himself: the Lord will hear when I call.” Charles Spurgeon said, “Since He chose to love us he cannot but choose to hear us.” Faith knows that God hears. 

Better Than Wine
We can consider the next couple of sections together: When the godly tremble before God and quiet their hearts on their beds, they have great peace and joy in the pleasure of God – more than all earthly comforts (Ps. 4:4, 6-7). God has not only chose you and offered you His righteousness, He rejoices in His chosen people. He beams over them. They are in His Son. He is well-pleased with them. When God’s people stop and meditate on these things, they can see their sin and they repent through the final sacrifice of Christ, and the joy and peace of salvation flood their hearts (Ps. 4:5, 7). God receives you gladly. God forgives freely. So God’s smile is better than anything.  

But those who do not know God cannot stand silence. They refuse to tremble before God and stop their sinning. They cannot sleep unless they have done some mischief, unless they have caused someone to fall (Prov. 4:16). Their only happiness is the temporary buzz of paychecks and wine (Ps. 4:7). But the light of God’s countenance on His chosen people (in spite of our sin) – His favor, His love, His smile – lightens every moment. Thomas Watson says, “There is as much difference between heavenly comforts and earthly, as between a banquet that is eaten, and one that is painted on the wall.”

Conclusion: The Christian’s Goodnight
God justifies the ungodly. God justifies sinners. God is our righteousness. God is perfectly righteous, and by the sacrifice of Christ, the ungodly are made righteous. When you tremble before God and are silent before Him, you know your sin and your failures, but God is the One who hears those who cry out for His righteousness. And His righteousness becomes ourrighteousness. 

There are only two kinds of people in this world: those who trust in their own righteousness and those who trust in the righteousness of Christ. Those who trust in their own righteousness are trying to justify themselves. They must constantly try to protect themselves, defend themselves, and prove themselves, and so they’re constantly exhausted and miserable and they have no peace or quiet. But faith in Christ knows that God if our righteoueness, and therefore God always hears and so it sleeps soundly in the face of every accusation, in the face of every trouble. 

Prayer: Father, please give everyone in this room this kind of peace. And wherever there is religious pride and arrogance, wherever anyone is clinging to their own righteousness, please strip it away. Do whatever it takes to give us Your peace. And we ask for it Jesus’ name, who taught us to pray… 

Psalm 3

Prayer: Father, we come to You now surrounded by various enemies. They are the enemies of sickness and disease, the enemies of fear and anxiety, the enemies of guilt and shame, and the enemies of the devil and many who hate You and Your people. And we ask You to teach us to cast our cares upon You like Christians, so that we might have Your peace. And we ask in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Introduction
Psalm 2 contrasts the conspiracies of the nations with God’s sure word, but Psalm 3 brings this home. What about when the conspiracy is in part a judgment for sin? What about when you have brought some of the calamity upon yourself? What about when the raging is in your own home/family?

This psalm proclaims that even for horrific, grotesque sinners, there is a way to have a peace that passes all understanding. There is a way to sleep in the midst of the storm.  

The Text: “A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me…” (Ps. 3:1-8).

Summary of the Text
This psalm has an inscription or superscript which tells us that David wrote this prayer when he fled from his son Absalom’s attempted coup, and David cried out in desperation about the many who had betrayed him and conspired against him (Ps. 3:1). The particular taunt that pierces his soul is that there is no way out of this trouble, perhaps in part because of sheer numbers and perhaps in part because it is judgment for David’s sin (Ps. 3:2). After meditating on this pain, David turns to the Lord in faith and declares that God is his shield, his glory, and the lifter of his head (Ps. 3:3). David declares that he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord heard his cries (Ps. 3:4). The king pauses here once more before singing that when had done this, he was able to lay down and sleep, and he awoke more assured of God’s protection, even from thousands surrounding him (Ps. 3:5-6). The psalm ends with a plea for God to arise and save him, and David concludes that his enemies are as good as struck down because God saves and blesses His people (Ps. 3:7-8).  

Superscripts & Selahs
This is the first psalm we have come across that has two stylistic elements that are almost entirely unique to the Book of Psalms: superscripts and selahs. The superscript is the title or inscription that is listed above this psalm and 82 others. Sometimes these titles are dedications or ascriptions of authorship (“of/for David”), sometimes they include musical instructions (“for the choir director”), and sometimes (as here) they include an historical setting or details. These titles come with the oldest manuscripts we have, and therefore, we have every reason to accept them as an inspired part of Scripture. 

“Selah” shows up three times in this psalm and is also part of the Scripture text, but its exact meaning is somewhat unclear. The word seems to be related the Hebrew word for “lift up” or “hang up,” and may be a poetic or musical term meant to indicate emphasis. That emphasis may have been made with a moment of silence or a musical interlude to meditate on the preceding material. This is why we have incorporated this word into our liturgy in the prayer of confession, where the minister pauses for the congregation to confess any particular individual sins.

When Absalom Conspired
The context of this psalm is one of the most intense moments of David’s reign: the conspiracy of Absalom found in 2 Samuel 15. Absalom may have been somewhat motivated by the rape of his sister, Tamar, as well as his father’s treatment following that, but the whole thing was foretold in the aftermath of David’s adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband, Uriah, in 2 Samuel 12. “I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun” (2 Sam. 12:11-12). When Absalom entered Jerusalem, this is what he did (2 Sam. 16:20-21).

The conspiracy included most of the tribes of Israel, key military leaders, as well as Ahithophel, David’s chief counselor, and David was forced to flee Jerusalem to escape with his life. And all the people who accompanied David wept as they left the city and crossed the Brook Kidron (2 Sam. 15:23). This was a massive political calamity and embarrassment, but it struck much deeper than that: it was David’s own son leading the treachery. It’s bad enough to face a terrible tragedy; it hits even harder when it’s your own family involved. And after the great battle in the woods, when Absalom was killed and his army routed, David’s grief was profound (2 Sam. 18:33) – this is what cut to David’s soul (Ps. 3:2).

God’s people are not immune to these kinds of heartbreak, and we are commanded to cast our cares upon God in the same way as David, crying out to Him in our time of need (1 Pet. 5:7). And notice that David is crying out for help and deliverance even though his own sin brought this calamity upon him. 

David’s Peace
Having poured his heart out to God, David turns to God. In the midst of our grief and heartache, it is important that we do this too. This is not a vague, sentimental turning. David acknowledges that God is his shield, his glory, and the lifter of his head. These three things are not just poetry; they are actually essential theology. God is our shield in that He is absolutely sovereign: nothing can touch us without His permission. But His sovereignty is also perfectly loving: He will not allow anything to touch us that is not for our ultimate good. And finally, even though He is free to use the consequences of our sin as His fatherly discipline, His discipline is just and He shields us from those who might take advantage of our weakened position. 

Secondly, David acknowledges that God is his glory. In this context, this is not likely a generic reference, but a specific reference to his kingly glory and majesty. David has been humiliated, but he confesses that God’s majesty is sufficient for him. The glory of God sustains David. In another psalm it says, “I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than dwell in tents of wickedness” (Ps. 84:10). The glory of God far outweighs our shame. And while we have fallen short of God’s glory, salvation in Christ is the free offer of that glory-covering. Just as God clothed Adam and Eve, He clothes us in Christ. 

Finally, “lifter of my head” surely refers to the restoration of David to the throne. David knows that if God has promised him an enduring dynasty (and He has) then God must have a plan for restoring him to that throne. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up” (Js. 4:10). “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11).

Conclusion
Having acknowledged God to be his shield, his glory, and the lifter of his head, David knows that God has heard him, and he goes to bed. But given the circumstances, this is remarkable. What David is experiencing is a peace that defies all human explanation – the kind of peace that guards our hearts and minds from even the threats of thousands of enemies (Phil. 4:7). The peace of God which passes all understanding is not something that we cling to like some kind of desperate life raft. The peace of God is God Himself holding us, defending us, and watching over us.

The center of this peace is knowing David’s greater Son, Jesus Christ, who was willingly betrayed by one of His own disciple-sons, and when He had gone out of Jerusalem and crossed the Brook Kidron in great sorrow (Jn. 18:1), He was shamefully arrested, beaten, and crucified to bear our sins. The only perfect King endured the humiliation for our treason, in order to be our shield, our glory, and the lifter of our heads.  Prayer: Father, you have promised everyone who trusts in You this peace. So we ask for the very thing you have promised. And as the pastor of this particular congregation, and I ask for You to give this peace to my people. You know exactly where our enemies of sin, death, and the devil accuse and harass us, and so I ask that You would set your peace in those places so that we may lay down and sleep in Your perfect care. And I ask for this in the name of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Psalm 2

Prayer: Father, we live in a world in high rebellion to You and to Your Son Jesus Christ. We know that you are not worried, and Your plan is still that all of the nations will honor Christ. Help us to hear Your Word now, believe it, and obey it, and we pray that You would be please to bring Your Kingdom a little more today in our land and throughout the world, in Jesus name, Amen. 

Introduction
Psalm 2 is often taken as part of the introduction to the whole psalter along with Psalm 1, or perhaps the introduction to Book 1 of the psalter (Ps. 1-41). It reinforces the fundamental antithesis of Psalm 1 by contrasting the happy rule of God and His Son with the kings and nations that rage and plot against Him. 

One important element of rightly interpreting this psalm is understanding it both as talking about David’s own dynasty as well as a prophecy of Jesus Christ’s reign. Reading Psalm 2 in light of David’s circumstances helps us rightly apply this psalm to our circumstances in Christ. 

The Text: “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed…” (Ps. 2:1-12).

Summary of the Text
The psalm begins by asking why the nations rage and plot in vain against the Lord and His anointed (“Messiah”) king (Ps. 2:1-3). The King of Heaven sits in Heaven unbothered, unworried, and He laughs at their pitiful attempts to break His Word and the way He has made and governed the world – God’s Word and ways are like shackles to the rebellious heart (Ps. 2:4-5). God insists that His Word is firm and sure: the king is His son, and He will reign over all the earth, destroying those who rebel (Ps. 2:6-9). The psalm closes by warning the rulers of the earth to serve the Lord and kiss His son or suffer His wrath (Ps. 2:10-12). And like Psalm 1, happy is everyone who trusts in the Son (Ps. 2:12). 

David’s Faith
At first glance, this psalm seems audacious, perhaps even arrogant. David is God’s anointed king (after Saul), and David says that all the plotting and raging of the nations is against God and him (Ps. 2:1-2). Who does David think he is? It may be tempting to run immediately to Christ. But in 2 Samuel 7, God sent a message to David and promised to make David’s son His own son and establish his throne forever (2 Sam. 7:14-16). This is the background of Psalm 2 (cf. Heb. 1:5). David therefore knows that all the plotting against him and his dynasty will fail because God has promised to establish his throne forever. Who does David think he is? Well, nobody, except for what God has said. And this is our position as well. What gives us the right to say that every knee must bow to Jesus Christ? The Word of God. What gives us the right to say that the United States, Russia, China, and all the nations of the earth must submit all of their laws to Jesus Christ? The Word of God. What gives us the right to say that marriage is one man and one woman in covenant under God? The Word of God. Why do they rage and plot against us? Because we have God’s Word.

Plots & Conspiracies
The Bible is clear that those who reject God and His Christ hate God and His ways, and they therefore plot to overthrow His ways. Christians (of all people) must not be surprised by this. This goes back to the Garden of Eden, and the enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15). Of course they rarely admit that their war is with God. Instead, they array themselves against many proxy-enemies: capitalists, conservatives, white people, black people, men, the patriarchy, the Jews, China, etc. The wicked really are hateful and full of hate and will hate almost anything (Tit. 1:3), but it must always be remembered that their true enemy is God and His people. The wicked really do conspire but there is a real temptation to absolutize their conspiracies, and Scripture says not to call a conspiracy everything they call a conspiracy (Is. 8:12). We are not to fear what they fear, which (having denied God) is fundamentally the power of man; we are to fear the Lord.

This same psalm is cited by the apostles to explain the conspiracy to murder Jesus, but even that was utterly worthless since it was only “whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done” (Acts 4:24-31). How much more all their lesser attempts to foil God’s Kingdom?

Holy Laughter 
This psalm along with several others says that God laughs at the foolish plots of the wicked (Ps. 2:4). The Lord laughs at the wicked because He sees their judgment coming (Ps. 37:13, 59:8). Wisdom, a personification of God’s eternal counsel, laughs at the calamity of the wicked when they have refused to listen (Prov. 1:26). And the Bible also teaches that the righteous are to imitate this holy laughter: When God destroys the wicked, “the righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him” (Ps. 52:6). There is a kind of unbelieving scorn and bitter sarcasm that is not at all fitting for believers, but there is a faithful, joyful laughter in the sovereign salvation of God and in the weakness and folly of man.  

Calvin says that this psalm teaches that when God does not act immediately to destroy the wicked it’s because he is letting their rage be exposed for everyone to laugh at and that we ought to be assured that now is “his time of laughter.” Christians should be marked by this confident merriment. 

Conclusion: Kiss the Son
The New Testament repeatedly appeals to this Psalm and says that Christ was “begotten” at the resurrection (Acts 13:33, Heb. 5:5). “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead” (Rom. 1:3). 

The implication is clear: if Jesus Christ is the Son of David whom God has enthroned as King, then Christ has inherited all of the nations as His rightful possession (Ps. 2:8). At the resurrection and ascension, all power and authority really was truly transferred to Christ (Mt. 28:18), who was raised, “far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named” (Eph. 1:21, cf. Phil. 2:10-11). He rules the nations with a rod of iron (Rev. 2:27, 12:5, 19:15).

All nations are already Christian in principle, in so far as they have become Christ’s inheritance, Who purchased them with His blood (cf. Rev. 5:9). All nations and their rulers therefore owe Christ their public allegiance and obedience or else He will destroy them (Ps. 2:9-11). Secularism is a refusal to kiss the Son, and of course so is Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and all the others. It’s Christ or chaos: happiness or raging (Ps. 2:1,12). Happy is that nation whose God is the Lord (Ps. 33:12).

Prayer: Father, teach us the joy of Your Kingdom. Make us happy in our obedience to You, and we pray that those who do not know You would repent of their raging against You and come and bow before Jesus with us so that they might be happy with us. We ask for this in Jesus’ name who taught us to pray…

Psalm 1

Prayer: Father, You promise happiness for all those who seek You in Your Word, and that is why we are here today. So please open this Word to us so that we may truly drink this living water. Do not let anyone in this room come and not drink. Make us like fruitful trees today. Because we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Introduction
This psalm introduces the entire psalter and establishes one of the central themes: those who seek God are happy but those who reject Him will fade away. And in particular, we have that happiness by seeking God constantly in His law, but those who do seek God’s law are blown about by the whims of men and their circumstances – which is miserable.

As the old hymn puts it: “Fading is the worldling’s pleasure// All his boasted pomp and show// Solid joys and lasting treasure// None by Zion’s children know.”

The Text: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful…” (Ps. 1:1-6)

Summary of the Text
The word here for “blessed” means “happy,” and the Psalmist says that the man is happy who does not walk, stand, or sit with those who do not seek God (Ps. 1:1). If you are seeking God, you are going in the direction of happiness. Those are not seeking God are going a different way. Instead, that happy man’s deepest pleasure is in the whole Word of God – which is an explanation of God’s law – God’s way, and so it’s in his mouth day and night (all the time), which makes him like a fruitful and prosperous tree in every season (Ps. 1:2-3). 

The wicked are like chaff driven by the wind – they are unstable, rootless, and therefore, they cannot stand anywhere for long – much less the final judgment or even sit with the congregation of the righteous (Ps. 1:4-5). They are restless in church. They are uncomfortable anywhere long. They have no peace. This is their misery. Of course it does not always look like the righteous are happy and the wicked are miserable, but regardless of all appearances, God knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will be destroyed (Ps. 1:6). 

The Antithesis
From the beginning of the world, following the Fall, God has established an antithesis between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). This great war began when sin entered the world, and it will continue until the end of the world. It is a battle line that runs through every human heart, but it is also a battle line that runs through history between those who seek the Lord and those who reject Him. We call this the antithesis. This is the difference between light and darkness, good and evil, life and death, joy and misery. 

But the serpent and his seed have always wanted to blur the lines of the conflict, appearing as an “angel of light” and false teachers (2 Cor. 11:13-14), wolves in sheep’s clothing (Mt. 7:15). In the Old Covenant, there were constant temptations to be like the nations: to marry them, to worship their gods, to have kings like them, and it always resulted in their harm and slavery and misery. And the same principle is taught in the New Covenant: what fellowship does righteousness have with unrighteousness (2 Cor. 6:14ff)? Christians must be determined not to fit in with worldliness (music, movies, fashion, politics). We have been called out and rescued from the world. We are going in a fundamentally different direction. 

The Psalm outlines a progression of compromise: walking, standing, sitting with the ungodly world, which runs roughly parallel to secret faults, presumptuous sins, and great transgressions (Ps. 19:12-13). People do not decide to ruin their lives out of nowhere. Big weeds grow from little ones. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God (Js. 4:4)? Obedience is a daily decision to seek God, to walk in His paths, to meditate on His word, to seek His happiness. 

The cloying reply comes back: What about Jesus the friend of tax collectors and prostitutes? Aren’t we supposed to be friends with unbelievers? Aren’t we supposed to be ministering to them? Yes, a true friend is seeking to rescue those who are drowning in their sin, but the kind of “friendship” many are demanding is to let them drown (and if you’re really their friend, you’ll let them pull you down with them). But it is not true friendship to become like them. Christ did not become like them. He confronted their sin, offered forgiveness and told them to “go and sin no more.” We are on a path to God, and we cannot stop. We constantly invite them to come with us, but if they will not come, we must not stop. If they will not come, Christ does not want us to stop. And we love Christ more. The gospel says that following Christ will sometimes be interpreted as “hate” (Lk. 14:26). 

We are not “friends” with the world and its cheap baubles and petty influencers because as Calvin says, the happy man of this Psalm is the one who not only studies the Word of God but finds it delicious. 

Who Is Really Having Fun?   
The problem is that many Christians secretly (or not so secretly) think that unbelievers are having more fun. This was the original temptation of the Devil in the Garden – are you sure God is not withholding some good thing from you? Are you sure there isn’t some other experience, some other knowledge that will make you happy? And this is where the fundamental question divides: is happiness found in the Triune God or is He not necessary? 

Many unbelievers appear to be happy. They say they are happy without God. They are doing whatever they want. They are partying, sleeping around, doing whatever feels good to them. But this Psalm says they are not really happy, and here it describes their misery as rootlessness, uncertainty, insecurity – yes, they do whatever feels good or seems good to them but that is miserable because they are never sure of what they are doing. They don’t know if it’s good. They don’t know where they are going. They don’t know what it’s for. So Scripture teaches that they are miserable. 

They are also miserable because they have sinned against God and their fellow man and cannot get rid of the awful weight of guilt and shame (Ps. 32). They are miserable because they are living lies: denying that they know there is a God when He is obviously right in front of them every day in His creation (Rom. 1). They are also miserable because they are trying to live in God’s world according to their own wisdom, but the way of transgressors is hard (Prov. 13:15). You keep doing it your own way, but how’s that working out for you? How’s your marriage? How’s your relationship with your parents, your kids, your friends? 

But Scripture says that in God’s presence there is fullness of joy and at His right hand are pleasures forever more (Ps. 16:11). And Who is at God’s right hand? The Lord Jesus. He died, rose again, and ascended to God’s right hand. Jesus is the fullness of God’s joy and pleasures. And Jesus promises a joy to those who follow Him that no one can take away (Jn. 16:22). The center of this joy is the forgiveness of our sins, and the complete confidence we have to stand before God in the righteousness of Jesus Christ – all of this is based on the unchanging Word of God. His law is fixed. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He is always the fullness of goodness, righteousness, and joy. And He remained this goodness when He came in Jesus Christ to save us. And on top of His forgiveness and righteousness, He gives us all His gifts: creation, food, family, dancing, music, beauty, etc.  

But What About Evil?
This Psalm says that those who turn away from the paths of evil men and seek the Lord will be happy and fruitful, but it does not always seem that way. Job was struck by the Lord. Jacob and David were persecuted. The apostles were rejected and hated. And many Christians have suffered from the effects of the Fall: disease, pain, loneliness, and many hardships – many of which we have in our congregation. And on the flip side, many of the wicked do seem to be prospering, healthy, and wealthy. What do we make of this?

Some Christians ignore the problem of evil and simply insist that you need more faith and then you will be more prosperous. We call this lie the “prosperity gospel.” The fundamental problem with this lie is that Jesus had perfect faith, and He was rejected and killed. Others shy away from the plain meaning of this Psalm: that the godly will tend to prosper in this world – and they spiritualize the whole thing. We can only expect spiritual prosperity and Heaven in the end. 

But we need to hold the entire Bible together and embrace the whole message. We insist that the history of the world will vindicate the righteous. In general, those who seek God will prosper more than those who don’t. In general, if you follow God’s ways, you will have fewer STDs. God’s ways cut with the grain of the world He made: if you don’t spend more than you make, you won’t generally be in financial ruin. Wisdom will be justified by her children. 

At the same time, God is not merely interested in our physical prosperity. He disciplines us so that we might share in His holiness (Heb. 12:5-11). In many places, Scripture teaches that God has determined to do this through hardships: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (Js. 1:2-4 ESV). God is determined to work in His people so that they will be perfect, compete, and lacking nothing. The Bible calls this holiness. Holiness is a deeper happiness and more fruitful than mere material circumstances. 

What if you could run and not get tired? If you’re not ready for a marathon, and you are invited to run one, that sounds terrible and painful. But what if you could? Imagine a colony of cripples, a civilization that had forgotten how to walk. Maybe there had been many injuries, and so they had all decided it just wasn’t safe and muscles atrophied, and now no one walked. And you came along and told them that their legs were actually meant for walking — they were meant for running. That is what living in sin is like. It weighs you down, slows you down, but we were made to run. God disciplines us so that we might run with Him, so that we might be happy like Him.

Conclusion
Nietzsche mocked Christianity for what he called “slave morality,” accusing Christians of apathy, submitting to hardships and calling it “good.” But Nietzsche finished his days in an insane asylum, and according to legend, with his sister selling tickets to see him, and so are many of his cultural descendants in our day, destroying themselves with their “strong” delusions.

But we confess that Christ is the Happiest Man to ever live. He delighted in the Word of God day and night, and He was (and is) fruitful in every way. For this, they called Him insane and demon possessed, but after they killed Him, He came back from the dead and He has the fullness of life forever. And everyone who loves Him is given His happiness. Who is really having the most fun? The Lord Jesus Christ and those who follow Him. And it’s not even close. 

Prayer: Father, we know that Your happiness and joy far exceeds the false joy of sin. But we are so easily distracted. So please give us a vision for your happiness, give us a hunger and thirst for your righteousness, for your Word, for Jesus Christ, and so make us a forest of faithful and fruitful trees. And we ask for this now in the name of the Son of Your Pleasure, and we pray, as He taught us to pray…