Why we like the Psalms

In his most recent sermon, "Songs that Shape the Heart and Mind," John Piper notes the variety of emotions that are contained in Psalms — one of the reasons that we are all drawn to them, whether glad or sad:

One of the reasons the Psalms are deeply loved by so many Christians is that they give expression to an amazing array of emotions. Listen to this list of emotions I pulled together:

1. Loneliness: “I am lonely and afflicted” (Psalms 25:16).
2. Love: “I love you, O Lord, my strength” (Psalms 18:1).
3. Awe: “Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him” (Psalms 33:8).
4. Sorrow: “My life is spent with sorrow” (Psalms 31:10).
5. Regret: “I am sorry for my sin” (Psalms 38:18).
6. Contrition: “A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalms 51:17).
7. Discouragement and turmoil: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me” (Psalms 42:5)?
8. Shame: “Shame has covered my face” (Psalms 44:15).
9. Exultation: “In your salvation how greatly he exults” (Psalms 21:1).
10. Marveling: “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” (Psalms 118:23).
11. Delight: “His delight is in the law of the Lord” (Psalms 1:2).
12. Joy: “You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound” (Psalms 4:7).
13. Gladness: “I will be glad and exult in you” (Psalms 9:2).
14. Fear: “Serve the Lord with fear” (Psalms 2:11).
15. Anger: “Be angry, and do not sin” (Psalms 4:4).
16. Peace: “In peace I will both lie down and sleep” (Psalms 4:8).
17. Grief: “My eye wastes away because of grief” (Psalms 6:7).
18. Desire: “O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted” (Psalms 10:17).
19. Hope: “Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you” (Psalms 33:22).
20. Brokenheartedness: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalms 34:18).
21. Gratitude: “I will thank you in the great congregation” (Psalms 35:18).
22. Zeal: “Zeal for your house has consumed me” (Psalms 69:9).
23. Pain: “I am afflicted and in pain” (Psalms 69:29).
24. Confidence: “Though war arise against me, yet I will be confident” (Psalms 27:3).

Why I (and others) appreciate Piper’s preaching

Mark Dever wrote this about John Piper in the Introduction to Preaching the Cross (which C. J. Mahaney also quoted in his recent interview of Dever):

What a gift John is to the church. While too many of us are saying a lot of things quickly and running on to the next, John stops. And stands. And stays. And stares at God’s Word. Sometimes he stares at something that seems so obvious, but he keeps staring until it begins to expand and fill the horizon of his sight. It becomes rich and detailed and luscious and intricate and full and demanding and hope-giving and life-affirming and sin-denying and sacrifice-requiring and adjective-adding. John prays and thinks until the part of God’s Word which seems simple and obvious becomes fresh and powerful.

God cares

There are a variety of reasons we don't speak the truth of God (sometimes we don't speak the gospel truth to unbelievers, sometimes we don't speak Biblical truth to believers — maybe even failing to pray with someone who obviously needs the comfort and encouragement of prayer).

But one fundamental reason we don't speak is fear. And underneath that fear is an underlying belief that God is incapable of or unwilling to care for us if our speaking produces harsh consequences. If you've ever experienced that fear, then hear this word:

"…don't fear to speak the truth, but be courageous and speak clearly and openly because God is giving close and intimate attention to all you do. Matthew 10:30 means at least that much. Jesus says, 'even the hairs of your head are numbered.' In other words, the suffering you may undergo in speaking the truth is not because God is disinterested in you or unfamiliar with your plight. He is close enough to separate one hair from another and give each one a number. Fear not; he is close. He is interested; He cares. Be of good courage, and speak the truth whatever the cost." [Piper, What Jesus Demands From the World, p. 123.]

The cross and preaching

God did not ordain the cross of Christ or create the lake of fire in order to communicate the insignificance of belittling his glory. The death of the Son of God and the damnation of unrepentant human beings are the loudest shouts under heaven that God is infinitely holy, and sin is infinitely offensive, and wrath is infinitely just, and grace is infinitely precious, and our brief life — and the life of every person in you church and in your community — leads to everlasting joy or everlasting suffering. If our preaching does not carry the weight of these things to our people, what will? Veggie Tales? Radio? Television? Discussion groups? Emergent conversations?

God planned for his Son to be crucified (Rev. 13:8; 2 Tim. 1:9) and for hell to be terrible (Matt. 25:41) so that we would have the clearest vision possible to what is at stake when we preach. What gives preaching its seriousness is that the mantle of the preacher is soaked with the blood of Jesus and singed with the fire of hell. [John Piper, in Preaching the Cross.]

Book Review: Battling Unbelief

“I do believe; help my unbelief.”

This cry from the father of the mute, demon-possessed boy is in some way the genuine condition of the hearts of all who believe in and follow Christ. There are areas in our lives in which we know the truth of God and believe that truth is sufficient and efficient to accomplish transformation, but that confidence in God wavers.

The root of that wavering is that we really don't believe the promises of God. What we need, John Piper suggests, is faith in future grace. That is, we need faith to believe that as God has given past grace to provide spiritual life and sustenance, so He will give future grace that will equip us to adequately battle the sins of unbelief in its various forms — sins like anxiety, pride, misplaced shame, impatience, covetousness, bitterness, despondency, and lust.

This new book, Battling Unbelief, is a shortened version of his book Future Grace. The latter book provides more Biblical foundations for his reasoning, and then applies truth to a number of areas of sin. This book is a compilation of those chapters on the various sins.

What is future grace, and why do we need it?

Being satisfied with all that God promises to be for us in Jesus Christ is the essence of faith in future grace.…Sin has power because of the promises it makes to us.…No one sins out of duty. We sin because we believe the deceitful promises that sin makes.…Battling unbelief and fighting for faith in future grace means that we fight fire with fire. We throw against the promises of sin the promises of God. We take hold of some great promise God made about our future and say to a particular sin, "Match that!" In this way we do what Paul says in Romans 8:13, "By the Spirit…put to death the deeds of the body." [pp. 15-16]

Like Respectable Sins, which I was reading at the same time as this book (which was actually a good thing to do, as the messages are very similar, though Piper has more Biblical content and Bridges is more readable), Battling Unbelief is a book that I will come to again and again to help me in my battle with the flesh.

Better (Teenage) Saints

How shall we parent and shepherd our teens so that they will walk faithfully with God?

In his most recent "Taste and See" column, John Piper interacts with two recent books and draws the conclusion that "Good Doctrine Makes Better (Teenage) Saints." A sample statement:

"…even though growing a church by serious teaching of biblical truth may be harder and slower, it does bear more radical fruit than less doctrinally serious strategies of growth."