Category: Medicine

How we Face Death.

The interpretation and thoughts contained herein come from several commentaries and especially from a sermon given by Dr. Derek Thomas given on September 8, 2019 at First Presbyterian Church of Columbia, SC.  You can find a link on the church web page or at sermonaudio.com.  This sermon was an inspiration for this writing which, in turn, was for the comfort of dear brethren. 

Jesus Wept

                                John 11:35

This, the shortest verse in Scripture, is well know to Christians and has been the subject of countless writings and sermons.  These two words, Ἱησοῦσς ἑδάκρυσεν (Iēsous edakrysen), are rich with meaning.  In this passage we see Jesus facing the death of his beloved friend, Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary.  We not only learn about death from Jesus’ words and reactions, but also about our savior who is both fully human and fully God.  Jesus is confronted with a loss that all people have or will face. 

In this passage we see a great contrast of how the unbelieving world and Christians confront death.  All rational people understand that death is horrible.  The death of a loved one, parent, sibling, child, relative, or friend, is the greatest loss.  Our strong emotional response reflects this loss.  All peoples, cultures, and religions have customs and rituals surrounding death that reflect their worldview.  Yet despite all these things, despite periods of mourning, the loss does not go away in this life.  There is an empty chair, a silence, and a relational void in which our grief echoes.

Death is universal.  It is inescapable.  It will touch all in this life, save, perhaps, those who know not death at the time of the parousia.  Death is a stark reality that renders naked our man-made ideas, our goals, our aspirations, and our philosophy.  How are those who survive comforted?

Christians who are facing death or have lost loved ones must learn from Jesus’ example.   

Context

In John 11, Jesus is informed that his friend Lazarus is dying.  He is with the disciples by the Jordan River near the place where John began his ministry of baptism (evidently outside Judea).  The Scribes, Priests, and Pharisees were seeking his life and it was dangerous for him to go near Jerusalem. Mary and Martha sent for Jesus hoping he would come and heal their brother.  “But when Jesus heard it he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it’” (Jn 11:4).  The disciples did not understand the meaning here.  It appears they understood Jesus words to mean that Lazarus would recover.

Jesus waited two days and then announced he was going to Judea.  The disciples reminded Jesus that the people in Judea were seeking to stone him.  Jesus states “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him” (Jn 11:11).  The disciples thought Lazarus was resting and would recover.  Therefore, they concluded that there was no need for Jesus to go.  Then Jesus plainly said “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him” (Jn 11:14–15).

Jesus knew that Lazarus was physically dead.  He was trying to teach the disciples in word and sign-act (miracles).  Jesus knew he would raise Lazarus from the tomb and that Lazarus died for this very purpose, to demonstrate God’s glory.  God will demonstrate power over evil and death.  The ultimate demonstration of this power and victory is Jesus’ substitutionary death and resurrection. 

When Jesus arrives, Lazarus has been in the Tomb four days.  He is not only dead but decomposing.  Many people have come to console Mary and Martha.  Jewish custom at that time was to have professional mourners and musicians playing funeral music.  The professional mourners would wail even though they had no relationship to the deceased and may have few genuine feelings.  The scene was likely very noisy and demonstrative.  As best I can discern this custom is not from Scripture but was that of men.  It is recorded in the Mishna, a compilation of Jewish legal interpretation.[1]

Martha runs out to meet Jesus and says “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you” (Jn 11:21–22).  Martha believes in the general resurrection of the faithful but did not understand that Jesus is God incarnate.  Witness how Jesus gently instructs her: “Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’  Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world’” (Jn 11:23–27).

Mary, Martha’s sister remained in the house.  When she heard Jesus was calling for her, she went immediately to meet him outside the town.  The mourners and comforters followed her assuming she was going to the tomb.  Jesus sees Mary weeping and this large ceremonial entourage in tow. 

“Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.  And he said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see’” (Jn 11:32–34). 

Notice Mary and Martha said the same thing to Jesus: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  Jesus’ response to Mary is quite different.  Jesus gave Martha a lesson regarding the resurrection and his person.  Now Jesus is “deeply moved” and “greatly troubled.”  Mary has different needs than Martha.

The Greek word translated “deeply moved,” ἐμβριμάομαι (embriaomai), is an intense feeling that implies indignation.  It is used outside the Bible to describe the snorting of horses.[2]  In other words, there is a component of anger in Jesus’ response, perhaps outrage.  The Greek word translated “greatly troubled” depicts one so agitated that they are shaking.  Jesus’ emotional reaction is very strong.  He is upset and shaking mad.  Remember that this reaction is “in spirit,” or inward.  He did not show this externally.  It is not simple empathy and grief.

Why is this reaction so intense?  Jesus knew he was to raise Lazarus.  Therefore, Jesus’ reaction is not despair as is common among non-believers.  D.A. Carson comments:

“Some think that Jesus is moved by their grief, and is consequently angry with the sin, sickness and death in this fallen world that wreaks so much havoc and generates so much sorrow. Others think that the anger is directed at the unbelief itself. The men and women before him were grieving like pagans, like ‘the rest of men, who have no hope’ (1 Thes. 4:13). Profound grief at such bereavement is natural enough; grief that degenerates to despair, that pours out its loss as if there were no resurrection, is an implicit denial of that resurrection.”[3]

Commentators have identified three objects of Jesus’ indignation.  The first is that of death itself.  Death, the result of the fall, would take his dear friend and cause great suffering to the sisters he loved.  Death, emblematic of the corruption of a world infested by sin, confronts Jesus with the entire effects of the fall that he has come to undo.  The second is Satan, the prince who rules this world and holds the power of death. Jesus has come to defeat Satan as well as death.  The third may be the unbelief of the people who are mourning.  They do not understand what the Scripture has taught regarding God’s salvific purpose in history, much less the resurrection.  This in plain in their response “But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?’” (Jn 11:37). Andreas Köstenberger postulates that Jesus is bracing himself for the battle against death as demonstrated in the raising of Lazarus.[4]  Jesus’ reaction is likely all these and more.  Our translations seriously understate the state of our Lord’s spiritual agitation.

Jesus wept

The Greek word translated as “wept,” ἑδάκρυσεν (edakrysen), means “to cry.”  It is a different word than that used to describe the weeping of Mary and the others.  That Greek word is κλαίουσαν (klaiousan).  The latter emphasizes the noise that accompanies the weeping. Such noise is that of the professional mourners.[5]  Jesus was shaking mad and profoundly grieved in spirit but outwardly shed quiet tears.  The loud, demonstrative wailing of the mourners is the result of grieving without hope.  Jesus’ quiet flood of tears demonstrates his humanity. What can we learn from all this?

Lazarus is in Heaven

In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (another Lazarus; Luke 16:19-31), we are told Lazarus lay in the bosom of Abraham (is in heaven) while the rich man is in Hades.  Without going into a full explanation of this passage, Jesus is teaching that the faithful Lazarus was in heaven after he died.  This Lazarus’ soul was in heaven.  His body is decomposing in the tomb.  While Jesus is crying, Lazarus is experiencing indescribable beauty and bliss.  He is in the presence of God.  This is the expected post-mortem destination of all the elect who experience physical death.  Lazarus will undergo a bodily resurrection at the end of this age.

Derek Thomas, in a recent sermon[6], postulated that Jesus’ tears were multifold.  In addition to grieving over what was before him in terms of suffering, Jesus understood that he would recall Lazarus from paradise back into the sinful, corrupt world of suffering only to experience more pain and another physical death.  That is reason to grieve.  Would not Lazarus prefer to remain where he was?  Is he doing Lazarus a good turn by resurrecting him?  Lazarus was chosen to return for this very purpose, for the glory of God.

Think of the incarnation of our Lord.  The second person of the Trinity exists in perfect communion with the Father and Holy Spirit.  He then leaves this perfection and condescends to our level. The writer of Hebrews explains it well: “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering (Heb 2:9–10).

Jesus leaves heaven, being made in the form of man, lower than the angels, that he may be our savior.  Jesus would be humiliated in life and death.  But in his resurrection, Jesus will be glorified and take his place as King.  But first he must live a perfect life in a fallen world full of suffering, temptation and sin.  Then he must become the pascal lamb, our substitute, that God’s justice be satisfied.  On the Cross he paid all our debts and suffered the combined punishment of everyone he came to save, past, present and future.

Lazarus’ resurrection is, in a way, sad for Lazarus.  But as a faithful servant chosen for this task, he must suffer for yet a little while longer.  Having a first-hand knowledge of what heaven is like must have strengthened him.  Knowing that his suffering was part of God’s plan of redemption must have given him great comfort.  His sisters and the others present did not understand this.  They wanted Lazarus back and thought that was best for him and them.  This is the pagan viewpoint and not the Christian.   

There are many who claim to have gone to heaven and returned.  They claim a false beatific vision.  God used such miracles as demonstrations of his power and authority.  Miracles authenticate the message and the messenger.  They have been limited to very few people and for a very limited periods of time.  With the close of the apostolic age, as the faith spread and the Gospels and writings were created and passed on, miracles and signs were no longer necessary.  The Jews were always asking for signs but were unwilling to believe.  They had no faith.   We have the Holy Spirit as our comforter and guide.  We need no signs “for we walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

When we lose loved ones who are Christian, we must understand that he or she is in heaven in the arms of Jesus.  They are in paradise, a place of unspeakable beauty, peace, and joy.  They are experiencing the best anyone can wish or hope for.  To desire that they stay here and never go there is wrong, and perhaps selfish.  To linger in this world is to linger in the realm of Satan.  Heaven is where they are meant to be and is the purpose to which they lived.  To long for their return is to wish upon them what Jesus was to do to Lazarus.  Both Mary and Martha wished Jesus would have come and healed Lazarus.  Martha seems to be indirectly asking Jesus to bring Lazarus back.  Mary was wailing with the mourners in despair, as one who had no understanding and hope. 

Jesus wept. 

Our High Priest

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb 4:14–16)

Because Jesus was a man he identifies and has solidarity with us in every way save sin.  He sympathizes with our weakness, suffering, and fears.  Jesus experienced fatigue, thirst, hunger, insult, pain, loss, and physical death (also joy, laughter, and love).  Our God is not some abstract being somewhere out there who is so detached from our suffering as to be remote and cold.  The God of Deists, such as Thomas Jefferson, is a false god who, like a watchmaker creates the world, winds it up and lets it go without any further involvement.  Such an errant view denies the testimony of scripture in passages such as the one under consideration. 

In facing death, the Christian has a sure hope and most die well, in peace knowing where they are going.  Likewise, when losing a faithful loved one we must understand that they are truly in heaven.  We must do more than understand this intellectually.  We must understand it spiritually and faithfully.  We must know this, hope in this, and trust Jesus.  Trust is the essential element of saving faith.

And because we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our loss and grief, he sends the comforter to us; the Holy Spirit.  He has given us his living written Word that we may also be comforted and grow in grace.  He sends others into our lives to be a blessing and comfort, our family of God, our brethren.

In all this we are given constant reminders of what we already know.  No matter how long we have been Christian, no matter how much we study our Bibles and pray, we need to hear these simple truths over and again.  We are not yet perfected.  We hurt and it does not go away so easily or at all.  We are instructed what to do: to pray, to worship, to study our Bible and not to neglect the gathering of the Church.  We are to trust and listen to the Spirit indwelling in us.  We are to live our lives, in all the humdrum and commonness, doing the next task at work, at home and wherever we are called, always looking to Jesus and trusting in Jesus.

Jesus does not expect us to be stoic.  Look at Jesus’ indignation and tears!  We are to follow him and conform to his likeness.  Death brings sorrow, agitation, anger and loss.  We are Mary and Martha.  It is instructive that these two approached Jesus with the same question yet totally different responses and needs.  They represent two aspects of the tension surrounding death.  They reflect and express our worldly desires which are at odds with God’s will.    Jesus did not bring Lazarus back simply out of empathy, remorse, or to do what the sister’s asked of him.  Nay, Jesus brought Lazarus back for the Glory of God alone.  Jesus tenderly ministered to each according to their needs and he will likewise to us.

Martha needed understanding regarding the person of Jesus and Mary needed tears and sympathy.  Everyone present needed to understand who and what Jesus was and who and what they were.  They would see in the raising of Lazarus a preview of what would happen to Jesus in a short time.  Mary and Martha would remain with Jesus at the Cross and attend to his anointing and burial.  Then, they would see Jesus in his resurrected, glorified body and be called (for the first time) sisters. 

Those Outside the Faith

We can look to the unbelieving people in this narrative and understand how the unfaithful confront death.  It is a horror.  They are without hope or true comfort.  They may delude themselves for a while with denial or some philosophy.  They may falsely believe they have done good and deserve, therefore, to be in heaven because of this merit.  They may falsely believe that God will not punish sinners.  They may believe that there is no afterlife and upon death you go blank and return to mineral dust.  They may not believe in hell. 

Perhaps our Lord, in his common grace, permits many to die somewhat peacefully with these false thoughts that they may not suffer terribly.  Perhaps he permits many survivors to avoid the full extent of pain and hopelessness in their false beliefs.  But for many, if not most, confronting death is the most horrible experience.  Atheists such as Voltaire, Nietzsche, and Foucault reportedly died in desperation, insanity, and in great hopeless suffering (respectively).  Their deaths should serve as a warning to others.  But despite this, the world admires them and believes the ideas that brought them to utter ruin and eternal suffering.

As Christians, our concern should be for the lost.  As God does not take delight in the death of sinners neither should we.  We see death for what it truly is.  Our response should be like that of Jesus’ inward reaction.  When Jesus’ wept over Jerusalem, the Greek word that is used to describe his mourning is the same as that used of Mary and the mourners: loud demonstrative wailing.  Jesus understood that Jerusalem, the Holy City, along with so many of the Chosen People, would be destroyed and die in their rebellion and unbelief.  He understood where they were going and wailed.

However, Jesus knew where Lazarus was going.  And he understood the pain of death.  Outflowed copious quiet tears.  He needed no professional mourners, rituals, or customs.  What do these things do for the dead?  Are they really a comfort for the living? 

The Better House

Solomon wrote:

      It is better to go to the house of mourning

      than to go to the house of feasting,

      for this is the end of all mankind,

      and the living will lay it to heart.

      Sorrow is better than laughter,

      for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.

      The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,

      but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

      It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise

      than to hear the song of fools.

      For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,

      so is the laughter of the fools;

      this also is vanity. (Ec 7:2–6)

For it is the House of Mourning we confront Satan.

For it is in the House of Mourning we face our own mortality and see the consequences of our sin.

For it is in the House of Mourning that we hear the rebuke of the wise.

For it is in the House of Mourning that we learn of our fate should we die in rebellion to God.

For it is the House of Mourning that points to the Gospel if we have ears to hear.

For it is in the House of Mourning Christians learn to grieve properly and are comforted.

For it is in the House of Mourning Christians bear witness to others of the hope that is in us.

For it is in the House of Mourning Christians may be used of God to bring others to salvation.

For the fool understands not the House of Mourning.

For the fool deludes himself with false ideas and denial.

For the fool drowns himself in drink and bodily pleasure while going forth unto destruction.

For the fool hears the mourning, the bell tolling, and knows not that it is for him.

Application

Beloved, let us not walk in the dark but in the light.  We must endeavor to do all for God’s Glory.  Let us pray we die well despite our circumstances.  In mourning, let us be witness to the goodness and mercy of God.  As we live our lives as survivors, let us do so as bearers of the good news, in word and deed, living faith and trust in God that others may see, hear, and come to Jesus.  Our suffering is for but a little while and we will be in Glory with Him, the author of our salvation.  We will be reunited with the faithful who went before us and countless others we do not know in this life.  And we will be with Jesus.

Like so many gifts of grace, we cannot muster these things from within and by our own strength.  We need our Lord’s help.  Perhaps, we often do not experience the comfort and peace we desire because we do not ask God, listen to Him, or obey Him.  We must also remember that, like Lazarus, we are servants of our Lord and are asked to do His bidding for His purposes.  This includes suffering for the Glory of God. This is how we grow in grace.  Therefore, let us find comfort and strength in our suffering and despite our suffering.

Father, we are weak and lack understanding and faith.  Please comfort us in our sorrow.  Please give us understanding and the faith we need.  Please grant us the strength to persevere and do thy work.  Turn our sorrow into gladness, our suffering into joy, and our loss into gain.  For you, and you alone, are worthy of our trust, love and worship.  Grant us these things in the name of your son, Jesus.  Amen.

[1] Reference to this custom can be found in the Mishna Tractate on marriage and marital contracts.  Concerning the husband’s responsibility for the bride:

               F      But he is liable to maintain her, and to ransom her, and to bury her.

               G      R. Judah says, “Even the poorest man in Israel should not hire fewer than two flutes and one professional wailing woman.”

Jacob Neusner, The Mishnah : A New Translation (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988), 386.

[2] John F. MacArthur Jr., John 1–11, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 2006), 466.

[3] D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991), 416.

[4] Andreas J. Köstenberger, John, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004), 340.

[5] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 303.

[6] Ibid 1.

Lament as a Response to Suffering Part 5.

13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,

like a mute man who does not open his mouth.

14 I have become like a man who does not hear,

and in whose mouth are no rebukes.

                                                                                    Psalm 38:13–14

Last time we left David he was alone.  Friends and family were aloof and his enemies were circling and attacking.  Illness and sin disrupt our relationships with others and this adds to our affliction.  The verses we are examining tell of the cumulative effect of David’s suffering.  Is David referring to his illness, his sin or the effect of his social and spiritual isolation?  Commentators generally focus on the effect of the enemy attack.  I believe David’s Self-Description is more nuanced and reflects all aspects of his circumstances.  In these rich verses are lessons regarding how the Godly respond to suffering as demonstrated by how our Lord, Jesus’ comported himself during his trial and execution. 

We can examine this passage from the physical, spiritual, social and political perspectives:

The Physical Illness

As a physician I initially read these verses as being a manifestation of David’s illness rather than a response to persecution.  We all know that severe illness can affect the senses and render us very weak.  The sick person often does not hear, understand and respond as they would when healthy.  They may hear part of what they are told or misunderstand the content.  Questions may not be asked by them and they may claim to understand when in fact they did not.  It is important for family and/or a close friend to be with them and for the doctor to revisit the substance of the communication over and again. 

The faculties of hearing and speech are the focus of these parallel verses.  Hearing is the subject of the first lines of each verse whereas speech is the subject of the second.  In verse 10 we saw that David’s heart was throbbing, his strength was failing and the life in his eyes was dimming.  As we lay dying,  hearing is the last sense lost.  Patients who survive severe illness can attest that hearing was preserved when circulation, muscles and vision fail.  We are cautioned as healthcare workers to be careful of our speech around a patient who seems otherwise unresponsive.  Therefore, these verses depict a more severe state of ill health as loss of hearing precedes death.

Often, people who are very ill cannot speak coherently.  It may be because the mouth is parched, the muscles and breath are weak or the mind is impaired or confused.  David opens his mouth and nothing comes out.  The Lion of Judah can no longer roar, the King cannot give a command.  David cannot communicate with others.  Being like a deaf mute he is completely alone.  This is a state of utter weakness and vulnerability.  He is locked within himself unable to place upon his lips the prayer that is in his mind.  He cannot hear others, but God can hear him because God knows our thoughts.  His cries cannot be heard by others but God surely hears them. 

The Spiritual illness

The Hebrew word used in the two verses are different yet they are translated into the same English word: “hear.”  The Hebrew word in verse 13 is אֶשְׁמָ֑ע ( ̀ĕs̆-mă‘ʹ) and in verse 14 is שֹׁמֵ֑עַ (s̆ō-mē). They both come from the same Semitic root שׁמע (Shema).  Perhaps the most famous usage in Scripture comes from Deuteronomy 6:4 (repeated by Jesus in Mark 12:29) “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”  It is referred to as the “Shema” and is recited by observant Jews upon rising and going to sleep.  It posted on the doorways of the homes in a mezuza and are bound upon the forehead (as “frontlets” between the eyes) and upon their hand in tefillin. 

This one word is critical in our relationship to God.  The root encompasses not only the physical sense of hearing but also the faculty of understanding and obedience.  When you read “Hear, O Israel” or any command to “Hear” in Scripture it is generally better understood as “hear and obey.”  In general, when שׁמע appears without a preposition, physical hearing is meant.  The second line in a parallel Hebrew poetic construction serves to amplify and expand the meaning of the first line.  Perhaps David’s loss of his sense of hearing in verse 13 is expanded in verse 14 into spiritual deafness.  David is not only unable to hear but to properly respond. 

As an illustration, the Hebrew word in verse 14 (שֹׁמֵ֑עַ; s̆ō-mē) is translated with the English word “obey” in Deuteronomy 21:18.

 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst,” (Dt 21:18–21).

Not hearing and obeying one’s parents (rebellion) is serious enough to deserve the death penalty.  This infraction was a microcosm of the rebellion of the child, Israel.  The people were commanded to hear and obey but rebelled instead.  With this background we can begin to understand the spiritual depth of David being like a deaf man.  David has sinned and therefore rebelled against God.  He failed to שֹׁמֵ֑עַ his Lord.  Is now David too far gone to hear and obey God?  Is he to be reprobated in a state of sin and rebellion, cast off forever?   

The sinner cannot hear, understand or obey God’s voice.  They are deaf and lack understanding. Their hearts are corrupt and desire is for sin and not what is good.  Until God regenerates the heart we are dead, like the dry bones in Ezekiel.  Only God can make us alive.  As one Hebrew scholar puts it:

“Hearing is critical for the interaction between God and human beings; the medium through which God makes his will known among his people (in commandments or mediated by the prophets) is the audible word. Interruption of this communication has consequences: Israel’s refusal to hear served as grounds for the punishment of the exile. Conversely, Dt. 4:28 and Ps. 115:4–7 heap scorn on a god who cannot hear human beings. To exaggerate the point: one who cannot hear does not exist; one who can no longer hear, no longer communicate, is doomed.”[1]

The second set of parallel verses concerning speech complete the message.  David cannot use his voice because of weakness.  Therefore, as a King he cannot give commands nor rebuke those who are in the wrong.  As a man of God he cannot witness to sinners by pointing out and rebuking their sins.  He is a sinner under the hand of God.  In all appearances David is the one being rebuked!  Sin destroys our witness unless we receive God’s forgiveness and are restored.  Then, and only then, may we call upon other sinners and tell of God’s amazing grace. 

What use is David to God now?  He is as good as dead.  He can bring nothing and offer nothing.  Yet David is displaying great faith.  As Calvin points out David waits silently before the Lord.  In this David is demonstrating his own patience and confidence that YHWH will forgive and vindicate him.  Few of us can do this.  Like all things, the capacity to suffer in such a way is a gift just like our faith is a gift. 

The Social Isolation

We have seen how David was socially isolated as friends and family held aloof.  David’s “deafness” and being “mute” create a vicious cycle of further isolation.  As David becomes weaker he cannot fully engage with the few visitors he may have.   Words may not impress him and his needs are not articulated.  Being removed from society also isolates David from the information one gets through normal social intercourse.  In short David is “out of touch.” 

People who are ill, shut in and alone withdraw.  They become depressed, do not take good care of themselves and even develop cognitive decline due to lack of stimulation.  They are unable to come to God’s house and worship with the church family, hear the word of God, partake of the Lord’s Supper and pray with others.  Simple human company, kind words, a warm touch and an attentive ear are a balm to the shut in.  This is why the ministry of home visitation is so important.  Sharing God’s word, praying and fellowship need not be confined to the church building.  We must minister to the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of our brethren.  

The Political Oppression

Most commentators interpret these verses in relationship to verse 11.  Calvin views David’s condition here as the consequence of his enemies piling on accusations and attacks, generally falsehoods.  David is guilty of sin but men are not gracious like God.  Evildoers are not content with justice but want revenge and destruction.  Under the weight of it all David is simply crushed and chooses to shut them out and not rebuke them.  John Calvin writes:

“It is indeed certain, that if David had obtained a hearing, he would have been ready to defend his own innocence; but perceiving that it availed him nothing, nay, that he was shut out and debarred from all defense of his cause, he humbly submitted, waiting patiently for the heavenly Judge. He therefore says that he held his peace, as if he had already been convicted and struck dumb.”[2]

Allen Ross notes the contrast between David’s silence and the “busy tongues” of his accusers.[3]  David cannot look to men for deliverance.  He looks only to the Lord for vindication.  

Our Lord’s Silence in Suffering

In this way David is like our Lord, Jesus, during his trial and crucifixion. As Charles Spurgeon put it:

“David was eminently typical of our Lord Jesus, whose marvelous silence before Pilate was far more eloquent than words. To abstain from self-defense is often most difficult, and frequently most wise.”[4]

David’s experience and response points to Jesus.  Isaiah, much later, prophesies:  

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

                                                                                    Isaiah 53:7

When we read about the lives of the martyrs we often see amazing strength and peace during their suffering.  This is not something one can drum up from within, from our own strength.  It is a gift of grace and like all God’s gifts it is freely bestowed upon whom he chooses.  For when any Christian is under trial, oppression, or affliction so is our Lord.  When Saul was on the road to Damascus, Jesus said that he was persecuting not only the Church but the Lord himself.  Jesus told the disciples “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:20). Know that he is with you in your suffering.

We are to be imitators of Jesus in our affliction.  We are not to seek out suffering but understand that suffering is part of our calling as Christ’s people.  We are in union with Christ.  As such we share in his suffering and in his vindication, we share in his death and in his resurrection.  Believers can not only have peace during affliction but even rejoice.  It is through affliction we are made meet for heaven, refined in the furnace as pure gold.  As Paul wrote:

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Ro 5:3–5).

Application

It may seem as if we are getting two pictures of David in affliction.  Earlier, he was roaring and moaning and not he is patient and quiet.  So which is the Godly way?  It would be wrong to chastise a suffering brother or sister for articulating their pain even in repeated moans and groans.  Such suffering is not a sign that a Christian has been abandoned but that he or she is loved by God.  Being refined in fire, undergoing divine “surgery” (or whatever analogy you like) is not painless.  It hurts.  It is part of our sanctification as we walk with the Lord.  He takes away many things our flesh desires because he knows that are bad for us.  

In the furnace of refinement David has learned suffering, patience and to trust God.  Saintly silence during suffering and tragedy is not stoicism but the meeting of faith and grace.  The pain is real, and so is our Lord’s presence.  We receive this gift by remaining in the Word, in prayer, and in communion with our Lord.  We cease looking inward and sideways and fix our eyes upon Christ and heaven.  

Therefore, the Godly way is growing in Christ and moving through lament to patience and hope.  

Our most gracious Father.  You hear our cries and know our suffering.  Give us the strength to endure, the patience to rest in your grace, and a heart to receive your love.  Though it is just for a season, it seems to us a long time.  Grant us the privilege and ability to serve you, especially in our affliction, that in all we say and do we glorify you and be thy instruments of bringing your Gospel to others that they may be saved and comforted.      

[1] U. Rüterswörden, “שָׁמַע,” ed. G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry, trans. David E. Green, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006), 258.

[2] Calvin, John. Commentary on the Psalms.  Ps. 38.

[3] Allen P. Ross, A Commentary on the Psalms 1–89: Commentary, vol. 1, Kregel Exegetical Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2011–2013), 832.

[4] C. H. Spurgeon, Psalms, Crossway Classic Commentaries (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1993), 156.

Lament as a Response to Suffering Part 4.

9 O Lord, all my longing is before you;

my sighing is not hidden from you.

10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me,

and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.

11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,

and my nearest kin stand far off.

12 Those who seek my life lay their snares;

those who seek my hurt speak of ruin

and meditate treachery all day long.  

                                                                                    Psalm 38:9–12

David is standing in the dock before YHWH.  He has recognized his sin and its harm to body and soul.  As a man after God’s own heart, David grieves over his sin not simply his affliction.  He is contrite and has made good confession without excuse, conditions, or bargaining.

David now opens his petition.  In these verses David appeals to the One who is all-knowing by first stating how utterly alone and vulnerable he is. 

YHWH knows David’s Plight (v 9)

Longing is the intense expression of a desire unfilled over an extended period.  David is longing for his health and for restoration of his relationship with YHWH.  David, elsewhere, describes his longing as a thirsty deer panting for water:

As a deer pants for flowing streams,

so pants my soul for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God,

for the living God.

Ps 42:1-2

David cannot regain his health and vigor until he is in a right relationship with YHWH.  That relationship has been disrupted by sin and only YHWH can restore it by graciously forgiving his servant.  It is not that God has forsaken and abandoned David.  It is God’s immediate and perceptible presence that David longs for.  When God called Abram, he said “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless” (Ge 17:1).  Walking before YHWH is living and abiding in His presence, before His “face,” in communion and fellowship.  Those who know this sweetness feel the great bitterness of His absence.

The word translated “sighing” signifies “roaring.”  The Hebrew word is used to describe a lion roaring.  David is not stoic before God as his intense emptiness is set out before YHWH in plain sight.  The Lion of Judah is roaring in his affliction like a wounded animal.  It is ugly to hear and behold. 

That David makes such a loud demonstration is not a lack of faith.  The toughest of us may be able to hide our suffering from others but not our God who perceives everything.  David cannot hide his agony for our Father knows what you need before you ask him (Mt 6:8).  David writes elsewhere:

  O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

  You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.

  Even before a word is on my tongue,

behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

                                                                                        Psalm 139:1–4

Therefore, we need not be ashamed and try to cover ourselves.  However, in such circumstances we can be at a loss of words.  Our first response is not calm, eloquence but moaning and groaning.  God hears and understands this as the language of suffering. Our Lord not only perceives our pain, he hears and understands our longings, before and regardless of our ability to articulate them.  He stands ready and able to succor and provide what we need.

Charles Spurgeon observed:

Sorrow and anguish hide themselves from the observation of man, but God spies them out. None more lonely than the broken-hearted sinner, yet he has the Lord for his companion.[1]

In the verses that follow, David takes us deeper into the depths.

David’s Suffering is likened to Death (v 10)

David’s heart is “throbbing,” or being driven to and throw in agitation.  His soul cannot be quiet and settled.  It is a lost wanderer, a wild horse without a rider or a rudderless ship in a storm.  He is being tossed about with no end or purpose.  David is exhausted as his strength fails him.  His limbs are weak and cannot carry him.  His spirit is faint and abandoning his body.  The light of his eyes signifies his very life.  The windows to the soul are becoming empty. David is dying as his eyes gloss over, cannot perceive and loose contact with the world outside him.  This death is physical and spiritual.  Oh’ to feel abandoned on the deathbed!  How awful death is for those apart from the Lord and more so for those who have tasted the heavenly gift (Heb 6:4).  The Lord has no joy in the death of the lost and He feels its pangs.  David is a man drowning in sin thrusting forth his hand heavenward to be rescued.

Abandoned by Friends and Family (v 11)

David likens his illness to a plague that drives people away lest they to are afflicted with the contagion.  He is treated like a leper, living outside of the camp, unclean and apart from Temple and fellowship.  The leper was abhorred and feared.  Those who are closest to David, his family and his close brethren, now stand aloof.  Those who were near to him while in health, wealth and power are now gone.  David is unloved, socially isolated and truly alone.  Calvin comments:

In saying that his friends stand away from him, he means, that they cease from performing any of the offices of humanity towards him.[2]

And Spurgeon:

As the women and others of our Lord’s acquaintance from afar gazed on his cross, so a soul wounded for sin sees all mankind as distant spectators, and in the whole crowd finds none to aid. Often relatives hinder seekers after Jesus, oftener still they look on with unconcern, seldom enough do they endeavor to lead the penitent to Jesus.[3]

Has this happened to you?  When you are well and able to work and participate in family and social roles and functions you are surrounded by loved ones.  Illness and sin are a burden to others.  They truly do not want to experience your pain and anguish.  While happy to share in your joys they tend to you superficially in your affliction.  When you need them the most, family and friends have time to continue in their other joyous relationships but cannot or will not join you in your suffering.  They have lives to lead.  At least Job’s friends, for all their faults, sat with him for a few days in silent solidarity.  The balm of fellowship is replaced with pills, salves and some fleeting words of comfort.

                They have healed the wound of my people lightly,

saying, ‘Peace, peace,’

when there is no peace (Je. 8:11)

Is there no balm in Gilead?

Is there no physician there?

Why then has the health of the daughter of my people

not been restored? (Je. 8:22)

We delegate these tasks to professionals: doctors, nurses, social workers, therapists, home aids, pastors and elders rather than joining in faithful solidarity with our loved one.  When our friends and family stand afar our Lord is ready to draw neigh.  Jesus embraces us in our failures and suffering.  As he touched lepers and made them whole, he will touch us likewise.  Even our stench will not deter our Lord.  As the good physician he enters the sick room, approaches our couch without mask, gown and gloves.  He never leaves and he walks out with us, hand in hand, back into the world or into the heavenly Kingdom. 

David’s Enemies Circle for an Attack (v 12)

Predators in the wild cull the weak and frail from the herd.  Weak and alone, abandoned by his family and friends, David is apart from the protection of the herd.  The herd is his family and the family of God.  A single rod is easily broken but when bundled is resilient.  A coal taken out of the fire soon cools and dies out.  Satan is always on the prowl and attacks viscously when we are weak and alone.  His minions are vultures circling the dying. 

Have you experienced enemies taking advantage of your illness, circumstances and failures?  Do they mock you and are they quick to point out your flaws?  Do they take advantage of your weakness?  When a saint fails the world is quick to declare him a hypocrite rather than recognize him as a poor sinner in need of grace.  They delight in our misery, use our flaws to detract from their evil and therein justify their own sin. 

David describes this activity as laying snares that will entrap and kill him and with evil speech seek to ruin him.  The enemy is obsessed with his downfall as they plot and plan continuously.  Meditating on treachery all day contrasts with the righteous man of Psalm 1 who meditates day and night of God’s law.  David’s enemies delight in evil whereas the righteous man delights in the things of God.  The wicked walk in the way of the ungodly, stand in the way of sinners and sit with the scorners at the gate mocking and passing judgment.

When we, as Christians, suffer this attack we are experiencing what our Lord did on the Cross.  His close friends ran away, some family and disciples stood at a distance unable to approach and help.  The religious leaders and the rabble cursed and mocked him, yet Jesus not only remained sinless but demonstrated the spirit of forgiveness. 

David leaves us with a picture of a man not only drowning but surrounded by sharks who smell blood.  He does not need someone to tell him to get out of the water but to dive in and rescue him.  No other than our Lord can and will do this.

Lessons for us

David’s illness has disrupted the most intimate of relationships.  In order to restore them, David must first seek reconciliation with God.  Our vertical relationship defines all our horizontal relationships.  Those with our friends and family will not be made right until we are right with God.  Satan’s fiery darts, delivered by his minions and our earthly foes, will continue to smart until our Lord quenches them. 

How does our Lord help and comfort us?  He generally uses his servants, the saints of His Church.  He sends them as ministering souls.  The teaching of these verses is not only for the one under affliction but for all of God’s people who are called to serve and show His love.  Are we willing to answer the call?  Are we willing to descend into the pit, dive into the water and meet our brother or sister where they are?  Are we willing to lift them up out of the mud by getting under them and letting them stand on our shoulders or cupped hands? 

People wantingly gaze aloft for miraculous intervention and are blind to God’s providence working through that which is common.  The suffering one misses the grace that God has sent and those around the afflicted gawk mute instead of acting with love and compassion.  Stop being like the Apostles whose eyes were affixed upon heaven at Jesus ascension and get to work!  You were called to serve the Lord.  We are to imitate him.  This may mean getting muddy and wet for your brother and sister.  In doing this your suffering brethren will not be a curse but a blessing.  For as you serve them you serve your Lord.  Great will be your reward in heaven and thankful will be your brother.  More so, you point to Jesus and bid others to follow.  In this way, you are a living testimony, preaching the gospel in word and deed. 

Next we shall see how David hits bottom and begins a turn upward.

[1] C. H. Spurgeon, Psalms, Crossway Classic Commentaries (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1993), 155

[2] Calvin, John. Commentary of the Psalm 38:11

[3] C. H. Spurgeon, Psalms, Crossway Classic Commentaries (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1993), 155–156.

Lament as Response to Suffering Part 2.

 For your arrows have sunk into me,

and your hand has come down on me.

                                                                                    Psalm 38:2

In Part 1 we saw how a distressed David knew whom to call upon.   He called unto YHWH, a living person, our Lord and God.  For David knew YHWH was the creator of all and it is YHWH’s providence that guides the lives of people and the history of nations.  We also learned that David was not calling upon YHWH to withhold correctional chastisement and rebuke.  David asked YHWH not to this in His penal divine wrath and anger.  David is a beloved son in relationship with the Father who cares.

The next verse reveals the source of David’s suffering.  The poetic image is of YHWH as an archer shooting arrows of affliction into David.  YHWH’s hand, an anthropomorphism for YHWH’s acting, is pressing down upon David.  The picture is one of being stricken or crushed.  When David says: “your arrows” and “your hand” he is also acknowledging the personal and purposeful nature of this action.  David cried out to YHWH for help because it is YHWH who is responsible for the illness. Therefore, it is YHWH who can provide relief.

Such imagery is known elsewhere in Scripture and in the ancient world. Homer, in the Iliad, describes the god Apollo using his arrows to bring pestilence upon the Achaeans because he is displeased over King Agamemnon’s actions concerning a captured woman, Chryseis.  Lamentations 4:12-13 describe God as a bowman attacking Jerusalem as punishment for sin:

he bent his bow and set me

as a target for his arrow.

He drove into my kidneys

the arrows of his quiver;

God punished the people for numerous and repeated intergenerational sins including idolatry, disobedience and covenantal apostasy. He raised up and sent foreign armies to destroy and conquer Israel and then Judah.  In Lamentations, Jerusalem is depicted as a person.  The kidneys (bowels) are the seat of emotion (suffering) in ancient thinking. The arrows cause physical, emotional and spiritual pain.  It is not just the illness but the fracture in the relationship between God and His people.   

David’s understanding is not a mere appropriation of the beliefs and literature of the surrounding ancient culture.  Although the pagans did not know the Lord and wrongly attributed such things to false gods, they did understand that there was someone who was above mankind and who ruled over men and creation.  The pagan “relationship” with their gods was mostly impersonal and material.  Therefore, they sought to appease these capricious entities with gifts and not true repentance.  The goal was to win favor and not an intimate and reciprocal loving relationship.

Today, many look down upon the ancient world as primitive and superstitious.  They lump the Bible together with other ancient pagan beliefs.  They argue that either there is no God or if such a god exists, he or she would not behave in the manner of YHWH.  They are offended that YHWH punishes sin, brings disaster and suffering.    

Many Enlightenment thinkers continued to believe in the Lord and saw no paradox between their faith and reason.  Others saw human reason and science to be incompatible with a belief in the Lord.  They held that one must choose between the two and those who chose God were irrational and/or ignorant. 

There is no logical contradiction between what we learn from studying our world and the existence of the God of Scripture.  As we have seen earlier, science is descriptive whereas our faith informs us about origins, ultimate causes, and purposes.  The latter are beyond the reach of the scientific method. 

During the Enlightenment, many thinkers who wholly embraced this worldview, yet clung to some belief in God, tried to reconcile the two in Deism.  Deism is a belief that a god created the universe and set it in motion but is not involved in its affairs.  It rejects divine intervention (miracles), divine providence, prophecy, and the divine purpose behind every jot and tittle of human and natural history.   The deist’s god is likened to a watchmaker who makes a watch, winds it up and lets it run by design without any further involvement. 

Thomas Jefferson, a founding father and deist, went so far as to cut out the passages of scripture he believed to be false based upon his “enlightened” understanding.  He pasted together the remaining passages to create “The Jefferson Bible.”  What Jefferson did was no different than what pagans have done through the ages.  As Paul describes in Romans 1:18-23, he failed to perceive the Lord in what was before him in nature.  In doing so he exchanged the truth for a lie.  Such men create a god in their own image.  It is idolatry.

Those who rejected the Lord and argued for others to do the same, simply found new pretexts for their atheism.  As Paul concludes “they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).  And what has been the result?  Scientists who reject the Scriptural account of creation argue that everything we see originated in “a big bang.” They have no firm explanation of what (or who) caused the “bang” or where the substance that “banged” came from in the first place.  They describe things that seem to flip in and out of existence and speculate as to the origin of matter and energy without accepting the most obvious solution that these things periodically escape our limited ability to detect and model. 

Many of the models describing natural phenomena are statistical.  Rather than understand that these statistical models reflect our inability to precisely describe what we are investigating; a belief has arisen that what we see around us has happened because of chance.  Is the entire universe as we know it is a product of chance?  The human eye in all its beauty and complexity, is a product of chance and evolutionary selection despite the infinitesimally small calculated odds?  Disease is often said to be “caused” by chance – a random mutation, infection or other event affects some and not others. 

But as R. C. Sproul argues in his monograph, Not a Chance: God, Science, and the Revolt against Reason, chance cannot be a cause.  For something to cause something else, it must have the properties of being or esse.  In order to make an effect, chance must have ουσια (ousia; substance, property).  When the scribes and elders asked Jesus “by what authority are you doing these things…” (Mark 11:33; Mt 21:24; Luke 20:8) they used the Greek word εξουσια (exousia; lit. out of being).  They wanted to know who or what authoritative body granted Jesus permission.  Chance is a statistical description of things and is not a thing itself. Lacking substance or property, chance cannot do anything.  Therefore, ascribing any effect to chance as a cause is irrational.  That is how “far” we have come.

The current worldview, descended from the Enlightenment, differs only in incidentals from ancient paganism. As Paul wrote “they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21).  Notice that their hearts were darkened implying it happened to them.  Further, although they claim to be the wise ones, they are fools (Romans 1:23).  We learn the source of this blinding and hardening when the Apostle explains twice that “God gave them up” to their impure lusts and dishonorable passions (Romans 1:24, 26). 

The reason God gave them up is “because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25).  This led to a multitude of evils and sins that mirror today’s Western society (Romans 1:23-32). 

Instead of worshiping idols of wood and stone we place our trust in our philosophy, science and reason.  As a result, our hopes lay in our capacity to understand creation and then develop the means of fixing what we deem wrong. Never mind that we are constantly falling short and then revising yesterday’s dogma. 

It is recognized that man is, by nature, a religious creature.  You would be hard pressed to find a place where some form of religious beliefs and practices are absent.  Ancient pagans worshipped nonexistent deities and believed in muses.  Animism is a term used to describe the belief that objects such as plants, rocks and natural phenomena have living souls or spirits that affect man and his surroundings. 

Even today, modern man yearns for some “spirituality.”  Many atheists speak about spiritual things abstractly and without firm grounding.  The so called “new age” movements are quite diverse but have in common some “mind, body and spirit” concept devoid of a personal deity.  They promote wellness and healing through techniques such as meditation, biofeedback, yoga, kinesiology and so forth.  Some draw upon practices found in Astrology, Hinduism, Buddhism and other eastern religions.  They are offered as alternatives to traditional allopathic medicine. 

Is it more rational to believe in the power of these nebulous abstract forces than to believe in a personal deity who cares for and is involved in our lives?  New Age practitioners are no more able to demonstrate the ουσια or esse of these things than the substance of chance.  At least idols of wood and stone have properties – you can touch and hold them.  New Age consists of abstract ideas without form much less life or true spirit.  They cannot cause anything as they are not beings.

Clearly allopathic medicine has objective benefits as do some aspects of alternative medical practices.  Yoga and Tai Chi are very helpful for physical fitness, strength and balance. When linked to eastern religious practices and beliefs they become idolatrous worship harmful for the soul of man. What we have in allopathic medicine is provided by God in the same way he provides for our welfare through all our learning and technology.  It is a gift, part of His creation. Our minds, creative power and spirit were made in His image.  Just as his “eternal power and divine nature” is made manifest in the heavens and earth (Romans 1:20), they are clearly seen in our creative power which points to the Lord.  Or do we create everything because of chance? 

We are to take advantage of the things God has given us. We are to use allopathic medicine and other resources to do good, to heal and ease human suffering.  We are to call others to help us when we are sick.  Just as God appointed earthly authorities to rule, provide order, protection and services, he brings doctors, nurses and others into our lives for ordinary healing.   

Yet we must always remember that the source of our affliction is either by the hand of God or permitted by God.  It is He who hears our cries and laments.  It is He who answers our prayers through appointed means.  It is why we praise God in sickness and in health.  For it is He who ultimately has the power and authority.  Therefore, it is He we must turn to for healing. 

Next we will explore the nature and ultimate cause of our illness as we continue to lament with David. 

Lament as Response to Suffering Part 1.

 O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,

nor discipline me in your wrath!

                                                                         Ps 38:1

We had previously explored how suffering, specifically disease, has both a scientific and moral explanation.  These explanations are not logically contradictory much less mutually exclusive.  We learned that death and suffering exist because of evil and sin.  Creation was corrupted by our first parent’s disobedience and rebellion.  It is hard for us to accept a non-quid pro quo cause of suffering unless we understand the true power and evil of sin.  The depth of it is experienced in personal and corporate travails.  We come to appreciate the gravity of the transgression when we look to the Cross and see the proportionate punishment. 

How do we respond to such tragedy?  Abstract philosophical and theological exercises help instruct us but bring little comfort much less healing.  The Scriptural answer is the lament.  Laments can be individual or communal.  The Oxford English Dictionary defines lament as “a passionate expression of grief.” Biblical lament is more than just raw emotion.  It is a prayerful process wherein we turn to God with that grief and expect a response.  This most ancient and divinely prescribed way of grieving has much to offer us in this high-tech world.

Laments generally consist of five basic parts:[1]

  1. Address and cry for help.
  2. The lament – a description and expression of suffering.
  3. Statement of faith and trust.
  4. Petition for intervention and relief.
  5. Doxology – praise and often a vow.

There is sometimes a confession of sin and petition for forgiveness based upon God’s covenantal promises.  Not all laments have every feature, but they do have in common the basic cry for help, petition for intervention and statement of trust.  Exploring Biblical lament helps us understand how we seek help in our covenantal relationship with God.  It is through our praying laments that our Lord helps us.  We can use the liturgical laments available in scripture or compose our own.

Psalm 38 is attributed to David and the superscription notes that it is for the memorial offering.  The memorial offering was a burnt offering of grain done in remembrance of what God had done and to show thanksgiving, praise, and devotion (Lev. 2:1-3).  It was probably sung during on these occasions. 

Notice that David addresses God by his personal, covenantal name, YHWH.  This speaks of a relationship between persons and not some vague cry to an impersonal entity.  David cries out to someone he knows, is alive, empathetic and willing to respond.  YHWH knows David as the creator who “formed my inward parts” and “knitted me together in my mother’s womb” (Ps. 139:13).  That knowledge includes an understanding human anguish.  Incarnate God wept when he saw the pain surrounding the death of his friend Lazarus (John 11:35).  The writer of Hebrews can proclaim: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). 

God is our loving father who has the authority and power to answer our petitions.  His covenantal love consists of promises to that effect; promises we can claim and depend upon.  The delivery of Israel from the bondage in Egypt points toward a far greater deliverance of his children from death and corruption.  The Exodus was a fulfillment of God’s covenant just like his promise to hear and answer prayer. 

We need never fear, for God is always with us (Deut. 31:6; Josh. 1:9; Is. 41:10; Mt 28:20; and Heb. 13:5).  So sure is God’s presence and faithfulness that Paul writes “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ro. 8:38-9).

YHWH is our father who judges and corrects, therefore: “Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you” (Deut. 8:5).  We should neither despise nor grow weary of this discipline (Prov. 3:11).  Chastisement leads the faithful away from sin and death (Prov. 5:23; 15:10; 1 Cor. 11:32).  God’s discipline is both loving and beneficial (Heb. 12:6-10) and is of “just measure” (Je. 48:28). 

David is crying unto God not to rebuke him in anger nor discipline him in wrath.  The Lord’s anger and wrath are penal and not necessarily corrective.  David is not asking YHWH to withhold fatherly chastisement.  Allen Ross phrases it “do not in your anger rebuke me” and “do not in your wrath chasten me.”  Here, God’s anger and wrath are the concern and not simply a rebuke or discipline.  David calls upon YHWH’s covenantal promises that include loving chastisement with the goal of repentance and forgiveness.  For David knows YHWH’s mercy as he proclaimed: “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man” (2 Sam. 24:14).

God’s wrath is poured out upon those who reject him and remain unrepentant.  They have rejected God’s mercy and grace.  They are punished without hope.  They do not cry out in lament but cry out in anger and “gnashing of teeth” (Ps. 112:10; Mt. 8:12).  They will not be heard for they broke covenant with God.  Jonathan Edwards preached that the only thing standing between such people and the pit of hell is God’s long-suffering patience.  The opportunity for repentance will pass and that time may be sudden. 

Who do you cry unto?  Do you know the Lord?  Is he your father?  Is he your hope and comfort?  Who can deliver you?  Medicine or an operation my help today but you will face deaths door with certainty.  What lay on the other side for you?  Is it wrath or love?  This is what our Lord is teaching you through trials such as illness.  To know him, trust him and love him is to be able to say with Paul: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).  Though ill and suffering, in life or death, Paul served and honored Christ knowing he will be with the Lord. 

Therefore, in illness and suffering the first thing is to take stock of your relationship with God.  Only children can cry to their father.  Are you a child or a stranger and enemy?  God asks that you bring nothing but your sin to him.  He provides all else including the faith and strength you need.  It is all of grace, a free and undeserved gift.  Repent and trust in the Lord, Jesus Christ.  Enter the rest of the Father.  For then, he will surely hear your cry (Ex. 22:23).

Next we will look at how David, a man after God’s own heart, seeks the Father. 

[1] Hays, J.D. & Duvall, J.S. eds., 2011. The Baker Illustrated Bible Handbook, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books

The Theodicy of Disease

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.  And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” John 9:1-3

The disciples’ question may seem odd in the 21st century.  Modern science has uncovered the various mechanisms by which we become ill.  Whether it is an infectious agent, a genetic mutation, the consequence of behavior, or from injury, we have accepted a pathophysiological understanding of disease.  Illness as a moral failing, divine retribution, or consequence of sin has been rejected by secular thinkers.  If anyone were to suggest that disease has its origin in sin they would be dismissed as superstitious, medieval, bigoted or mad.

Science is by nature descriptive.  Its methods do not address morality.  It can answer “how” but not the great philosophical “why.”  Science cannot tell you the great purpose behind such things though it can, in detail, describe the various chain of events by which the thing has come about.  Without a moral answer, science leaves patients as victims of an impersonal chain of causes and effects which serve no clear purpose and cause great suffering even unto death. 

We long to know why.  How often have we asked, “why me?” or ‘why she?”  When we ask “why” in the setting of great tragedy we are not content with mere scientific description but desire knowledge and wisdom that brings purpose, context and comfort.  It is for this we must look beyond science, even human understanding, for answers. 

Are the scientific theories of disease incompatible with the Biblical understanding?  Must we choose one or the other?  Does the one exclude all moral agency and responsibility or the other preclude using human knowledge to effect moral good as part of God’s Providence?

Notice the disciples are not asking Jesus if this man’s illness is due to divine retribution but whose sin was the cause of his illness.  The disciples clearly believe that illness (as well as other disasters such as war, drought and famine) are the result of punishment for sins committed by the victims and/or their ancestors.  The disciples lived in world where it was understood that tragedy, such as illness, was linked to human wrongdoing.  This view was prominent in Western culture until the 18th century Enlightenment.

Clearly there are numerous examples of God bringing disease and pestilence upon individuals and peoples.  Witness the account of the ten plagues in Exodus including the smiting of the first born.  The Lord punished Israel with pestilence after inciting David to number the people (2-Sam 24).  God afflicted the child David conceived in adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:14–15).  When God revealed his Name to Israel he said “I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:5-6). In the NT, an angel of the Lord struck down Herod the tetrarch (Acts 12:23).

At the same time the Book of Job rejects a quid pro quo analysis of every specific sin and tragedy.  Therefore, it is perilous to attribute a specific ailment or tragedy to a person’s specific sin.  Scripture clearly states when God is punishing a person or group for their sins.  Further, God sends warnings through His prophets that they may repent.  For us to state that a city, group or individual suffers under specific divine wrath for specific sins is to presume upon God’s will and assume knowledge that may be hidden within the divine council.   

We are taught in Scripture that illness and death are the result of the Fall.  Paul writes as part of his discussion on Law and Grace: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).  This is not to deny that there are consequences of specific behaviors.  Smoking leads to cancer, obesity to diabetes and sexual promiscuity to sexually transmitted diseases.  These relationships are part of how our world is after the Fall.  They are epidemiologic and pathophysiologic processes that find their “how” in science and their ontological “why” in sin.  Therefore, we can rightly state that a drunkard who develops liver failure is a sinner who suffers the consequences of their drinking.

Many diseases are not that straightforward.  For example, say a child suffers from a disease caused by a rare genetic mutation and science teaches us that this mutation happened because of genetic recombination which normally produces variations resulting in humans who are different and unique.  In this case, the recombination process generated genes that cause suffering and perhaps death.  Scripture teaches that all people are sinners, at the very least born into sin as children of Adam.  Yet science cannot explain how sin gives rise to such an illness.  Who sinned, the child or the parents that he was born with this disease? 

Jesus does not deny that the blind man or his parents sinned.  Nor does he deny that their sins deserve punishment.  Rather, Jesus reveals a third answer.  The reason this man was born blind is that God would reveal himself through a miraculous healing and not only display His power but give authentication to Jesus as the Messiah.  There are times and places where God performs works to authenticate his word and the messenger who brings that word.  God uses evil to effect good.  He permits evil for purposes that are most often too high for us to fathom.  Suffering here may lead to salvation there.

This man’s malady has become the subject by which God brings a message of salvation to those who were present. In this way, the man’s blindness was used by God to bring this message to countless others through the witnessed account recorded by the Apostle John.    

The word translated as “works,” ἔργα (erga) is from the root word εργον (ergon).  We derive our English word ergonomics from this Greek root.  When used of God, ergon refers to His creative and redemptive acts that flow from His covenantal faithfulness/loving-kindness (חֶסֶד, hesed) and His covenantal love, אַהֲבָה (‘ahabah).  God’s hesed was manifested by his mighty acts of salvation for Israel.  In the New Testament, such acts are understood to arise from God’s Love, ἁγαπή (ag-ah-pey).  

Here faithfulness and love are not separate from act.  The tragedy of illness is used by God to do a great good and to point to the greatest good, Himself.  God is not the author of confusion (1-Cor 14:33) nor does he tempt us with evil (James 1:13).  Rather God created what was good (Genesis 1:31) and evil befell the world when man sinned (Genesis 3:14-24; Romans 5:12).  Paul writes “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now” (Romans 8:22).  We, who believe, also groan as we await God’s new creation free of evil, corruption and suffering.  This is our true hope, our faith in Christ, for he is our hope (1-Tim 1:1) as we surely share in his resurrection. 

God created us as moral agents who experience the consequences, reward or punishment, of our actions.  God’s justice, righteousness and holiness cannot abide sin and demand its punishment.  God’s grace, mercy, love and kindness call for forgiveness of transgressions.  It is at the Cross where these are perfectly satisfied as Christ bore our sins and the punishment they deserved whilst his righteousness is imputed to those who trust in him.

God has a grand purpose for the salvation of man and the creation of a new heavens and earth for us to live in eternal fellowship.  This includes the resurrection of the perfect spiritual body into a new world that knows no sin and decay.  It is better than Eden where man was tempted and fell.  There will be no temptation in the new creation, and we will not ever fall.  Those who believe will live in security and harmonious bliss.  Yet until that time we wait patiently, wondering “how long,” and praying for the grace we need to persevere. 

We also are God’s chosen instruments to display that grace and to bring the Gospel to others.  This is often done in suffering.  For we are commanded to suffer with our Savior and take up our cross (Lk 9:13, 14:27; Mt 10:38, 16:24; Mk 8:34).  When we suffer, we do so for Christ’s name’s sake (Acts 9:16, Phil 1:29).  We are to do so gladly (1-Peter 1:6) knowing who is with us and sustains us (Ro 5:3) and that it is for just a season (1-Peter 5:10; 2-Cor 4:17).

The Cross is the answer to theodicy (lit. God-justice) wherein God is vindicated for his tolerance of evil.  It is in this context that we suffer illness, tragedy and death.  It is in this hope that we suffer with an eye to the future and with love for those God reaches through us.  We suffer for God and others as Christ suffered for us. Our suffering is always just, and our redemption is a free gift of grace.  Those who refuse the gift by rejecting Christ are without this hope.  These are hard truths. 

Scripture gives us instruction how to persevere in such trials.  It is found in the laments and is grounded in our knowledge that comes through faith. It is effected by the Holy Spirit through God’s Holy Word and with the love and support of the church.   We do not suffer alone.  Therefore, when we suffer, we cry out i to the Lord and seek is face.  When we see others suffering, we come to their aid and comfort them.  In all these things we glorify God and praise Him for what he has and will do.

Response to Alabama State Representative John Rodgers (D)

On May 2, 2019 Alabama State House Representative gave a controversial floor speech opposing Alabama’s abortion bill. He said “So you kill them now or you kill them later. You bring them in the world unwanted, unloved, you send them to the electric chair. So, you kill them now or you kill them later.”  The following is a reply. https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/05/02/alabama-democrat-on-abortions-you-kill-them-now-or-you-kill-them-later-lc-bk-orig.cnn

And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born. Ezekiel 16:4–5 (ESV)

During a debate on the abortion bill, Alabama State Rep. John Rogers (D) said “Some kids are unwanted, so you kill them now or you kill them later. You bring them in the world unwanted, unloved, you send them to the electric chair. So, you kill them now or you kill them later.”

These crass comments received just condemnation from individuals across the political spectrum.  However, I believe many missed the depth of his depraved thinking and how it reflects a common worldview concerning humanity and God.

Rogers is vulgarly echoing a common argument used by those favoring abortion.  Unwanted children born into poverty with neglectful mothers will mostly live a life of poverty, depravity, crime and wind up in prison or even death row.  Presumably, abortion would spare the unwanted this horrible fate and relieve the burden on the community.

I hold that such an argument dehumanizes the unborn child by making him/her a victim of fate without responsibility for their own decisions.  It assumes the unwanted child cannot, despite poverty and rejection, overcome their circumstances and be a good productive citizen.  So bad is their fate that they are better off dead. 

The passage from Ezekiel teaches otherwise.  God is addressing Jerusalem, a city founded by the Amorites and Hittites whose heinous practices, including child sacrifice, drew God’s wrath.  Their punishment deserved nothing short of total destruction.  God raised Israel to conquer the land through Holy War and put all the inhabitants, their possessions and animals to the ban. 

The child, Jerusalem, had hopeless prospects and was rejected.  In the rhetorical metaphor, the child city was not afforded the usual customs of acceptance offered to legitimate and wanted children of the time.  When the child was prepared and placed in swaddling cloths, he was then handed to the father who would acknowledge and accept the child as his own to be raised in a loving family.  This child, Jerusalem, was left to die. That was its fate.

But this is not the end of the story.  In the next passage God finds the child city abandoned, filthy, bloody and dying.  God, through grace, restored life to Jerusalem, washed the child, anointed it with oil and “made you mine.” More so, God dressed the child in fine linen and adorned her with gold and so forth.  David would make her the capital, Solomon built the first temple and the city became a queen.

Through human failing and sin, the people of Israel would later reject God and the city was destroyed centuries later.  But the point here is that God is merciful, gracious, loving and kind.  He is the one who guides our steps and His providence directs the lives of individuals and nations.  Beauty comes from ashes.

John Rodgers, and those who make the socioeconomic argument favoring abortion, ignore the possibility that many of these unwanted children are responsible moral agents who, by the grace and favor of God, can be raised and made beautiful.  I know many such people.  To make them slaves of “fate,” determined by social and economic circumstances, dehumanizes them.  And when a person is dehumanized, their death becomes a cold utilitarian decision.  The moral imperative afforded other children does not apply to them. 

The Nazis called them “Untermenschen” (undermen, subhuman), and ““Lebensunwertes Leben” (life unworthy of life.”  They, along with the disabled and mentally ill (unnütze Esser – worthless eaters) were murdered.  Yet the Nazis murdered far less of them than the number of abortions performed in the USA since RvW.  We are up to about 60 million children murdered in the womb.  I have seen estimates that number the deaths under Hitler, Stalin and Mao at 63.5 million. 

This is the result of those, like Rep Rogers, who use Social Darwinism as the basis of their opinions and actions.  How dark and evil can man become?

But remember how the Biblical narrative continues.  In Luke 2:7 we read that Mary “gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger.”  Jesus, under the scandal of illegitimacy, was afforded the traditional loving care and in swaddling cloths was accepted by Joseph as his son.  His fate determined by his circumstances was to be raised in poverty, shame and shunned.  His prospects were not good (see Isaiah 52-53 – the 4th “servant song”) and in today’s way of thinking he would most likely become poor, a criminal or drug addict and possibly wind up in prison or death row.  Yet it is this Jesus, who took upon himself our sins and was punished unto death for us, is our savior.  He led a sinless life and we who believe are clothed by his righteousness. 

Let us praise our Lord, the God of life full of mercy and grace, whose love is boundless and who raises the lowly.  Let us pray to Him for forgiveness and plead for the unborn, lest their blood cry out from the ground.  Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have sinned worse than the Amorites and Hittites. 

A response to the Editor of the Gadsden Times RE: Alabama Abortion Law (04/22/2019)

The following was in reply to an editorial arguing Alabama’s abortion law would be a waste of money that could be better spent elsewhere.

The editor of the Gadsden Times crafted a logical practical critique of the recent legislative actions of some states to limit abortion.  However, the writer misses the main point. 

The abortion issue is much larger than political and legal considerations.  We live in a fallen world where it is plain that “all of creation is groaning” under the weight of sin (Ro 8:22).  What does abortion have to do with economic difficulties, social upheaval, crime, strife, the rise of evil nations and even global warming?  A secular scientific analysis would yield little insight.

However, once we understand who God is, what God demands of us and God’s character as revealed in Scripture the relationship becomes obvious and inescapable.  Abraham’s descendants would wait four generations to enter the promised land because “the iniquity” of its inhabitants was not complete (Ge 15:16).  That evil was child sacrifice to the Molech, the god of fertility (Le 18:21).  You see, the people of the land murdered their babies in sacrifice to this god to assure a good harvest.  God would later destroy them completely.  It is the most heinous of sins.

And what do we do in abortion?  Is not our Molech really “harvest:” career, lifestyle, economic opportunity, social freedom and psychological well-being?  A child is considered a burden and not a blessing?  Are we really any different?

Beloved, The Lord is a God who is in control of all history.  He is our judge and he will not tolerate sin.  He is the one who plants and plucks up nations (Je 45:4).  And so, he shall do with us.

We deceive ourselves that we have God’s favor because we pay lip service to His Holiness and then disobey him in gross sin.  We must repent as a nation lest we be judged and plucked up.  Global warming is not the existential threat – sin is and always has been.

Yet there is forgiveness in Jesus Christ for those who repent and trust in him.  Let us not become lost in the legal and political aspects of the debate.  I pray the Lord will not blind us and make us deaf to His message (Is 6:9-10).  All the Lord’s people must join in prayer – may He give our nation and its people the heart of understanding and bring us to repentance and faith.  Be merciful, O’ Lord, and restore us.