By Jeremy Bell
I am going to highlight Christian agreement. Finding points of agreement helps build unity among people. Often, disagreements are in the application of fundamental ideas. I will share how Psalm 68 supports Christian salvation fundamentals. I will continue with Ephesians 4: 1 – 16 directly afterwards because this New Testament writer, Paul, refers to it. Understanding the unity across scripture is excellent theological practice.
In the Beginning
In the beginning, God created and provided. He made light, the sun, moon, and stars. He provided the sea for the sea creatures. The birds had an atmosphere to fly in and the land provided dry ground for plants. This also allowed a place for land animals and humans to eat and live. When humans turned against Him, God provided clothes, and offspring.
Though death would come, He gave them time, and a way to relate with Him in spite of the separation. Adam and Eves first two children were offering worship to God. Of course, this would develop over thousands of years to God’s perfect solution, Christ Jesus. God even provided a way to be saved from death.
God provided, but He also created the provision to provide. What I mean, for example, is that He made the sun to give light. This light is received by plants and transformed chemically into food. Plants become food for humans. They also die, decompose, and get processed by bugs and bacteria. These things break down the chemicals, some producing nitrogen. Nitrogen feeds living plants, but also makes up 78% of the atmosphere of the Earth and is the seventh most abundant element in the universe. Nitrogen with Carbon and Oxygen make up 1.5% of the Sun.
The Cycle of Provision
There is a cycle of care among human beings with varying degrees of needs throughout the World. There is a division of provision throughout the World. Even an unequal division some would say. It suggests that what has been provided is to be distributed. God has a glorious plan to manifest His glory in and among His people throughout His good creation. God has accomplished all that is ultimately necessary to bring this about through Christ Jesus. Anyone can participate in that glorious plan as one is brought to the Father, in the Son, through the power of the Spirit. There is reason to consider; reason to act. There is reason to praise and worship God.
Hopefully that gives some perspective and things to consider while preparing to hear or read this Psalm. They are by no means the only perspectives or considerations, just the ones right now. Motif groupings are color coded in my book, Psalms in Motif Visualization. So… without further hesitation, here is Psalm 68 and Ephesians 4: 1 – 16.
[ Psalm 68 ]
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. A song.
Let God arise!
Let his enemies be scattered!
Let them who hate him also flee before him.
As smoke is driven away,
so drive them away.
As wax melts before the fire,
so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
But let the righteous be glad.
Let them rejoice before God.
Yes, let them rejoice with gladness.
Sing to God! Sing praises to his name!
Extol him who rides on the clouds:
to Yah, his name!
Rejoice before him!
A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows,
is God in his holy habitation.
God sets the lonely in families.
He brings out the prisoners with singing,
but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.
God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness… Selah.
The earth trembled.
The sky also poured down rain at the presence of the God of Sinai—
at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
You, God, sent a plentiful rain.
You confirmed your inheritance when it was weary.
Your congregation lived therein.
You, God, prepared your goodness for the poor.
The Lord announced the word.
The ones who proclaim it are a great company.
“Kings of armies flee! They flee!”
She who waits at home divides the plunder,
while you sleep among the camp fires,
the wings of a dove sheathed with silver,
her feathers with shining gold.
When the Almighty scattered kings in her,
it snowed on Zalmon.
The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains.
The mountains of Bashan are rugged.
Why do you look in envy, you rugged mountains,
at the mountain where God chooses to reign?
Yes, Yahweh will dwell there forever.
The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands.
The Lord is among them, from Sinai, into the sanctuary.
You have ascended on high.
You have led away captives.
You have received gifts among people,
yes, among the rebellious also, that Yah God might dwell there.
Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens,
even the God who is our salvation. Selah.
God is to us a God of deliverance.
To Yahweh, the Lord, belongs escape from death.
But God will strike through the head of his enemies,
the hairy scalp of such a one as still continues in his guiltiness.
The Lord said, “I will bring you again from Bashan,
I will bring you again from the depths of the sea,
that you may crush them, dipping your foot in blood,
that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies.”
They have seen your processions, God,
The singers went before, the minstrels followed after,
among the ladies playing with tambourines,
“Bless God in the congregations,
even the Lord in the assembly of Israel!”
There is little Benjamin, their ruler,
the princes of Judah, their council,
the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.
Your God has commanded your strength.
Strengthen, God, that which you have done for us.
Because of your temple at Jerusalem,
kings shall bring presents to you.
Rebuke the wild animal of the reeds,
the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the peoples.
Being humbled, may it bring bars of silver.
Scatter the nations that delight in war.
Princes shall come out of Egypt.
Ethiopia shall hurry to stretch out her hands to God.
Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth!
Sing praises to the Lord— Selah—
to him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which are of old;
behold, he utters his voice, a mighty voice.
Ascribe strength to God!
His excellency is over Israel,
his strength is in the skies.
You are awesome, God, in your sanctuaries.
The God of Israel gives strength and power to his people.
Praise be to God!
[ Ephesians 4: 1 – 16 ]
I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all, and in us all. But to each one of us, the grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Therefore he says,
“When he ascended on high,
he led captivity captive,
and gave gifts to people.”
Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ, from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love.
God Provided
God provides, but He has intricately woven that provision in dependent relationships throughout His creation. It is no wonder that He would design human life the same way. Only now I speak about social and emotional relationships. It is by God’s grace that any of our needs are provided for. We did nothing to earn them. What is fascinating to consider is that it is also by God’s grace that He might provide for someone through us. God sets the lonely in families. He defends the fatherless and widows. These aren’t just things we hope the Sun will do or that Mother Nature will take care of somehow. These are things for people to get involved with, people like the church that God has formed.
There is Reason to Praise
When Christians say that the church is to exhort, edify, and evangelize, this isn’t for self-improvement. It’s a reminder that the God of the Bible, the God who created the universe and everything in it, has provided and provides. And we understand that in a broken world, we desire to provide for ourselves. But because of His persistence in saving us ultimately from death and separation from Him, He tells us through His word, the Bible, that He wants to provide through us, using examples of how He has provided through others. He gifts us to build up in Christ Jesus. There is reason to praise Him for this, there is a reason to leave our broken nature behind and run for the eternal provision of God through Jesus, the Nature of Joy.
Resources and Notes
All scripture in this article is from the WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE (WEB). The World English Bible (WEB) is a Public Domain (no copyright) Modern English translation of the Holy Bible. The World English Bible is based on the American Standard Version of the Holy Bible first published in 1901, the Biblia Hebraica Stutgartensa Old Testament, and the Greek Majority Text New Testament.
For more related to this blog, check out my post on Reliable Fundamentals for Healthy Discipleship Ministries.
This is a reliable translation, but it is always good to read other translations as well. Biblegateway.com has a multitude of translations to read from. It is a great resource.
Another great resource is Biblehub.com. There are multiple translations, commentaries, and so much more. Great research can be done on this platform.
One more I use regularly is Gotquestions.org. This is a great site to answer questions and find threads of related questions.
There are many resources. The key is that God wants relationship directly with you, the individual. His primary source for revealing who He is and growing in intimacy is His word, the scriptures. Don’t just read for instruction. Analyze and read for understanding. Explore, ask questions, and be transformed in Jesus every moment you possibly can. There is no dispute this is a key desire of God. People are brough to the Father, in the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. This… This is the Nature of Joy.
Jeremy is an author, musician, and business intelligence manager. His mission is to equip and encourage those in Christ, to equip and encourage others in Christ. Jesus, Christ, is the Nature of Joy and melody of the heart. Jeremy unites business analytics (business intelligence), songs, and Scripture for Christian living in the power of the Holy Spirit.