It’s not all about you...

When we look to the Psalms first and foremost to console and validate ourselves, we selfishly put ourself at the center of the purpose of scripture. Instead we must first ask what is the Psalmist praying and, most of all, what does it tell us about Jesus. In his excellent little book “The Prayerbook of the Bible” Dietrich Bonhoeffer says:

“If we want to read and to pray the prayers of the Bible, and especially the Psalms, we must not, therefore, first ask what they have to do with us, but what they have to do with Jesus Christ... Thus it does not matter whether the Psalms express exactly what we feel in our heart at the moment we pray. Perhaps it is precisely the case that we must pray against our own heart in order to pray rightly. It is not just that for which we ourselves want to pray that is important, but that for which God wants us to pray.”

The Psalms are all about Jesus...

In Christ the Psalms take on a whole new meaning. Jesus is truth incarnate (Jn 14:6) and as such there is no truth apart from Him. We are called to view all of scripture, both old and new testament, as by Him, through Him and for Him (Col 1:16). Martin Luther even went as far as to say:

“Every prophecy and every prophet must be understood as referring to Chris the Lord, except where it is clear from plain words that someone else is spoken of. For thus He Himself says: ‘Search the scriptures, ... and it is they that bear witness to Me’ (John 5:39)... “

Jesus speaks directly to this when, after his resurrection, He taught the disciples that the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms all taught about Him (Matt. 24:44).

However, Jesus not only inspired the Psalms to be written, he also identified with them in his humanity. Jesus sang the songs of lament and abandonment more deeply than any other human being ever will. He bore the wrath of God and the sin of the world in our place as he suffered on the cross. And, rising victorious over Satan, sin and death, he proclaims the Psalms of praise inviting us to do the same. Jesus lived the full range of human experience and he did it all to the glory of His Father. He is the perfect worshipper and the fulfillment of all the Psalms.

Three questions to unlock the Psalms...

So, when we come to the Psalms, there are always three narratives at work: that of the Psalmist, that of Jesus and then our own story. We must ask what is the Psalmist praying, then what is Jesus praying and, only then, what should we pray in response.

I invite you to dig in deeply to the book of praises. That is exactly the purpose of the book; the the word Psalms is literally translated "praises". I invite you to dig in to the heart and mind of the Psalmist. I invite you to wrestle with how Jesus experiences the same things to the continuous glory of His Father. And I invite you to be transformed as your heart is unified with His. Only then do we begin to understand the message of the Psalms.

Join Tim Smith in Discussing the Psalms on Facebook

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Watch this Interview from the Media Library

Read Chapter 3 of "Porn Again Christian"
- A Theology of Pornographic Lust

The newest chapter of this free eBook is available now.

The first fight principle that I want to cover is one that will be relevant to many of you in the near future. The principle itself says that the very moment you move forward to attack your opponent is the exact point at which you are prone to being attacked yourself.

Let’s look first at the physical fight in order to better understand what this means in the spiritual battle. Every fight starts with the two combatants separated and on their feet. In order to engage one another, each fighter must move toward the other until they are within attack range. In most fights, this constitutes that “feeling out” phase where they are both standing just outside the other’s striking range trying to “find their distance”. However, as soon as one fighter decides to attack he must close the distance to bring the other fighter into range. In doing so he places himself within range of his enemy.

From a physical fight perspective, this is a well documented part of the sport. It is a whole section on Randy Couture’s video series titled “Learn to Fight and Win”, and is also featured on the same series by Dan Henderson (and probably others…). It is played out in almost every fight on every pay per view. This is where fighters like Chuck Liddell and Pedro Rizzo make a living as “counter strikers”. They notoriously wait for their opponent to move into range with an attack and then strike. I believe this is what Paul is warning Timothy about in the following passage:

"This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith." 1 Timothy 1:18-19

Paul not only commands Timothy to fight, but immediately follows with “keeping the faith and a good conscience” which is the spiritual fight version of the “hands up, chin down” advice taught to every fighter. Likewise, when we choose to close the distance on our opponent in a spiritual sense we are putting ourselves at risk of attack in the same way as a physical fighter. Therefore, in the same way that a physical fighter would not rush toward the opponent in a careless manner, we too must prepare for the enemy’s attack against us.This attack will come in one of two areas (or both!). He will either attack our faith or he’ll try to get us to do something that will violate our conscience. If we do not intentionally guard ourselves then we foolishly open ourselves up to “shipwreck”, Paul’s spiritually equivalent phrase for being knocked out in a fight.

In the coming weeks we will examine these two areas, faith and conscience with the goal of understanding how the enemy attacks us! Guard your faith and your conscience. If you have chosen to fight, you will be attacked.

Keep your hands up and your chin down

Lecrae has a brand new album out today called Rebel. The title track is inspired by a sermon given at Mars Hill Church by Pastor Mark. You can download it for free here. The Reach records guys have been part of several Resurgence and Mars Hill events, they have a heart to live missional lives for Jesus, and are reaching the hip hop culture.

3 Questions with Lecrae

What was your inspiration for your new album—"Rebel"?

The inspiration for the album was largely realizing my own need for a biblical worldview. As I would navigate through arts, economics, politics, media, and culture as a whole I'd wrestle with a dichotomy between sacred and secular all the time. I'd either embrace aspects of secularism or the other extreme be very separatist in my views. I began read and listen to stuff by D.A. Carson, Mark Driscoll, Tim Keller, and Francis Schaeffer, and taking another look at Genesis, Daniel, and Romans and I found a better grid to see the world through.

Over time I've worked to see Urban culture through a biblical lens and it's really helped. So I wanted to share with the listener the need to take a stand for Christ in culture yet still be a blessing and cultivator for the culture.

What songs are you most excited about?

I'm really excited about "Change". The song deals with the endless search for "happiness" on earth. The futility of chasing power, pleasure, and possessions.

Also "Don't Waste Your Life". Very self explanatory. Dr. John Piper's ministry has greatly influenced myself and my crew so we crafted a hip hop song unpacking the life not used for God's glory.

Umm lastly I'd say "Got Paper". In urban culture especially hip hop culture, prosperity is constantly paraded as a badge of authentic masculinity, worth, and power. The prosperity gospel is also prevalent, so I wanted to address that in a song as well.

What ideas do you hope that people will come away with after listening to "Rebel"?

I really hope we can stir people toward going against the sinful stream of ideals, values, and lifestyles. I want the christian to be challenged in seeing that the fall of humanity has not thwarted God's intention for us. But since we are now corrupted by sin, we need to renew our mind. We still reflect God's image only now through a murkier lens, so it's important we learn to rebel by taking a stand for Jesus, and yet rebel by being a blessing to the unsaved and sinful culture. Non-believing listeners I pray will be attracted to the quality of the music and creativity, and prayerfully be challenged to look at God's holiness, repent, and turn to Jesus.

Get the Album on iTunes.

It has been my experience that inspirations are brief, sporadic and rare. By inspiration I mean those moments where our souls are stimulated to a high level of feeling, thinking and doing. I love those brief, sporadic and rare moments. I am addicted to the vitality I have, the love I feel, and the clarity of thought that occurs when I am inspired. I have tried for years to pay attention to these moments, to dig into them, excavate them, and figure them out.

What is it that inspires me?
Who is it?
What stirs my affection…for my wife?
For my children? For life in general?

This to me is one of the major ideas that demand an answer. To solve this arduous riddle means more energy, richer life, deeper relationships and greater self-awareness.

Several years ago I started applying this line of thought to my relationship with Christ. Instead of asking myself what inspired me to be a good man (what’s that anyway?) I started asking what stirs my affections for Christ. What, when I’m doing it, when I’m around it or dwelling on it creates in me a greater hunger for, passion for and worship of Christ and His mission? The first list was a strange one. It looked something like this:

1. Early mornings and hot coffee
2. The writings of John Owen (at the time it was The Mortification of Sin)
3. Listening to Lauren sing
4. Walks through graveyards (I know this is weird but it reminded me of mortality)
5. The book of Hebrews
6. Robust dialogue on ecclesiology or missiology
7. Sermons by John Piper
8. Angst-filled music

I also wrestled with and paid attention to what robbed me of affection for Christ. What, when I was doing it or spending time around it created in me an unhealthy love for this world? The first list was a strange one because the majority of things that robbed me of zeal for Christ and His mission were morally neutral things. It looked something like this:

1. Watching too much TV and spending too much time online
2. Staying up late for no reason
3. Following sports too closely
4. Being physically lazy
5. Empty conversations (talking for hours about nothing)
6. Idleness

For the last few years I have updated this list often. In fact it has changed quite a bit. I want to pay attention to life. I want to be keyed in to what feeds my zeal for our great God and King and what kills that zeal. My hope is that I could flood my life with Christ-exalting, worship-creating things and avoid anything that would rob me of that.

What inspires you?
Better yet, what stirs your affections for Christ, truth and holiness? If we can fill our lives with the things that stir our affections and avoid and flee those things that rob us of inspiration, we have a better shot at dwelling deeply. What and who inspires you? Stirs you? What presses you into holy places? What robs you of joy and vitality? What robs you of your affection for Christ and holiness?

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Matt Chandler's posts are re-published with permission from his blog—Dwell Deep.