Category Archives: Literature
Poems and other literary work. I may write my own stuff, too…eventually.
Woe is me!
When King Uzziah entered the temple in 2 Chronicles 26, he did so out of pride (v. 16). He didn’t care that he was not consecrated to burn incense as the priests were—in his mind, he was righteous enough to approach God on his own terms. God punished Uzziah for his arrogance and self-righteousness by inflicting him with leprosy. He spent the rest of his life living in a leper’s house away from the power and fame that he had enjoyed due to God’s blessing.
In contrast, when Isaiah saw the Lord in all His glory, he cried out, “Woe is me! For I am lost” (Isaiah 6:5). He saw his own sin in the intense and terrible light of God’s holiness. He claimed no righteousness of his own and made no attempt to justify himself; rather, he pronounced woe on himself as a sinner who should be destroyed in the presence of the Lord of hosts. God honored this attitude by sending an angel to touch a coal to Isaiah’s lips, declaring atonement for his sin.
We cannot come to God on our own terms and with our own righteousness. To do so invites his wrath, and justly so. Who are we to stand before the holy Lord in our sinful state? We can only rely on the atoning work of Jesus Christ—never our own righteousness.
Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
–Augustus Toplady
Morning and Evening
While checking out the Logos Bible Software I received for seminary, I ran across Charles Spurgeon’s daily devotional readings, Morning and Evening. I’m not a big fan of devotionals, but I’ll have to make an exception here…what a wealth of wisdom and insight! These readings are dripping with life! Here’s this evening’s reading…it was a big encouragement to me.
“A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench.”
Matthew 12:20What is weaker than the bruised reed or the smoking flax? A reed that groweth in the fen or marsh, let but the wild duck light upon it, and it snaps; let but the foot of man brush against it, and it is bruised and broken; every wind that flits across the river moves it to and fro. You can conceive of nothing more frail or brittle, or whose existence is more in jeopardy, than a bruised reed. Then look at the smoking flax—what is it? It has a spark within it, it is true, but it is almost smothered; an infant’s breath might blow it out; nothing has a more precarious existence than its flame. Weak things are here described, yet Jesus says of them, “The smoking flax I will not quench; the bruised reed I will not break.” Some of God’s children are made strong to do mighty works for him; God has his Samsons here and there who can pull up Gaza’s gates, and carry them to the top of the hill; he has a few mighties who are lion-like men, but the majority of his people are a timid, trembling race. They are like starlings, frightened at every passer by; a little fearful flock. If temptation comes, they are taken like birds in a snare; if trial threatens, they are ready to faint; their frail skiff is tossed up and down by every wave, they are drifted along like a sea bird on the crest of the billows—weak things, without strength, without wisdom, without foresight. Yet, weak as they are, and because they are so weak, they have this promise made specially to them. Herein is grace and graciousness! Herein is love and lovingkindness! How it opens to us the compassion of Jesus—so gentle, tender, considerate! We need never shrink back from his touch. We need never fear a harsh word from him; though he might well chide us for our weakness, he rebuketh not. Bruised reeds shall have no blows from him, and the smoking flax no damping frowns.
Satan is scary (but not that scary)
The Perspectives course I’ve been taking has done a great job of showing how different the American worldview is from many of cultures. One emphasis a spiritual blind spot in our mindset: the “excluded middle.” Most Western Christians simply ignore a whole tier of spiritual beings that other cultures — and the Bible as well — readily acknowledge. We are content to think about the natural world and about God, but we rarely consider the presence of angels and demons. In other cultures, demons are a very real foe, and demonstrations of Christ’s power over “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12) are a very effective tool for evangelism.
This provides a bit of a background for the following passage:
1 Timothy 1:18-20
18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
“Handed over to Satan”! What a frightening thought! Paul is carrying out discipline against those who will not repent even when faced with the authority of the church (1 Corinthians 5:4-5). Satan is far more intelligent and far stronger than we are. “His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.” Yet Jesus Christ has defeated the power of the devil and will one day crush him underfoot. He who is Lord of the universe holds the power over all He has created. Satan’s doom is sure.
Lucifer in Starlight
by George Meredith
On a starred night Prince Lucifer arose.
Tired of his dark dominion swung the fiend
Above the rolling ball in cloud part screened,
Where sinners hugged the spectre of repose.
Poor prey to his hot fit of pride were those.
And now upon his western wing he leaned,
Now his huge bulk o’er Afric’s sands careened,
Now the black planet sheltered Arctic snows.
Soaring through wider zones that pricked his scars
With memory of the old revolt from Awe,
He reached a middle height, and at the stars
Which are the brain of heaven, he looked, and sank.
Around the ancient track marched, rank on rank,
The army of unalterable law.
Comparisons
Here’s a great little poem that got quoted in Future Men, a book I’m reading. Normally, I’m not a fan of free verse, but I found this one to be brilliant, sarcastic, moving, and beautiful all at once.
Comparisons
by G. K. Chesterton
If I set the sun beside the moon,
And if I set the land beside the sea,
And if I set the town beside the country,
And if I set the man beside the woman,
I suppose some fool would talk about one being better.
