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Text: Psalm 4; Daniel 9:1-19; 1 John 2:18-25
Psalm 4
1Answer me when I call to you, my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; have mercy on me and hear my prayer. 2How long will you people turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? 3Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him. 4Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. 5 Offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the Lord. 6Many, Lord, are asking, "Who will bring us prosperity?" Let the light of your face shine on us. 7Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound. 8In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.
Daniel 9:1-19 Daniel's Prayer
1In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom— 2in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. 3So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
4I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:
“Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. 6We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.
7“Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. 8We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you. 9The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; 10we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.
“Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. 12You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. 13Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. 14The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. 15“Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us. 17 Offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the Lord. “Who will bring us prosperity?”
Let the light of your face shine on us. “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but
because of your great mercy. 19Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God,
do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”
1 John 2:18-25 Warning Against Denying the Son
18Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. e 21I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. 23No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is what he promised us—eternal life.
As I sit here reflecting on these three passages, I recall having a conversation with an older, wealthy, and wise gentleman regarding the topic of “poverty”. I was curious about how once-successful people sometimes come to financial ruin. This conversation occurred prior to my decision to enter gospel ministry and in those days I was considering a career in “ag-business” here in the Central Valley. I was curious about not only what sorts of things account for success, but also failure.
Obviously, there are lots of reasons people come to financial ruin: health, economic conditions, business trends, global issues, etc. Notwithstanding any of those “beyond-our-control” issues, this gentleman pointed out that one of the more common reasons people come to financial ruin is this: they forgot how they made their first dollar. The hard work, the focus, the effort, the drive and determination, and the blessing of almighty God had all faded into the distance recesses of their memory, forgotten. They let themselves lose track of first principles. They stopped focusing on keeping important truths central to their daily work. They assumed the blessings were boundless regardless of their daily choices.
What is the connection between the topic of “financial ruin” and the three passages before us today? I suggest we consider the parallels between coming to “spiritual ruin” and “financial ruin.” Each of the three passages before us today tracks the relationship between “holding on to first things”, namely the righteousness of God and life in his kingdom on one hand and enjoying his blessings uppermost of which is living in peace with God, on the other.
Beginning with this psalm in which David is struggling with folks who have inexplicably exchanged the glory of God for the shame that comes with their rebellious disregard for God’s righteous law, through Daniel’s prayer of confession. King David was on to something when he urged God’s children to offer the sacrifice of the righteous (namely obedience) to John’s admonition to hold firmly to the truth you heard first, we see a clear pattern. If we hope to live at peace with God, it’s a good idea to reckon with two facts of life. First of which, God is altogether righteous, good, and just. Second, we are not. YET, this God loves us passionately and wants to be in a vibrant relationship with us. The gospel centers on the truth that Jesus, God’s son, reconciles believers to his Father in Heaven through the cross on which he paid the just penalty for our stubborn rebellion, and now lives victoriously on our behalf at his father’s side.
Therefore, we have hope and future. This is what Moses, David, Daniel, and John were all telling us from the beginning. My prayer for each of us is that this truth remains in our hearts forever. When we pray, may we remember our essential brokenness and our restoration as new creatures in Christ. If we pray with these things in mind, we nurture humble hearts filled with gratitude for what God has done for us. This is what the sacrifice of the righteous is all about: grateful, joyful, humble hearts in service to Christ’s kingdom to the glory of God the Father, in the power of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord’s face shine upon you again today.