Gospel-Cenered: A Third Paradigm for Reading Scripture
"I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven.
As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy.
Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us,
for we have endured much contempt.
We have endured much ridicule from the proud [those at ease],
much contempt from the arrogant."
(Ps. 123)
Another useful paradigm for reading the Scriptures is "A Gospel-Centered Reading of Scripture" by Joe Helt and Gabe Tribbett. They look at the context, and then "revelation" (God's character, fallen condition, and gospel solution), and finally our "response" (confession and celebration). For Old Testament passages, they also ask about the "Christ connection."
Context
Psalm 123 is a psalm of ascent, a pilgrim psalm sung by Jews traveling to Jerusalem for the festival. The date of composition is unknown--it could be during Hezekiah's reign, exilic, or post-exilic. What is more sure is that the community felt in need of grace and help!
Revelation
God's character--The pilgrims cry out to Yahweh in heaven; he is enthroned, the exalted King. It speaks of power, might, sovereignty, and the ability to make decisions, to do something about their state. Secondly, their relationship to the Lord is likened to that of a master and servant. Again, it pictures the Lord as the one who has the authority, the power to give and provide. However, in Hebrew culture, the 'adone (master) had responsibilities toward his 'ebed and sipha (servant, female servant respectively) to care for and protect them (1). Furthermore, they cry out to the LORD their God, Yahweh their Elohim. He is God who made a covenant with them, and it is on this basis they cry out to him. It is on the basis of the covenant that he is their master, their provider. Finally, flowing from the prior point, they expect God to give mercy and grace--he is a merciful and gracious God who has the power to intervene.
Fallen condition--The psalm also sheds light on our need. We are finite, in need of help from outside of ourselves, so we turn to our Covenant God. We are dependent on him. Yet, we are also victims of the sin of others, victims of ridicule from those at ease and victims of the contempt of the arrogant. Sin has, time after time, wearied us; we have endured much. Conversely, it shows man's nature apart from God. Those at ease and the arrogant trample on others; in self-dependence apart from God promoting their own good. Just as Yahweh was exalted at the beginning of the psalm, so it ends with humans who have exalted themselves above Yahweh, usurping his role in their own self-reliance. This is man without God--against others, against God. Implicit in the cry for deliverance is the asking for the judgment against the oppressors.
Gospel solution --The pilgrims cry out to God. Like servants, they know there is no hope except from God. They turn from themselves to the covenant God. They beg for his mercy or for him to be gracious to them--inherent in the word is the idea of their "undeservingness." Yet, because he is their covenant God, they dare to beg this of him. So, too, in the gospel we turn from ourselves to God, and ask for his gracious deliverance based on his covenant satisfied in Christ, and not on our own merit.
Response
Confession--Like the psalmists, we confess we are servants of God and Christ. We are dependent on him for the needed rescue from foes, whether the spiritual powers of sin or from the contempt of others.
Celebration--The psalm ends without an indication that God has heard or responded. It is left open-ended, inviting a trust of faith, inviting Yahweh to come and step in--which he did so in Christ.
Christ connection
I have already made some connections--Yahweh has stepped in and given us the ultimate redemption when he gave us his Son, Jesus Christ. Yet, I do not want to undermine our need for real, this-worldly, now deliverance from the contempt and sins of others. We often suffer at the hands of others, in slurs and slander and spite. We see others suffering and in need of rescue--the trafficked, exploited, persecuted, enslaved. All this-worldly deliverance is based on Christ's work. It is through him we can draw near to God and cry out, "Abba, Father, deliver me!" It is through him God can be gracious to us. God is a just God. His grace is given because Christ has satisfied his justice; Christ paid our penalty. If my memory is correct, Tim Keller in his sermon "A Covenant Relationship" (2) speaks of how God's grace in the Old Testament was founded on his knowledge that Christ would pay the price. God's knowledge of the lamb who was slain before the creation of the world (Rev. 13:8) is the resolution in the tension between how a holy God could show unmerited grace to an unholy people. In Christ, God had mercy on us. Praise be to him.
NOTES
(1) J. Goldingay, Psalms, vol. 1, Psalms 90-150, Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 3:472.
(2) T. Keller, "A Covenant Relationship," Redeemer Presbyterian Church, September 9, 2007, http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sermons/covenant-relationship (accessed June 2012).
As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy.
Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us,
for we have endured much contempt.
We have endured much ridicule from the proud [those at ease],
much contempt from the arrogant."
(Ps. 123)
Another useful paradigm for reading the Scriptures is "A Gospel-Centered Reading of Scripture" by Joe Helt and Gabe Tribbett. They look at the context, and then "revelation" (God's character, fallen condition, and gospel solution), and finally our "response" (confession and celebration). For Old Testament passages, they also ask about the "Christ connection."
Context
Psalm 123 is a psalm of ascent, a pilgrim psalm sung by Jews traveling to Jerusalem for the festival. The date of composition is unknown--it could be during Hezekiah's reign, exilic, or post-exilic. What is more sure is that the community felt in need of grace and help!
Revelation
God's character--The pilgrims cry out to Yahweh in heaven; he is enthroned, the exalted King. It speaks of power, might, sovereignty, and the ability to make decisions, to do something about their state. Secondly, their relationship to the Lord is likened to that of a master and servant. Again, it pictures the Lord as the one who has the authority, the power to give and provide. However, in Hebrew culture, the 'adone (master) had responsibilities toward his 'ebed and sipha (servant, female servant respectively) to care for and protect them (1). Furthermore, they cry out to the LORD their God, Yahweh their Elohim. He is God who made a covenant with them, and it is on this basis they cry out to him. It is on the basis of the covenant that he is their master, their provider. Finally, flowing from the prior point, they expect God to give mercy and grace--he is a merciful and gracious God who has the power to intervene.
Fallen condition--The psalm also sheds light on our need. We are finite, in need of help from outside of ourselves, so we turn to our Covenant God. We are dependent on him. Yet, we are also victims of the sin of others, victims of ridicule from those at ease and victims of the contempt of the arrogant. Sin has, time after time, wearied us; we have endured much. Conversely, it shows man's nature apart from God. Those at ease and the arrogant trample on others; in self-dependence apart from God promoting their own good. Just as Yahweh was exalted at the beginning of the psalm, so it ends with humans who have exalted themselves above Yahweh, usurping his role in their own self-reliance. This is man without God--against others, against God. Implicit in the cry for deliverance is the asking for the judgment against the oppressors.
Gospel solution --The pilgrims cry out to God. Like servants, they know there is no hope except from God. They turn from themselves to the covenant God. They beg for his mercy or for him to be gracious to them--inherent in the word is the idea of their "undeservingness." Yet, because he is their covenant God, they dare to beg this of him. So, too, in the gospel we turn from ourselves to God, and ask for his gracious deliverance based on his covenant satisfied in Christ, and not on our own merit.
Response
Confession--Like the psalmists, we confess we are servants of God and Christ. We are dependent on him for the needed rescue from foes, whether the spiritual powers of sin or from the contempt of others.
Celebration--The psalm ends without an indication that God has heard or responded. It is left open-ended, inviting a trust of faith, inviting Yahweh to come and step in--which he did so in Christ.
Christ connection
I have already made some connections--Yahweh has stepped in and given us the ultimate redemption when he gave us his Son, Jesus Christ. Yet, I do not want to undermine our need for real, this-worldly, now deliverance from the contempt and sins of others. We often suffer at the hands of others, in slurs and slander and spite. We see others suffering and in need of rescue--the trafficked, exploited, persecuted, enslaved. All this-worldly deliverance is based on Christ's work. It is through him we can draw near to God and cry out, "Abba, Father, deliver me!" It is through him God can be gracious to us. God is a just God. His grace is given because Christ has satisfied his justice; Christ paid our penalty. If my memory is correct, Tim Keller in his sermon "A Covenant Relationship" (2) speaks of how God's grace in the Old Testament was founded on his knowledge that Christ would pay the price. God's knowledge of the lamb who was slain before the creation of the world (Rev. 13:8) is the resolution in the tension between how a holy God could show unmerited grace to an unholy people. In Christ, God had mercy on us. Praise be to him.
NOTES
(1) J. Goldingay, Psalms, vol. 1, Psalms 90-150, Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 3:472.
(2) T. Keller, "A Covenant Relationship," Redeemer Presbyterian Church, September 9, 2007, http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sermons/covenant-relationship (accessed June 2012).
Thanks for sharing the Keller sermon. I listened to it & gained so much! Totally agree with him on the difficulty of being an American Christian (or, as I sometimes refer to it: AmeriChristian). Independence, individuality, and dualisism are qualities that I find myself fighting continuously. If I instead focus first on Christ, i.e. I am a Christian living in America, I may prevent some of this spiritual dryness. I need to: 1. Depend on God, 2. Stay involved with the Body, 3. Take care of my physical body.
ReplyDeleteHow did you connect with this New York pastor? Is he an author also?