Trinity Bible Church

Prayer

Father, I’m not my own, for I’ve been bought with a price. Help me to use every moment of every day to enlarge your glory and make your name known. This isn’t about me; it is about you. Help me to evidence that in the choices and decisions I make today and the legacy I will leave behind tomorrow.

Today’s Hymn

Words: Henry F. Lyte, 1824, revised 1833. Music: “Hyfrydol,” Rowland H. Prichard, 1830.

JESUS, I MY CROSS HAVE TAKEN
Click here for tune.

Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow Thee.
Destitute, despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my all shall be.
Perish every fond ambition, all I’ve sought or hoped or known.
Yet how rich is my condition! God and heaven are still mine own.

Let the world despise and leave me, they have left my Savior, too.
Human hearts and looks deceive me; Thou art not, like them, untrue.
And while Thou shalt smile upon me, God of wisdom, love and might,
Foes may hate and friends disown me, show Thy face and all is bright.

Go, then, earthly fame and treasure! Come, disaster, scorn and pain!
In Thy service, pain is pleasure; with Thy favor, loss is gain.
I have called Thee, “Abba, Father;” I have set my heart on Thee:
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather, all must work for good to me.

Man may trouble and distress me, ‘twill but drive me to Thy breast.
Life with trials hard may press me; heaven will bring me sweeter rest.
Oh, ‘t’s not in grief to harm me while Thy love is left to me;
Oh, ‘twere not in joy to charm me, were that joy unmixed with Thee.

Take, my soul, thy full salvation; rise o’er sin, and fear, and care;
Joy to find in every station something still to do or bear:
Think what Spirit dwells within thee; what a Father’s smile is thine;
What a Savior died to win thee, child of heaven, shouldst thou repine?

Haste then on from grace to glory, armed by faith, and winged by prayer,
Heaven’s eternal day’s before thee, God’s own hand shall guide thee there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission, swift shall pass thy pilgrim days;
Hope soon change to glad fruition, faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

Thought Provoker

As the youngest of five children, I typically walked in the shadows of my siblings. In some cases that was helpful (I made the final cut on the Little League team because my brother was one of the better players), whereas in other cases it was a hindrance (“Oh, you’re Mike and Jay’s brother. Didn’t they get in trouble —- ?”). As we’ll see in the opening verses of today’s passage, walking in the shadows of others was both a help and a hindrance to one particular son.

Dad’s Study

The first eight verses of 1 Kings 15 focus on Abijam’s reign in Judah ó an ever-so-brief one of only three years. True to form, the shadows of the past affect this king also. The text informs us, “And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord His God” (15:3). The sins of the father, Rehoboam, had hurled themselves on Abijam (see Exodus 20:5) as the friction his father had with Jeroboam and the Northern Kingdom continued, albeit now, escalating to the point of warfare.

Fortunately for Abijam, another ancestor’s shadow favored his path. “Nevertheless for David’s sake did the Lord his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem: because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord” (15:4-5a). God had entered into covenant relationship with David (2 Samuel 7:4-17) and Abijam directly shared in that covenant blessing. How important it is for us fathers to live and leave a spiritual legacy to our children. Hence the Apostle Paul could exhort his spiritual children: “Imitate me!” (1 Corinthians 4:16; 11:1). Fathers, would you want your children to imitate you?

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

Secularists tell us that we are creatures of our environment and the patterns we grow up in as children will become patterns when we are parents (e.g. abuse, immorality). Fortunately, the Scriptures have something to say about that because Christ did something for us, whereby, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Abijam didn’t need to flounder in his father’s transgressions; he could break free through faith in His God. And so he did, as 2 Chronicles 13:3-22 unveils one such instance when Abijah prayed for deliverance and God intervened, because he and his people “relied upon the Lord God of their fathers” (13:18). Nevertheless, Abijam fell prey to the sins of idolatry and polygamy (13:21).

Fathers, what unhealthy habits have crept into your children’s lives, perhaps through your own example, which you need to help your children identify and break? We do not have to remain creatures of our sin-fallen environment, for we have been supernaturally equipped to live as citizens of a higher kingdom! Fathers, as you help your children examine their habits of life, evaluate them with God’s measuring stick: “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9).
Pastor Jim Stevanus – Wabash, IN

Catechism

Question 49

Q. What is the fourth commandment?

A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor they cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

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Prayer

Dear Father, thank you for your blessed Word. Thank you for giving to us Your revelation of Yourself, that we might know who You are and what you require of us. Even as we come to the Scriptures now, please bless us by the aid of Your Holy Spirit without Whom we can understand nothing in the way we should.

Today’s Hymn

Words: Henry F. Lyte, 1824, revised 1833. Music: “Hyfrydol,” Rowland H. Prichard, 1830.

JESUS, I MY CROSS HAVE TAKEN
Click here for tune.

Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow Thee.
Destitute, despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my all shall be.
Perish every fond ambition, all I’ve sought or hoped or known.
Yet how rich is my condition! God and heaven are still mine own.

Let the world despise and leave me, they have left my Savior, too.
Human hearts and looks deceive me; Thou art not, like them, untrue.
And while Thou shalt smile upon me, God of wisdom, love and might,
Foes may hate and friends disown me, show Thy face and all is bright.

Go, then, earthly fame and treasure! Come, disaster, scorn and pain!
In Thy service, pain is pleasure; with Thy favor, loss is gain.
I have called Thee, “Abba, Father;” I have set my heart on Thee:
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather, all must work for good to me.

Man may trouble and distress me, ‘twill but drive me to Thy breast.
Life with trials hard may press me; heaven will bring me sweeter rest.
Oh, ‘t’s not in grief to harm me while Thy love is left to me;
Oh, ‘twere not in joy to charm me, were that joy unmixed with Thee.

Take, my soul, thy full salvation; rise o’er sin, and fear, and care;
Joy to find in every station something still to do or bear:
Think what Spirit dwells within thee; what a Father’s smile is thine;
What a Savior died to win thee, child of heaven, shouldst thou repine?

Haste then on from grace to glory, armed by faith, and winged by prayer,
Heaven’s eternal day’s before thee, God’s own hand shall guide thee there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission, swift shall pass thy pilgrim days;
Hope soon change to glad fruition, faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

Thought Provoker

Why do “bad” things happen to “good” people? This is an age-old question, which has been answered in a multitude of ways. Those answers range from the sincere wrestling of God’s people in trying to understand His ways to the atheist who not only denies God, but who also denies the reality of good and evil.

This subject is addressed at length in the book of Job and is, by way of historical example, addressed here in 1 Kings 14 in what we are told about Abijah, son of Jeroboam.

Dad’s Study

David once ruled the Kingdom of Israel as God’s chosen monarch over His covenant people. Likewise, Solomon also was the single king established over the whole nation. After Solomon, came increased strife between two sons, Rehoboam and Jeroboam. At the beginning of this narrative, we are told of Abijah’s (the son of Jeroboam) sickness. This sickness brings distress to Jeroboam, and his religious “two-facedness” is revealed. He is an idolater, serving his gods to please his flesh, but when things get difficult he sends his wife to consult the prophet of Jehovah.

Some could perhaps look at the situation and wonder if the child had done something to bring on this sickness. Is God punishing Him? Perhaps the wickedness of Jeroboam and his family was being punished by the affliction of this child. Notice the prophet’s description of the child in v.13: “in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.” Somehow the death of this child was, in the mystery of God’s providence, due to the fact that this young one had a heart, which was “toward the LORD.” We are told that all Israel would morn for him and bury him because of this disposition toward God (v.13).

Because the Lord had determined to bring great sorrow and grief upon Jeroboam’s family for their wickedness, this sickness was actually a part of God’s plan to remove the child so that in later years he would not have to suffer the repercussions of his family’s evil. From all appearances a “bad” thing was happening to this child. But “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

God sees those who love Him even when they are in the midst of families who don’t. The godly can feel very lonely when they are surrounded by family members who do not know Christ. But God sees them and is with them. When God saves a person, He has promised never to leave him nor forsake him.

God sees the sincere faith even of children. With all the pomp of power and greatness of a human monarch, the Lord looked into the midst of this family and was not impressed by this king, but found one little one who believed in Him. Abijah was likely hindered in His growth in the worship of God because of the wickedness that surrounded him, but we are told that he had something good toward the Lord in Him. Though faith be small, God blesses it.

Catechism

Question 49

Q. What is the fourth commandment?

A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor they cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

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Prayer

A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool (Psalm 110:1). O sovereign Lord, help us to be a family that does not oppose You in any way. Please sanctify and prosper our family instruction, discipline, and worship that our house may be a school for heaven.

Today’s Hymn

Words: Henry F. Lyte, 1824, revised 1833. Music: “Hyfrydol,” Rowland H. Prichard, 1830.

JESUS, I MY CROSS HAVE TAKEN
Click here for tune.

Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow Thee.
Destitute, despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my all shall be.
Perish every fond ambition, all Iíve sought or hoped or known.
Yet how rich is my condition! God and heaven are still mine own.

Let the world despise and leave me, they have left my Savior, too.
Human hearts and looks deceive me; Thou art not, like them, untrue.
And while Thou shalt smile upon me, God of wisdom, love and might,
Foes may hate and friends disown me, show Thy face and all is bright.

Go, then, earthly fame and treasure! Come, disaster, scorn and pain!
In Thy service, pain is pleasure; with Thy favor, loss is gain.
I have called Thee, “Abba, Father;” I have set my heart on Thee:
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather, all must work for good to me.

Man may trouble and distress me, ‘twill but drive me to Thy breast.
Life with trials hard may press me; heaven will bring me sweeter rest.
Oh, ít’s not in grief to harm me while Thy love is left to me;
Oh, ‘twere not in joy to charm me, were that joy unmixed with Thee.

Take, my soul, thy full salvation; rise o’er sin, and fear, and care;
Joy to find in every station something still to do or bear:
Think what Spirit dwells within thee; what a Father’s smile is thine;
What a Savior died to win thee, child of heaven, shouldst thou repine?

Haste then on from grace to glory, armed by faith, and winged by prayer,
Heaven’s eternal day’s before thee, God’s own hand shall guide thee there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission, swift shall pass thy pilgrim days;
Hope soon change to glad fruition, faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

Thought Provoker

Here’s a truth to consider this morning, You can’t oppose God and win. Voltaire, the noted French philosopher of the 18th century, tried. He made it the aim of his life to oppose God. In fact, he wrote, I’ll show how just one Frenchman can destroy it (Christianity) within 50 years. He took his pen and dipped it into the ink of unbelief and wrote against God. As we open our Bibles this morning, nearly 300 years later, we know first-hand that he failed. In fact, twenty years after his death, the Geneva Bible Society purchased his house for printing the Bible, and it later became the Paris headquarters for the British and Foreign Bible Society. Today the Bible remains the best selling book in the world while a six-volume set of Voltaire can be picked up at a garage sale for under $1 Just before his death it is reported that Voltaire cried out, I wish I had never been born!

Discuss together some examples from Scripture of others who tried to oppose God and failed. How many can you find in the first 6 chapters of Genesis alone?

In this morning’s chapter we are going to witness what happens when a great ruler and king chooses to oppose God!

Dad’s Study

Herod is a name that we see throughout the New Testament. Herod the Great was the king who ordered all the infants killed in Bethlehem when Jesus was born. Today’s Herod (vs. 1) is his grandson, Herod Agrippa I. Herod opposed God and tried to stamp out Christianity. From the first few verses of this chapter it looks like he was winning! Read in verses 1-2 as he murdered the apostle James. It was within the providential hand of God that His chosen witnesses would be martyred as they followed the footstep of their Lord.

It even seems like King Herod is winning when he grabs the apostle Peter and throws him in prison to have him also executed (vs. 3-5a).

However, right in the middle of verse 5 is the important word, but! It appeared as though Herod had the upper hand, but, as we are going to see in two significant events, God is going to win!

Our sovereign God rules over all of His creation. He has at His disposal armies of angelic beings carrying out His will. God sent the angel of the Lord to Peter in prison (vs. 7-10). Herod thought that his prisoner was securely chained between two soldiers, however, the angel wonderfully caused the chains to fall off as he led Peter out of prison. Herod did not even have the power to hold Peter with four squads of soldiers (v. 4).

God can glorify Himself in martyrdom, prison release, and even by striking dead His enemies. Tertullian, the Christian defender of the faith, said to his enemies, We multiply whenever we are mown down by you; the blood of Christians is the seed of the church (Apologetics 50).

The angel of the Lord paid a second visit, to Herod this time, to strike him dead (vs. 20-23). Every enemy of God will eventually die. The height of insanity is to commit treason against the Creator of the universe. Did you see why God smote him? He refused to give glory to God! God turned the table on His enemy and caused the Word of God to grow and multiply (v. 24).

What a simple and yet practical lesson. You can’t oppose God and win. If you try, He will turn even your opposition into the furtherance of His glory!

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

There are only two positions you can find yourself in this morning, the position of Herod or the position of Peter. You are either opposed to God or you have bowed your knee to Him as Lord and are humbly following Him. You are either trusting in yourself or trusting in the completed work of Christ on the cross. You have either repented of your sins or you are embracing them. If you are opposed to God, you will not win. Eventually you will experience the consequences of your sins. You might appear to be winning today, but ultimately the angel of death will visit you. You will be summoned to stand before the throne of God on judgment day. You will hear your name called and the voice of King Jesus declare, depart from me you worker of iniquity. Christ has become a sacrifice, that peace might be made for sinners. Glorify your Creator by seeking mercy through His Son!

Catechism

Question 49

Q. What is the fourth commandment?

A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor they cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

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Prayer

Heavenly Father, truly You are great and worthy of all of our praise! Without You we can do nothing. We ask You this day to be gracious to our family, saving those who are lost and causing each of us to grow into the fullness of Christ. May the ordinary means of grace be effectual in accomplishing Your perfect will. Amen.

Today’s Hymn

Words: Julia H. Johnston, in Hymns Tried and True (Chicago, Illinois: The Bible Institute Colportage Association, 1911). Music: Daniel B. Towner, 1910.

GRACE GREATER THAN OUR SIN
Click here for tune.

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled.

Refrain
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.

Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,
Threaten the soul with infinite loss;
Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,
Points to the refuge, the mighty cross.

Refrain

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide.
What can we do to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide,
Brighter than snow you may be today.

Refrain

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe!
You that are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive?

Refrain

Thought Provoker

Family devotions should include the regular reading of great Christian literature. Each Friday we offer a section from the Christian classic, “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs”. This book is filled with true accounts of Christians who died for the glory of their Lord. Today we read of one great man of faith who was martyred under the reign of Queen (Bloody) Mary.

Dad’s Study

Mr. John Philpot

This martyr was the son of a knight, born in Hampshire, and brought up at New College, Oxford, where for several years he studied the civil law, and became eminent in the Hebrew tongue. He was a scholar and a gentleman, zealous in religion, fearless in disposition, and a detester of flattery. After visiting Italy, he returned to England, affairs in King Edward’s days wearing a more promising aspect. During this reign he continued to be archdeacon of Winchester under Dr. Poinet, who succeeded Gardiner. Upon the accession of Mary, a convocation was summoned, in which Mr. Philpot defended the Reformation against his ordinary, Gardiner, again made bishop of Winchester, and soon was conducted to Bonner and other commissioners for examination, October 2, 1555, after being eighteen months’ imprisoned. Upon his demanding to see the commission, Dr. Story cruelly observed, “I will spend both my gown and my coat, but I will burn thee! Let him be in Lollard’s tower, (a wretched prison,) for I will sweep the king’s Bench and all other prisons of these heretics!”

Upon Mr. Philpot’s second examination, it was intimated to him that Dr. Story had said that the lord chancellor had commanded that he should be made away with. It is easy to foretell the result of this inquiry. He was committed to Bonner’s coal house, where he joined company with a zealous minister of Essex, who had been induced to sign a bill of recantation; but afterward, stung by his conscience, he asked the bishop to let him see the instrument again, when he tore it to pieces; which induced Bonner in a fury to strike him repeatedly, and tear away part of his beard. Mr. Philpot had a private interview with Bonner the same night, and was then remanded to his bed of straw like other prisoners, in the coal house. After seven examinations, Bonner ordered him to be set in the stocks, and on the following Sunday separated him from his fellow-prisoners as a sower of heresy, and ordered him up to a room near the battlements of St. Paul’s, eight feet by thirteen, on the other side of Lollard’s tower, and which could be overlooked by any one in the bishop’s outer gallery. Here Mr. Philpot was searched, but happily he was successful in secreting some letters containing his examinations.

In the eleventh investigation before various bishops, and Mr. Morgan, of Oxford, the latter was so driven into a corner by the close pressure of Mr. Philpot’s arguments, that he said to him, “Instead of the spirit of the Gospel which you boast to possess, I think it is the spirit of the buttery, which your fellows have had, who were drunk before their death, and went, I believe, drunken to it.” To this unfounded and brutish remark, Mr. Philpot indignantly replied, “It appeareth by your communication that you are better acquainted with that spirit than the Spirit of God; wherefore I tell thee, thou painted wall and hypocrite, in the name of the living God, whose truth I have told thee, that God shall rain fire and brimstone upon such blasphemers as thou art!” He was then remanded by Bonner, with an order not to allow him his Bible nor candlelight.

On December 4, Mr. Philpot had his next hearing, and this was followed by two more, making in all, fourteen conferences, previous to the final examination in which he was condemned; such were the perseverance and anxiety of the Catholics, aided by rthe argumentative abilities of the most distinguished of the papal bishops, to bring him into the pale of their Church. Those examinations, which were very long and learned, were all written down by Mr. Philpot, and a stronger proof of the imbecility of the Catholic doctors, cannot, to an unbiased mind, be exhibited.

On December 16, in the consistory of St. Paul’s Bishop Bonner, after laying some trifling accusations to his charge, such as secreting powder to make ink, writing some private letters, etc., proceeded to pass the awful sentence upon him, after he and the other bishops had urged him by every inducement to recant. He was afterward conducted to Newgate, where the avaricious Catholic keeper loaded him with heavy irons, which by the humanity of Mr. Macham were ordered to be taken off. On December 17, Mr. Philpot received intimation that he was to die next day, and the next morning about eight o’clock, he joyfully met the sheriffs, who were to attend him to the place of execution.

Upon entering Smithfield, the ground was so muddy that two officers offered to carry him to the stake, but he replied: “Would you make me a pope? I am content to finish my journey on foot.” Arriving at the stake, he said, “Shall I disdain to suffer at the stake, when my Redeemer did not refuse to suffer the most vile death upon the cross for me?” He then meekly recited the One hundred and seventh and One hundred and eighth Psalms, and when he had finished his prayers, was bound to the post, and fire applied to the pile. On December 18, 1555, perished this illustrious martyr, reverenced by man, and glorified in heaven!

Catechism

Question 48

Q. What is required in the third commandment?

A. The third commandment requires the holy and reverent use of God’s names (Ps. 29:2), titles, attributes (Rev. 15:3, 4), ordinances (Ecc. 5:1), Word (Ps. 138:2), and works (Job 36:24, Deut. 28:58, 59).

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Prayer

Heavenly Father, cause us to meditate upon Your faithfulness and rest in the promises of Your Word. Call to our minds the remembrance of the good You have done for Your people and Your covenant promises to us. Grant us the grace to be faithful to those covenant promises and walk in obedience to Your Word to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today’s Hymn

Words: Julia H. Johnston, in Hymns Tried and True (Chicago, Illinois: The Bible Institute Colportage Association, 1911). Music: Daniel B. Towner, 1910.

GRACE GREATER THAN OUR SIN
Click here for tune.

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled.

Refrain
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin.

Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,
Threaten the soul with infinite loss;
Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,
Points to the refuge, the mighty cross.

Refrain

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide.
What can we do to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide,
Brighter than snow you may be today.

Refrain

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe!
You that are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive?

Refrain

Thought Provoker

Have you ever been in distress and had it seem like your affliction was just a microcosm of a greater distress that was upon the whole? Sometimes we see this in the life of the church when the entire body undergoes persecution. We as the individual members of that body, each also endure similar pains. We see this displayed in the life of the nation Israel as the Psalmist endures personal affliction while the nation, as a whole, is oppressed by her enemies.

Dad’s Study

Psalm 105 celebrates God’s grace in the deliverance and keeping of His people. It is a meditation on the covenant between God and His chosen people and God’s activities in being faithful to His covenant promises. This Psalm dwells on the predestinating will of God, His election of men to holiness and obedience, the manifestation of human sin that opposes His holy will, and a clear demonstration that although sin opposes God’s perfect purposes, it can not thwart those purposes.

Verse 8 tells us that God remembers His covenant forever. God’s covenant with His people is an eternal covenant (Hebrews 13:20) and God is faithful in keeping His promises. In the examples from the history of Israel given here we see sin in opposition to God’s purposes, yet no one is able to turn our Sovereign God from His holy purposes (Daniel 4:35). In the example of Joseph we have an innocent man who was afflicted and sold into slavery; what sinful men intended for evil God intended for good to prepare for the future deliverance of His people through Joseph. Pharaoh then enslaved the nation Israel and God delivered them through the supernatural plagues so that when they left Egypt they plundered the riches of Egypt. God then even cared for them by taking them into a land flowing with milk and honey—a land where there were vineyards and fields and towns ready for them to inhabit and reap the fruit of the land for their sustenance. In all these things, God in His sovereign grace provided for His people in keeping His covenant faithfulness.

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

Why does God do this? The answer is in verse 45—so that His people will obey Him to the praise of His name. God is glorified when He exercises His omnipotence on behalf of His people. He is further glorified when His people, in grateful recognition of the grace and mercy that has been extended to them by their holy creator God, bow before Him in humble submission and obey His Word and walk in His ways. Put into practice the reality of God’s covenant faithfulness by obeying His commands with a heart of grateful submission (Mat. 11:29-30). Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Catechism

Question 48

Q. What is required in the third commandment?

A. The third commandment requires the holy and reverent use of God’s names (Ps. 29:2), titles, attributes (Rev. 15:3, 4), ordinances (Ecc. 5:1), Word (Ps. 138:2), and works (Job 36:24, Deut. 28:58, 59).

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