Psalm 8:1-4

Commentary

Praise God for the success of his creation

In our galaxy there are probably over a hundred-billion stars like our sun. Our galaxy is one of a hundred-billion galaxies. When we consider the vastness of the universe it is easy to feel small and insignificant.

David starts and ends this psalm by worshipping God for the success of his creation (vv.19).

As he stares into the night sky, David says, ‘I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewellery, Moon and stars mounted in their settings. Then I look at my micro-self and wonder, Why do you bother with us? Why take a second look our way?’ (vv.3–4, MSG).

David marvels at the fact that human beings are the pinnacle of God’s creation – a masterpiece – made in his image. Not only does God love you and care about you (v.4), but he has given you extraordinary privileges: ‘You made them a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned them with glory and honour. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet’ (vv.5–6).

We have been put in charge of everything God has made. Knowing this, Christians should be at the forefront of the protection, preservation and care of God’s amazing creation.

Of course, God’s original plan for our dominion over creation has been distorted. However, in the New Testament, we see these verses are also applied directly to Jesus (Hebrews 2:8). In Christ, creation is restored (Ephesians 1:19–23; 2:5–6), and one day it will be complete and we will see everything under his feet (1 Corinthians 15:24–26).

Prayer

Matthew 9:18-38

Commentary

Pursue success modelled on Jesus

Jesus redefines success. If you want to know what true success looks like, study the model of Jesus – his vision, life and teaching. It is the kind of success that is not universally recognised as such.

Jesus was both admired and hated. Success does not necessarily mean popularity. Some admired him: ‘There’s never been anything like this’ (v.33, MSG). Others hated him. The Pharisees said, ‘It’s nothing but hocus-pocus. He’s probably made a pact with the Devil’ (v.34, MSG).

As followers of Jesus, you also may be both admired and hated. For example, because of his campaign to end the slave trade, it was said of William Wilberforce that he was the most admired and the most hated man in England.

In his Gospel, Matthew sets out the success of Jesus’ ministry (ch.5–9). He summarises, ‘Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and illness’ (9:35).

In word and action Jesus ushered in the kingdom of God, bringing the reality of God’s rule and presence into the lives of those around him. This is what Jesus-style success looks like and this is what you and I are called to emulate.

To achieve Jesus-style success you, like the twelve disciples, need to model your life on Jesus and share his vision:

1. The need is urgent

   Jesus saw that ‘they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd’ (v.36). Today, we see millions who don’t know Jesus and are spiritually lost. In addition, we see millions who are starving, homeless, suffering from preventable diseases and without even the most basic education.

2. The motive is love

   Jesus had compassion (v.36). This is the strongest word for love in the Greek language (derived from the Greek word for ‘guts’). It is used only of Jesus. It could be translated ‘he was gutted’ – his heart broke.

   Jesus was unconcerned about worldly categories of importance or success. Here we see him helping two very different classes of people – an important ‘ruler’ (v.18) and a woman whose menstrual bleeding would have made her unclean and left her on the fringes of society (v.20). Yet Jesus had compassion on them both.

3. The trigger is prayer

   Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field’ (v.38). Pray for more people to be raised up who will follow Jesus and reap the harvest.

4. The potential is vast

   Jesus said, ‘The harvest is plentiful’ (v.37). Jesus has modelled what success looks like – proclaiming the kingdom and demonstrating its in-breaking into history. Now he calls you to follow his model – to share in his mission, multiplying its reach.

Prayer

Genesis 24:12-19

Commentary

Pray for success in guidance

Abraham’s servant was not embarrassed to pray for success. He prayed a prayer that we can all emulate: ‘Give me success today’ (v.12). It was not a selfish prayer. It was a prayer that God would bless someone else, ‘show kindness to my master Abraham’ (v.12). He asked to be guided by God.

This is one of the most remarkable stories of God’s guidance. On Alpha¹, we talk about five ways in which God guides us, under the heading of ‘the five CSs’. In this passage, we can see an example of all these working together and especially the fifth one, ‘Circumstantial Signs’.

1. Commanding Scripture

   Obviously, Abraham did not have the Scriptures that we have – but he did have the commands of God that later became part of the Scriptures. God commanded his people to only marry other believers in him. Abraham told his servant he must not get a wife for his son from the Canaanites, but from his own people (vv.3–4).

2. Compelling Spirit

   The Holy Spirit leads us as we pray. Although the words ‘Holy Spirit’ are not used in this passage, it is clear that all the participants are in a position to be guided by God, listening to him and being led by the Spirit. Abraham’s servant prayed from his heart (vv.12,45), Rebekah appeared ‘before he had finished praying’ (v.15), and when Rebekah appeared, Isaac was out in the field where he had gone to meditate (v.63).

3. Common Sense

   The choice of Rebekah made sense. She was clearly someone who was appropriate for Isaac. It so happened that she was ‘very beautiful’ (v.16). She was also ‘a virgin; no man had ever lain with her’ (v.16). Most importantly, she was clearly generous, gracious and kind. Her immediate response to the request for water was not only to offer it, but also to say, ‘I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking’ (v.19).

4. Counsel of the Saints

   One of the ways in which God guides us is through godly advice (‘Saints’ is used here in the New Testament sense to describe all God’s people.) Although Isaac and Rebekah’s marriage was very different from the modern western marriage, in that it involved a large element of arrangement, there was also an element of choice. Rebekah was asked, ‘“Will you go with this man?” “I will go,” she replied’ (v.57). Isaac chose to marry her and ‘loved her’ (v.67). They were following the counsel of the saints in the sense that everyone around, especially their parents, recognised, ‘This is from the Lord’ (v.50).

5. Circumstantial Signs

   This is one of the clearest cases in the Bible of God guiding through circumstantial signs. The servant asks for a sign and was given exactly what he asked for (vv.12–26). However, as we have seen, the sign was not random. It was a test of Rebekah’s character, which she fulfilled.

As a result of being guided by God, not only was their meeting a great success, but more importantly, so was their marriage.

Prayer