August 18, Day 230 – If Only We Will Humble Ourselves

2 Chronicles 7:11-9:31; Psalm 98;

1 Corinthians 11:2-34

"Self-Portrait, III" © by Terri L. Stricker - Original Pencil Sketch on Paper

In the first section of 2 Chronicles 7:11-9:31, we see that, after Solomon’s great prayer of dedication, the LORD appeared to him again.  Yesterday, having read one of the great prayers of Scripture, we find today one of the great verses of Scripture – “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (verse 14).  This is an incredible but conditional promise from God.  Notice – God promises [1] “to hear from heaven;” [2] “to forgive our sin;” and [3] “to heal our land” if only we will [1] “humble ourselves;” [2] “pray, seeking His face;” and [3] “turn from our wicked ways.”  The first requirement is the most difficult because it calls for humility.  We have to admit that we are sinners who engage in wicked ways.  Most people do not believe this about themselves.  “I’m not so bad,” they say, or “I’m not like so-and-so who lies, steals, and cheats.”  We forget that Scripture teaches “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (cf., Romans 3:23).  We need to learn humility.  In chapter 8, we see Solomon’s various construction projects and the arrival of his wife – the daughter of Pharaoh – to his palace.  Chapter 9 relates to us the splendor and glories of Solomon’s kingdom, which is a picture of the future kingdom of Christ.  And with the Queen of Sheba’s visit, Solomon’s kingdom represents God’s best and ideal design here on earth for the nation of Israel to draw the Gentiles to the Lord, and further – it typifies and portrays the majesty of Christ’s future millennial kingdom of peace.

Psalm 98 instructs us to “sing to the LORD a new song – for He has done marvelous things – His right hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for Him.  He has made known His salvation and revealed His righteousness to the nations” (verses 1-2).  C. S. Lewis once talked about our praise of God being incomplete until we have formalized and expressed it.  Indeed, if it is human to praise mundane, lesser, and lower individuals (i.e., sports figures, entertainment personalities,  and politicians, etc.), then how much more appropriate is it for us to praise our Creator Who designed and made us for the very purpose of praising Him?  Actually, the failure to include God in our praises is contemptuous and leads to an intentional miscarriage of the chief purpose for which we exist – thus – a wasted life.  How sad is that? Psalm 98 alerts us to recognize this truth.  God is Sovereign over all, and He is most glorious.  Any astute observer must acknowledge this truth.

We’ve been talking about the major problems of the Corinthian church.  Thus far, we’ve seen six major problems in this church:  [1] divisiveness (1:10-4:21); [2] incestuous immorality (5:1-5:13); [3] lawsuits among believers (6:1-6:11); [4] sexual immorality (6:12-6:20); [5] problematic marriage and singleness (cf., 7:1-7:40); and [6] offensive behavior (8:1-11:1).  Today, we come to 1 Corinthians 11:2-34 where we see two more major problems – [7] propriety in worship (cf., 11:2-11:16) and [8] problematic communion issues (11:17-11:34).  These problems show us how much the Corinthian church was out-of-order.  Yet, the Corinthians were still believers whom God loved.  Here, we see that God is using Paul to help this church develop from disorder to order.  This is what God wants for us all; in a sense, we are all out-of-order in some way, and a purpose of the Word of God is to bring godly order back into our lives.  In verse 11, Paul points out that, “In the Lord, men and women are not independent of each other.”  Properly, men and women “in the Lord” have specific, God-ordained roles to follow – especially regarding ministry authority, public prayer within the assembly, and humility in the manner of our dress.  These roles are simply matters of order – not significance – and they require the willing submission of humble hearts by every believer – regardless of gender.  They become perverted by attitudes of personal pride, and their perversion then results in disorder in the church.  We get a sense of how perverted this disorder becomes in Paul’s rebuke about their approach to the Lord’s Supper – some of them “were hungry; others drunk” (verse 21).  Paul equates such behavior with contempt – “despising the church and humiliating the brethren” (verse 22).  Moreover, it’s pointless to refer to this passage merely as “controversial,” because people will still try to read into it whatever they will.  The best approach is simply to accept what Paul is teaching here at face value and in good faith.  God is most interested in the purity of our hearts – not in all the ways we can entangle ourselves in debating the details of a thousand interpretations of 1 Corinthians 11. Where’s the unity in that?