B. Jesus the Revealer

1. Revealer of sinful man-made rules

2. Revealer of the Greater Water

3. Revealer of Sins

4. Revealer of True Worship

C. Conclusion

II. God the Gracious and Jonah’s Second Chance (vv. 1-3a)
a. The greatness of Ninevah
b. God’s continued use of Jonah

III. A Simple Message Upending the City (vv. 3b-5)
a. Warning of the overthrow of Ninevah
b. The response of the people

IV. A Wise King (vv. 6-9)
a. The king’s response
b. The king’s decree
c. The King of king’s patience

V. God the Gracious and Ninevah’s Second Chance (v. 10)

VI. Application

VII. Conclusion

II. Jonah’s Angry Prayer (vv. 1-4)
a. Verse 1, very literally: “It eviled Jonah a great evil and he was exceedingly ticked off.”
b. Angry with the mercy of God
c. Angry enough to die
d. God’s question: Doest thou well to be angry?

III. Jonah’s Exceeding Gladness and Anger over the Gourd (vv. 5-9)
a. Camping out on the east side of Ninevah
b. The gourd and worm
c. Sun, wind, and the wish to die
d. God’s question and Jonah’s response: Doest thou well to be angry?

IV. God’s Soft and Tender Heart (vv. 10-11)
a. The meaning of the gourd
b. The extend of God’s care for Ninevah

V. Application

In this life, your theology will never be big enough to circumscribe God’s love and mercy. Knowing this, trusting in Him, and praising Him for it softens hard hearts.
 
Our emotions need to be subjected and submissive to the mercy and love of God—not just in the abstract but in the real world.

Sometimes we think we are jealous for God’s grace when really we’re just jeaolous, selfish, and ungracious.

Do you do well to be angry, even if you think it lawful?

Everybody has a little Jonah they need to spit out, especially the sons and daughters of Israel.

I. Introduction
a. What is truly great in the story of Jonah? Ninevah, the storm, the fish?
b. If Yahweh, in His mercy, is the truly Great one in the story, how is He glorified in Jonah 2? He is glorified despite Jonah’s hypocrisy through His objective work of salvation, the process of sanctifying Jonah, and even presenting an imperfect picture of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
c. Context & Structure
i. Bookends of the story: Narrative inclusio (1:17 & 2:10)
ii. Meaty thanksgiving prayer/psalm (2:1-9)
1. Description of God’s deliverance (vv. 1-2)
a. Jonah’s honest distress (vv. 3-6b)
2. Description of God’s deliverance (vv. 6c-7)
a. Hypocritical promise of service (vv. 8-9, cf. 1:9, 16)

II. Great Fish and a Greater God (1:17)
a. God’s preparation of the fish tell us not only of God’s sovereignty but also of His providential care towrds a rebellious prophet
b. Three days and three nights is at least a metaphor for death but probably indicate Jonah died and was brought back to life

III. Great Deliverance, Part 1 (2:1-2)
a. Crying out in great distress
b. Out of the depths of Sheol
c. That certain something that Jonah misses and therefore makes the end of his prayer incomplete.

IV. Great Distress (vv. 3-6b)
a. Deep seas, floods, billowing waves
b. Realization of being cast out from God’s sight and a desire to return to worship (cf. 1:3)
c. Drowned soul, strangling weeds, dragged to the foundations of the earth, and imprisoned

V. Great Deliverance, Part 2 (vv. 6c-7)
a. Salvation from deserved corruption
b. Salvation as the soul faints and dies

VI. Great (and yet unfulfilled) Promise to Serve the Great God (vv. 8-9)
a. Men and women desire and seek lovingkindness and yet are robbed unless they find it in the Great God
b. Jonah will sacrifice and pay his vows (cf. 1:16)
c. “Salvation is of the Lord!”

VII. Application

VIII. Conclusion

I. Introduction
a. What’s the real story of Jonah?
b. In Jonah 1, we are especially confronted with the need to
 repent of any waywardness or refusal to do what God commands of us.
c. Content and structure of the book
i. Not a parable, though similar to one
ii. Four chapters, with the climax in 4:4, 9
iii. Unique as a prophetic book, probably taking place sometime
 between 780-760 BC

II. Jonah Disobeys God’s Call (vv. 1-3)
a. Jonah the prophet (cf. 2 Kings 14:23-29)
b. Ninevah of Assyria
c. Jonah flees from the presence of God

III. The Sailors’ Discovery of Jonah (vv. 4-10)
a. A great storm while Jonah sleeps
b. The impossibility of Jonah escaping his guilt
c. Jonah’s confession

IV. Jonah and the Sea (vv. 11-17)
a. Jonah’s courage?
b. The sailors’ uprightness
c. The sailors’ conversion?

V. Application

I. Introduction
a. Clothing says a great deal about our positions, authority, culture, and whom we serve.
b. The necessity and inescapability of clothing should make us ask what God desires of us.
c. The challenges of figuring out what pleases God in the modern world with modern attire can scare some away from even asking the question. But, we are not to shy away from the challenge but rather proceed in faith with the Word of God.

II. A Few Comments on the Regulative Principle and Interpretation of the Scriptures
a. The need to follow the pattern and commands of God: Nadab and Abihu (Lev 10:1-11)
b. The danger of becoming Pharisees that miss the point of God’s commandments
c. The powerful work of the Holy Spirit and the Word in our lives

III. Clothing and Women
a. The importance of clothing in 1 Timothy 2
b. The cloths of a hartlot in Proverbs 7:1-12
c. Children that honor parents and wives that are the royal glory of their husbands (Prov 12:4; 31:22)

IV. Clothing and Men
a. Clothing and fellowship with God (Gen 3:21)
b. Clothing that does not surrender on gender (Deut 22:5)
c. Serving others and the Lord with your clothes (Col 3:12-17, 22-24)

V. Clothing and the Ministry of the Church
a. You are clothed with Christ in baptism, and our garments should reflect this (Ex 19:10; Gal 3:27-29)
b. The minister, as a representative of the people (not mediator) and ordained spokesman of Christ, stands in an honorable office and has distinctive attire (cf. Ex 28:4, 40-41)
i. Robe
ii. Collar

VI. Conclusion

I. Introduction
a. All of us are familiar where we have difficulty seeing that God is actually present and not absent. Often times, God appears hidden precisely at the time that we think He should be most visible. But, in such times, we must not lose faith but rather cry out with what faith we have, especially if we have faith in modest. This is actually one of the ways the Lord grows our faith and makes us see Him more clearly.

b. Context & Structure
i. An acrostic with Psalm 9
ii. Perhaps another double chiasm like Psalm 9
II. Part I: The Hidden God (vv. 1-11)
a. A cry of weak faith (vv. 1-2)
b. Wicked boasting, blessing, and pride (vv. 3-4)
c. The Wicked’s ways, heart, and mouth (vv. 5-7)
d. Wicked sitting, lying, and crouching (vv. 8-10)
e. A cry of wicked faith (v. 11)
III. Part II: The Revealed God (vv. 12-18)
a. A cry of strong faith: Arise, Lift up, Forget not (v. 12)
b. The wicked renouncing of God is an offense against Him (v. 13)
c. What God does to the Wicked (v. 14-15)
d. A revelation of the praise God deserves (vv. 16-18)
IV. Application

I. Introduction
a. Just as we might rob God of His praise by not thanking Him as we see His goodness
displayed in creation, so too we can rob God of the praise due to Him in His works through history.
b. Context & Structure
i. Psalm 9 written by David and Psalm 10 appears to be another Psalmist’s continuation of Psalm 9.
ii. We need to remember that David was a man well acquainted with battle, the wicked,
and life and death situations. Through all of these times, David has seen the Lord’s wonderful hand
at work and now turns to praise Him.
iii. A double chiasm

II. Part One: Recounting God’s Works in the Past
A – Singing of the Name (vv. 1-2)
 B – Throne of Right Judgment (vv. 3-4)
  C – Destruction of the Enemy’s Name (vv. 5-6)
 B’– The Throne Upheld (vv. 7-8)
A’– Knowledge of God’s Name (vv. 9-10)

III. Part Two: Remembering God’s Work in the Present and Future
D – Declare God’s Doings (vv. 11-12)
 E – The Gates of Death and Life (vv. 13-15)
  F – God’s Judgment (vv. 15-16)
 E’–  Assurance of Death and Hope (vv. 17-18)
D’– Call for the Lord to Action (vv. 19-20)

IV. Application

V. Conclusion

I. Introduction
a. What is “glory”? Further, when we think of God’s glory, what things come to mind? Squash-you-like-a-bug power? Infinite knowledge? Psalm 8 gives us a different, corrective picture of God’s glory.
b. Another deep and sometimes misunderstood question: How do we come to know things about God? Theologically speaking, we like to distinguish between general revelation and special revelation.
c. Context and Structure

II. The Excellence and Glory of God (v. 1)
a. Throughout the earth
b. Above the heavens

III. It is God’s Glory to Ordain Infant Praise (v. 2, cf. Matt 21:16)
a. Weak infants give strong praise to God’s kindly, Fatherly care
b. Suckling children still the raging of the nay-saying wicked

IV. It is God’s Glory that Man Sits under a Splendid Canopy (vv. 3-4)
a. Pondering the heavens, their hosts, and all that is in them, crafted by the fingers of God
b. What is man?
i. That God is mindful
ii. That God visits him

V. It is God’s Glory to Give Glory and Honor to Man (vv. 5-6)
a. Lower than angels but crowned
b. Dominion over God’s works

VI. It is God’s Glory that the Earth Teems with Life (v. 7-8)
a. Our rule over them must be service to God
b. The investigation and appreciation of living creatures must result in thankfulness to the Lord, otherwise we will turn to worshipping the marvelous creation itself (cf. Rom 1).

VII. Application

I. Introduction
a. Injustice naturally troubles us, and we intuitively want wrongs to be righted. Psalm 7 shows us how essential it is to plead before the Lord and place our trust in Him. If we do not, then we will have no rest from our woes.
b. Context:
i. A righteous complaint against some particular adversary within Saul’s tribe
ii. Arguably a “chiastic poem” with attention drawn to the middle

II. Prelude (vv. 1-2)
a. My God: trust for salvation while in trouble
b. Real stakes: a soul torn as by a lion

III. David’s Threefold Judicial Vow (vv. 3-5)
a. A list of three representative offenses
i. “If I have done this…”
ii. “If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me…”
iii. “If I have plundered my enemy without cause…”
b. A list of three representative judgments
i.  “Then let him persecute my soul…”
ii. “Then let him tread down my life…”
iii. “Then let him lay my honor in the dust..”

IV. Confidence in the High Judge (vv. 6-8a)
a. Wicked anger is surpassed by God’s righteous anger
b. God gathers the people to hear His verdict

V. Who is Righteous and Who is Wicked? (vv. 8b-10)
a. David the Righteous
b. God the Righteous
c. Cush and the rest of the his wicked kind

VI. The Judging King’s Pursuit of the Wicked (vv. 11-16)
a. Unrelenting anger at the refusal to repent
b. A whetted sword and bent bow
c. Ordained instruments of death
d. God’s sense of irony in His judgment

VII.  Postlude (v. 17)
a. Sense of rest and praise in my God who has heard the cry for judgment and deliverance
b. Singing to the Lord most high

VIII. Application

I. Introduction
a. God protects and provides for the weak
b. Context: Penitential Psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143)

II. Troubled to the Bone (vv. 1-3)
a. A cry for mercy in light of God’s anger
b. Weakness in the body
c. Weakness in the soul

III. Crying for Deliverance from Death (vv. 4-7)
a. A longing to remember and give thanks to the Lord
b. David’s weary tears
c. The weakness of David’s eyes

IV. God’s Answer to David (vv. 8-10)
a. A kingly condemnation
b. Assurance that the Lord has heard his prayers
c. Sudden shame and trouble for David’s enemies

V. Application

VI. Conclusion

I. Introduction
a. The first Christian Pentecost has a history with which we must become more acquainted. Imagine if we wanted to understand what a “Christian” was without having some understanding of the history of Israel. So too, when we talk about Pentecost, it behooves us to know something about the Old Testament Feasts, especially the Feast of Weeks.
b. The bad news: few consider what the ceremonies of the Mosaic Covenant mean. And, to understand them, we need to mentally walk through their practice as they are not theologically explained in detail by the Scriptures.
c. Context: If someone says “Pentecost” what Old Testament story (not law) comes to mind?
i. Harvest time and Israel’s festivals coincide
ii. The Ten Commandments are a summary of all the laws in the Mosaic Covenant. So, what law does this fall under?

II. Precursor to the Feast (vv. 9-14)
a. The importance of remembering God with the land and harvest (cf. Deut 8:6-14)
b. The first thing done with the first of the harvest: waving of the sheaf
c. The offering of a lamb without blemish

III. Presenting the Harvest (vv. 15-21)
a. Understanding the bread, animals, and wine
b. Why the specific numbers: seven, two, and one?
c. The actions of the priest and the people

IV. Provision for the Poor at Harvest (v. 22)
a. Leave the corners
b. Do not glean

V. What does this mean for us and for the first Christian Pentecost?
a. “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women…” (Acts 1:14). In our prayers we are presenting the Lord with the little we have, asking Him to grant a full harvest. Watch Him wave it to the four corners of the earth and bring abundance to our days of small beginnings.
b. The gift of the Spirit at Pentecost fulfills Joel’s prophecy of a land renewed and abounding in harvest (Joel 2). As such, we are neither to forget the joy of harvest nor fall into mere external observance of God’s commands as Israel often did.
c. Sabbaths and feasts go together in the Scriptures and so also should in your practice. This does not mean a five course meal every Sunday but it does mean Sabbath joy in your homes (Isa 58:13-14).
d. It is good to find times to celebrate before the Lord in the abundance He has given us (cf. Deut 14:22-27), both with the tithe and with offerings. As we do this, we are to remember the destitute (cf. Acts 2:45).
e. Pentecost, like Passover, has been transfigured/transformed by the coming of Christ and the gift of the Spirit. But, just as the early Church continued to remember Pentecost, so too can we. We give thanks for what the Scriptures recount about the first Pentecost, remember God’s goodness to us in the land and harvest, and seek to celebrate this in such a way that we come to rest in God’s present and future provisions. Likewise, we should eye the entire world as a field for planting. Mothers, you are especially doing this with every verbal correction of your kids, swat on the rear, and honor paid to your husbands.

VI. Conclusion

I. Introduction
a. From our perspective, God often turns things upside down.
b. We want to be confident and useful like the Apostles, not timid and fearful. If we are to be this way, celebrating and living under the Ascension is important.
c. Context

II. A Theology of the Ascension
a. Confessional Statements (WLC 51-55; LD 18, QQ 46-49)
b. The Rule of Christ from Heaven—gone away, like going to the capital or capitol
c. What goes up must come down: the return of Christ

III. Dealing with Fright at the Voice of Peace (vv. 36-43)
a. Jesus’ speaking of “Peace”
b. Troubled hearts
c. Looking upon the incarnated Son of God

IV. Reminding How the Scriptures Must be Fulfilled (vv. 44-49)
a. The Law, Prophets, and Psalms
b. Jesus opens the disciples’ understanding
c. The suffering and rising is inextricably linked with the preaching and witnessing of the Apostles

V. The Promise and Blessing of Christ (vv. 50-53)
a. The sending of the Spirit
b. A priestly blessing
c. A reversal of the Apostles’ timidity and fear

VI. Application
a. Jesus is our sympathetic high priest. Just as the disciples were frightened by thinking of Jesus as a spirit so too we can be frightened by thinking of Jesus as utterly transcendent and beyond us ruling in heaven. Instead, hear the voice of peace and the blessing of our king.
b. You will probably suffer physically and all of us will most certainly die. Christ’s real body suffered, died, and remains with Him as He exercises a sympathetic kingship, priesthood, and prophetic office in heaven.
c. Just as the Scriptures had to be fulfilled with Jesus’ earthly ministry, so too they must be fulfilled in His heavenly ministry. This means that every enemy is being conquered by Christ, with the last enemy being death itself upon Jesus’ return (1 Cor 15:25-26).
d. We must hear the Word of instruction from our Father through the Spirit given to us by His Son. You do not get the Spirit by works but by God’s grace. He sends it upon His people that believe His Son, desire His Word, and, especially, those that worship Him in truth.
e. While not giving any room to laziness or faithlessness, it is right for us to wait upon God’s blessing and the Spirit before embarking on a certain ministry.

VII. Conclusion

II. God’s Perfect Reception of David’s Heart (vv. 1-3)
a. David presents his words, cries, and even groans before the Lord
b. As God and King, the Lord receives the offering of David’s prayer

III. God’s Refusal to Commune with the Wicked Heart (vv. 4-6)
a. Against wickedness and evil
b. Against foolish workers of iniquity
c. Against liars and the violent

IV. David’s Heart for Worship (vv. 7-8)
a. Entrance into God’s house and temple
b. Departure in the path of righteousness

V. Destruction Comes to the Rebellious (vv. 9-10)
a. Mouth and heart; throat and tongue of the ungodly
b. David’s call for destruction is a call for the wicked to fall by what they love

VI. God’s Defense is a Joy (vv. 11-12)
a. Those who trust and take refuge in the Lord, shout and sin for joy.
b. Those defended are those that love the name of the Lord.
c. Blessing and favor are upon the righteous

VII. Application
a. Do we lay ourselves out as an offering to the Lord every morning, or do we concern ourselves with things other than our King?
b. Though we encounter the wicked, we must remember that we walk in fellowship with God.
c. Scripture likens sin to a number of things. Here we should see that the enticing words of the wicked should smell like death to us.
d. We must not only place our trust in the Lord but also be joyful in our trust. We are moved to joy, just like David, as we offer ourselves up in prayer and song before the Lord.

Conclusion

I. Introduction
a. The need for rest, both physically and spiritually, lest we be overwhelmed
b. Psalm 4 is an evening Psalm, which promotes and enables both kinds of rest
c. Contextually, we see that Psalm 4 (an evening psalm) is related to Psalm 3 (a morning psalm), though not necessarily written at the same time. Also, we can see the somewhat difficult structure of the Psalm as David’s inner dialogue towards God within himself.

II. God Hears the Righteous Prayer (v. 1)
a. “…when I call…”
b. God of our righteousness
c. Distress threatens to choke the prayer for mercy
i. David’s remembrance of God’s mercy
ii. David’s believing request for more mercy

III. Response to the Unrighteous (vv. 2-5)
a. David interrogates lunacy
i. The glory of the righteous is not shameful
ii. Loving vanity is empty love
iii. Seeking a lie is a wild goose chase
b. David proclaims what needs to be known
i. God has set apart the godly for Himself
ii. The Lord will hear when David calls
c. David then commands three needful things for himself, the unrighteous, and us
i. Stand in awe and do not sin
ii. Think and be still
iii. Offer true sacrifices and trust the Lord

IV. David Receives the Blessing of God (vv. 6-8)
a. Asking for the illumination of God’s blessing
b. Seeing the blessing of God and the giving of thanks
c. As David has prayed in confidence, closed the voices of the unrighteous, and spoken of the blessings of God, he has put every distracting thing aside and thus rests in peace and sleep.

V. Application
a. Though our distresses truly trouble us, they are also given to us so that we may see the conquest of God’s mercy and grace.
b. Develop an honest, biblical kind of reasoning within your heart that not only defends against worldliness but also takes away the gusto of worldliness.
c. We see and experience God’s blessings through Christ in many ways. One of those ways, which we need to keep exploring, is through the singing of God’s praises: “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.” (Psalm 89:15-16)

VI. Conclusion

II. A Humble Cry of Lament (vv. 1-2)
a. Two divine promises made to David (2 Sam 7:13-15; 12:10-11)
b. Surging opposition against David because of Absalom
c. The slander of David’s enemies

III. David’s Confident Praise (vv. 3-4)
a. God has been and will be shield, glory, and the one to lift David’s head
b. When David cries out, the Lord has and will hear him from Zion

IV. Salvation belongs to the Lord (vv. 5-8)
a. David surrenders to the Lord even in sleep
b. David has moved from lament, to praise, to boasting in the Lord
c. The Lord’s judgments include a likeness to smitten cheeks and broken teeth
d. David not only prays for his own salvation but also for God’s blessing upon the people

V. Application
a. The Lord wants to hear your honest and humble laments, even if you have had a hand in bringing about the trouble.
b. Huge opposition is overcome by diligent worship and pursuit of our Father in heaven.
c. Though the wicked slander God (“There is no help for him…”), we are not allowed to slander His mercy either. In other words, we can pray for God to smite but never boasting that there is no help for the wicked through Christ.
d. When we are buffeted and tested, we are to remember God’s past ways with us and His people in Scripture. What’s more, God’s past ways have outcomes of deliverance and joy.
e. Often times our worries keep us from good sleep because they keep us from resting in the Lord.
f. Holy worship brings a holy boldness. In David’s context, this happens in the morning. Take note.
g. “Salvation belongs to the Lord.” We are to believe this in earnest, see it in history, ask for it boldly, and long for it fervently.

VI. Conclusion