The Posture of Worship (Part 2)

Raised Hands

Last time in our series on worship, we began a study on what the Bible says about posture in worship.

So why is posture important? Why all the verses?

Why, in a day when we are called upon to worship God in Spirit and in truth, should we be concerned about our outward expressions of worship?

In our time together this evening I want to answer these questions.  We will first discuss the importance of posture and then conclude with a right perspective on posture.

I. The importance of posture in worship

1. God made us to be both body and soul.

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being (Genesis 2:7).

God created our bodies, as well as our souls. He made us of dust and breathed life in us. He made us to enjoy Him, not only in our souls, but in our bodies as well. He demands our obedience, not only in our hearts, but lived out in our bodies as well.

Paul refers to our bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s (1 Corinthians 6:19–20).

God made our bodies to glorify Him. Paul exhorted the church:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (Romans 12:1).

He desired that Christ be exalted in his own life lived out to God’s glory.

For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death (Philippians 1:19–20).

We cannot separate body and soul. God has created us and wired us to be complete beings. What we do with the body affects the soul. What goes on in the soul is made manifest and expresses itself in the body.

Corporate worship of necessity involves the body.

  • We speak God’s Word.
  • We voice our prayers.
  • We sing with our lips.
  • We place our gifts and tithes in the offering plate.
  • We eat and drink at the Lord’s Table.

When we worship God, we worship Him in our bodies.

Oh, but some might say, “God is Spirit.” And we are to worship Him in Spirit and in truth. God is concerned with my heart and so what I do with my body is of little or no consequence.

It is true that we are to worship God in Spirit and in truth. But God informs us in His Word that He has given His Sprit to make us alive—in our bodies. His indwelling presence has made our bodies temples of worship. We are living sacrifices, dead to sin but alive unto Christ.

We cannot escape our bodies if we are to participate in the elements of worship. We can get into trouble and become imbalanced we disengage our body and soul. This can happen two ways.

  1. We become so withdrawn or introspective that we no longer value what is happening around us—or concern ourselves with how we are reacting to what is happening around us. We think that we can hold our faith on the inside—in the domain of the heart—without caring that it ever shows on the outside.
  2. We become so extroverted that we content ourselves with just going through the bodily motions and we disengage the heart. We think God will be pleased with our outward show of faith without caring that we really mean it on the inside.

Both of these dangers lead us down the road of hypocrisy. When God truly pierces us with His Word, it affects body and soul!

Truth rightly understood in the heart—on the inside—will compel us to live out truth and rightly apply it—on the outside.

Worship begins in the heart—in the mind (focusing and directing our thoughts), then the will (determining our actions), and our emotions (flooding and spilling out into our feelings). As the truth of God’s Word dawns in our thinking by the illuminating power of the Spirit, we are brought to sorrow and repentance over our sin—we are brought to joy and faith in the salvation and forgiveness of sin found in Christ. And we are spurred into action and obedience as the reality of God’s work on the inside is expressed and lived out on the outside.

We need truth, but we need the Spirit to quicken us and make that truth alive and active in our hearts and in our lives. Truth is not just for the mind—it is for the whole of our being.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

Truth has implications and demands on our hands and feet as well as our minds and intellect.

Known truth must be practiced truth. Doctrine must find its way to devotion.

[This excerpt is from a sermon entitled “The Posture of Worship (Part 2)” in the series Thoughts on Worship. Continue reading the full sermon text here.]

Read also “The Posture of Worship (Part 1)”

See more Sermons and Articles by Ken Puls

How Shall We Stand in That Great Day?

Perhaps the most fertile ground for hymn writing is meditation on the preached Word of God. There is always great value, especially as we weather the storms and trials of life, of staying under the faithful preaching of the Bible. And there is even greater value in taking time to ponder, pray through, and preach that biblical truth to our own souls.

That has proven to be true with the recent sermon series through the book of Ecclesiastes entitled “Real Life in a Fallen World” preached by Dr. Tom Ascol at Grace Baptist Church, Cape Coral, Florida. This is the third hymn I have written while meditating on messages from the series. The other two are: “What Can Be Gained by All Our Toil?” and “Eternal God Exalted.” When you consider the vanity of life, the wages of sin, and the certainty of coming judgment, how great is our need of a Savior!

Storm Clouds

How Shall We Stand in That Great Day?

For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.
(Ecclesiastes 12:14)

1. How shall we stand in that great day
When secrets are revealed,
When thoughts and motives are laid bare
And nothing is concealed?

2. On that great day when God will judge
Our every word and deed,
Without excuse, our mouths will close,
For guilty we must plead.

3. The deeds we do, the thoughts we think
Will matter on that day;
Each sinful act, each secret thought,
Each careless word we say.

4. O sinner, if you face that day
Alone, you will not stand.
The Law will charge and you will fall,
Condemned by just command.

5. Our only hope when that day comes:
That Christ died in our place;
He bore Himself the wrath of God
That we might know His grace.

6. O sinner, come before that day,
Come look to Christ and live!
Take refuge in His righteousness;
Your sins He will forgive.

7. With certainty that day draws near,
O why would you delay?
Tomorrow is not guaranteed,
Come trust in Christ today!

Words ©2017 Ken Puls

Download the lyrics and free sheet music for this hymn, including an arrangement of the tune ARLINGTON for classical guitar.

Faithful’s Defense

When this Pickthank had told his tale, the Judge directed his speech to the prisoner at the bar, saying, You runagate, heretic, and traitor, have you heard what these honest gentlemen have witnessed against you?

Faithful: May I speak a few words in my own defense?

Judge: Sirrah! sirrah! You deserve to live no longer, but to be slain immediately upon the place; yet, that all men may see our gentleness towards you, let us hear what you, vile runagate, have to say.

Faithful: 1. I say, then, in answer to what Mr. Envy hath spoken, I never said aught but this, That what rule, or laws, or customs, or people, were flat against the Word of God, are diametrically opposite to Christianity. If I have said amiss in this, convince me of my error, and I am ready here before you to make my recantation.

2. As to the second, to wit, Mr. Superstition, and his charge against me, I said only this, That in the worship of God there is required a Divine faith; but there can be no Divine faith without a Divine revelation of the will of God. Therefore, whatever is thrust into the worship of God that is not agreeable to Divine revelation, cannot be done but by a human faith, which faith will not be profitable to eternal life.

3. As to what Mr. Pickthank hath said, I say (avoiding terms, as that I am said to rail, and the like) that the prince of this town, with all the rabblement, his attendants, by this gentleman named, are more fit for a being in hell, than in this town and country: and so, the Lord have mercy upon me!

Faithful's DefenseAs soon as Envy, Superstition and Pickthank finish bringing their accusations against Faithful, the judge is ready to pronounce his sentence. Faithful’s guilt is assumed. Lord Hate-good speaks of the witnesses as “honest gentlemen” while derisively addressing Faithful as a “runagate, heretic, and traitor.” Yet Faithful makes a plea to speak in his own defense.

Faithful’s reply to his accusers points us to a core theme of The Pilgrim’s Progress: the centrality of God’s Word. Again and again throughout the allegory Bunyan takes us to the Bible. It is the book that Christian is reading at the beginning of the story that warns him of the coming judgment. Its promises are the “good and substantial steps” through the Slough of Despond. It is the Shining Light that shows the way to the Gate. It is the House of the Interpreter where Christian is shown “excellent things.” It is the “records of greatest antiquity” brought out for instruction at Palace Beautiful. And it is the Light of Day that helps Christian make his way to the end of the valley.

Now in Vanity Fair, the Word of God is Faithful’s strong defense. His three answers highlight the primacy of Scripture in life, worship and conscience:

I. We must judge our lives on the basis of God’s Word.

Envy is offended because the teachings of Faithful (and Christianity) are opposed to many of the customs and practices of the town. Faithful affirms that any “rule or laws or customs or people” that are contrary to God’s Word are in opposition to the Christian faith.

If we are to live and walk in ways that are pleasing to God, we can’t invent our own standards; we must look to His Word. It is the Bible that instructs us in righteousness:

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17).

Peter exhorts us to “heed” the Scriptures “as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19).

Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.
(Psalm 119:105)

The entrance of Your words gives light;
It gives understanding to the simple.
(Psalm 119:130)

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward.
(Psalm 19:7–11)

God’s Word is most valuable and most profitable to us as we journey through this life. When the world entices us to believe or do something contrary to Scripture, we must listen to God (Acts 4:19). We must continue to speak the Word “with all boldness” (Acts 4:29).

II. We must judge our worship of God on the basis of His Word.

Superstition is offended because the teachings of Faithful (and Christianity) degrade his own religious practices and ideas of how God should be worshipped. Faithful affirms that our worship must come from divine faith that grows in the light of divine revelation. We come to God by grace through faith, which is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). His Spirit enlivens and empowers us. And we come in accordance with God’s truth revealed to us in His Word. His Spirit illumines and teaches us.

If we are to worship God in Spirit and in Truth, we need the work of His Spirit and we must look to His Word for guidance and direction. We can’t invent our own ways and methods of approaching God. We must know the Scriptures and submit to the Scriptures as the Spirit brings understanding.

The London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689 provides a good explanation of this. This confession was written by Particular Baptists in England in 1677, a year before Bunyan first published The Pilgrim’s Progress. It was officially adopted in 1689. The first chapter of the confession is about the Scriptures. It begins by saying that we must look to God’s Word to know how to be saved from sin and walk in a way pleasing to God. The opening sentence reads: “The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.”

Chapter 22 speaks specifically on worship:

“The light of nature shows that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all; is just, good, and doth good unto all; and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart and all the soul, and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by Himself, and so limited by His own revealed will, that He may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures” (1689 London Baptist Confession, 22:1).

This is what has been called the Regulative Principle of worship. It simply means that our worship is to be regulated by the Word of God. The Bible must set the boundaries and define the way in which we are to seek God in worship.

III. We must submit our conscience to the Word of God.

Pickthank is offended because the teachings of Faithful (and Christianity) are an affront to fallen human nature. Faithful affirms that in our fallen nature we are at enmity against God.

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:7–8).

By insisting on the authority of God’s Word, Faithful has exposed the terrible truth that the town of Vanity will not bear to hear. Outside of Christ we stand condemned before God, deserving of wrath and hell.

Though Faithful knows that the witnesses, the judge and the town itself all stand against him, he is firm in his conviction to stand on the Word of God. He won’t violate his conscience by disowning or disavowing the truth. He concludes with the prayer “the Lord have mercy upon me!” Faithful’s prayer is echoed in church history when Martin Luther, defending his own convictions on April 18, 1521 at the Diet of Worms, declared:

“Unless I am convinced by testimonies of the Scriptures or by clear arguments that I am in error—for popes and councils have often erred and contradicted themselves—I cannot withdraw, for I am subject to the Scriptures I have quoted; my conscience is captive to the Word of God. It is unsafe and dangerous to do anything against one’s conscience. Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise. So help me God.”

May God grant us the boldness and steadfastness of Faithful to hold true to His Word.

A Guide to John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress
See TOC for more posts from this commentary

The text for The Pilgrim’s Progress and images used are public domain
Notes and Commentary ©2017 Ken Puls
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV) ©1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

What Can Be Gained by All Our Toil?

All Is Vanity

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 1:2–3)

The book of Ecclesiastes offers a simple answer. Apart from God, this wearisome and unpredictable world in which we live will never make sense. If we are to find meaning, purpose and hope in this life, we must acknowledge God and submit humbly to His Word.

What Can Be Gained by All Our Toil?
A Meditation on the book of Ecclesiastes

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.
(Ecclesiastes 12:13–14)

1. What can be gained by all our toil,
Where’s hope amidst such pain?
The sin that fills our fallen world
Makes all our efforts vain.

2. Apart from God there is no hope,
No purpose for this life.
The fruit of all our plans and ploys
Yields not but endless strife.

3. Without God’s grace our thoughts and toils
Are grasping for the wind.
We need the wisdom of God’s Word
That we might know our end.

4. What must we then conclude and know
When wisdom has been heard?
That God has spoken and will judge:
Fear Him and keep His Word!

5. The fear of God will make us wise,
His Word shows us the way.
It beckons us to come to Christ,
Its call we must obey.

6. For on that day when God will judge,
All secret things made known.
The only refuge from God’s wrath
Will be in Christ alone.

Words ©2016 Ken Puls

This hymn is my reflection on the book of Ecclesiastes, especially the conclusion of the book in chapter twelve. It was written during a sermon series on Ecclesiastes entitled “Real Life in a Fallen World” preached by Dr. Tom Ascol at Grace Baptist Church, Cape Coral, Florida.

Download the lyrics and free sheet music for this hymn, including an arrangement of the tune ST. COLUMBA for classical guitar.

More Hymns and Songs

A Hymn for the New Year

Eternal God Exalted

God is always faithful and He is always with us. He is ever with us, not just in space: wherever we may go. He is with us in all of time: our past, our present, our future—with us every moment! We can rest in Him and trust Him as He works out His good purposes.

The heart of man plans his way,
But the Lord establishes his steps.
(Proverbs 16:9)

Eternal God Exalted

1. Eternal God exalted
Above both time and space;
You hold my life completely,
A trophy of Your grace.
Both time and space a canvas,
You craft all history
To show Your grace and power
Through eternity.

2. You planned before creation
My birth and life and death;
In mercy and in kindness
You give me every breath.
You’re everywhere in fullness,
Wherever I may go;
And all my days and moments
All at once You know.

3. Each day Your Word sustains me,
Your Spirit guides and leads;
You never will forsake me,
Your grace is all I need.
For time is but a teacher,
A patient means of grace
That I might learn to trust You,
Ever seek Your face.

4. I need not fear the future
For You’re already there;
And in the past You’ve brought me
Through every trial and care.
In every present moment
You faithfully are near;
So help me now to trust You,
Cast away all fear.

Words ©2016 Ken Puls
Download a lyric sheet and free sheet music for this hymn, including an arrangement of the tune RUTHERFORD for classical guitar.

A Meeting with Evangelist

Thus they went on talking of what they had seen by the way, and so made that way easy which would otherwise, no doubt, have been tedious to them; for now they went through a wilderness.

Now, when they were got almost quite out of this wilderness, Faithful chanced to cast his eye back, and espied one coming after them, and he knew him. Oh! said Faithful to his brother, who comes yonder? Then Christian looked, and said, It is my good friend Evangelist. Ay, and my good friend too, said Faithful, for it was he that set me in the way to the gate. Now was Evangelist come up to them, and thus saluted them:

Evangelist: Peace be with you, dearly beloved; and peace be to your helpers.

Christian: Welcome, welcome, my good Evangelist, the sight of your countenance brings to my remembrance your ancient kindness and unwearied laboring for my eternal good.

Faithful: And a thousand times welcome, said good Faithful. Thy company, O sweet Evangelist, how desirable it is to us poor pilgrims!

Evangelist: Then said Evangelist, How has it fared with you, my friends, since the time of our last parting? What have you met with, and how have you behaved yourselves?

Then Christian and Faithful told him of all things that had happened to them in the way; and how, and with what difficulty, they had arrived at that place.

Evangelist: Right glad am I, said Evangelist, not that you have met with trials, but that you have been victors; and for that you have, notwithstanding many weaknesses, continued in the way to this very day.

I say, right glad am I of this thing, and that for mine own sake and yours. I have sowed, and you have reaped: and the day is coming, when both he that sowed and they that reaped shall rejoice together; that is, if you hold out: “for in due season you shall reap, if you faint not.” The crown is before you, and it is an incorruptible one; so run, that you may obtain it. Some there be that set out for this crown, and, after they have gone far for it, another comes in, and takes it from them. Hold fast, therefore, that you have; let no man take your crown. You are not yet out of the gun-shot of the devil; you have not resisted unto blood, striving against sin; let the kingdom be always before you, and believe steadfastly concerning things that are invisible. Let nothing that is on this side the other world get within you; and, above all, look well to your own hearts, and to the lusts thereof, “for they are deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Set your faces like a flint; you have all power in heaven and earth on your side.

After the departure of Talkative, Christian and Faithful continue their journey together. Their pathway now takes them “through a wilderness.” Bunyan began the story with the words “as I walked through the wilderness of this world.” The wilderness represents the world in which we live, especially in its opposition and rejection of God. It is a place fraught with danger, dryness and desolation, as the pilgrims are soon again to discover. They press on by walking together and encouraging one another. Christian learned at the Little Ascent, where he first saw Faithful, the value of Christian fellowship. That fellowship now serves to invigorate them and make the way easy where it may have been tedious.

Christian Faithful and EvangelistAs Christian and Faithful near the end of the wilderness, they see a friend coming after them. Both recognize him as Evangelist. Evangelist has appeared twice before in Bunyan’s allegory: at the beginning where he pointed Christian to the Gate, and at Mount Sinai where he admonished Christian for heeding the voice of Worldly Wiseman and straying from the Way. Evangelist was instrumental in sharing the gospel with both Christian and Faithful. Now he returns to see how they are doing in the journey.

Evangelist addresses them as “dearly beloved.” His words of greeting come from 1 Chronicles 12:8 where Amasai greets David, saying: “Peace, peace to you, and peace to your helpers! For your God helps you.”

Both Christian and Faithful are delighted to see him. They welcome him as a friend and are grateful for his ministry and care for their souls. They readily share with him an account of their journey. As Evangelist listens to their stories, he rejoices, not because they have walked through dark trials, but because they have been victorious through trials and have persevered. Despite many weaknesses, they have “continued in the way to this very day.”

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 John 4).

He is grateful to see lasting fruit from his labors:

“And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together” (John 4:36).

And once again he points the pilgrims to Christ and to His Word. He brings them encouragement, exhortation and warning from the Scriptures.

He tells them to “hold out” and not faint, for in due time they will reap a reward:

“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9).

He speaks of an incorruptible crown and encourages them to run the race to win the prize:

“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:24–27).

He tells them to “hold fast” and “let no man take your crown” (stand firm and not give into the fear of man):

“Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown” (Revelation 3:11).

He warns them that they must continue to resist the devil (Ephesians 6:10–13; James 4:7) and fight against sin (Romans 6:11–14). They must seek first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 7:33) and aim for what is invisible (spiritual and eternal), rather than what is visible (worldly and temporal; 2 Corinthians 4:18). They are to keep themselves unstained from the world (James 1:27) and guard their hearts from temptations. For “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it” (Jeremiah 17:9).

He urges them to “set your faces like a flint” (press on with determination):

“For the Lord God will help Me;
Therefore I will not be disgraced;
Therefore I have set My face like a flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.”
(Isaiah 50:7)

For all power and authority are on their side:

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen (Matthew 28:18–20).

Bunyan teaches us at least three lessons about what it means to be an Evangelist:

An Evangelist has an abiding commitment to the ministry of the gospel. Christian remembers Evangelist’s earlier kindness and his “unwearied laboring” for the good of pilgrims. We see aspects of Evangelist’s work throughout the story: pointing pilgrims to the way of life, reproving and correcting them when they wander from the way, and now fortifying them to remain faithful to the way. He is ever serving the cause of Christ.

An Evangelist has an abiding concern for souls. Evangelism is not simply sharing Christ, putting a notch in your belt and moving on. It is loving people, investing time and energy and resources for the sake of others. It is following up when possible with discipleship and encouragement. It is caring deeply about the spiritual well-being of people. Evangelist is not content to point Christian and Faithful in the right direction and then forget them. His desire is to see them win the race and complete their journey. And so he continues to serve them to that end.

An Evangelist has an abiding confidence in God’s Word. Evangelist doesn’t offer his own advice or ideas. He knows that there is but one message that pilgrims need to hear and heed. Christian and Faithful are soon to face fierce temptation and trial. Evangelist speaks God’s Word to them faithfully and unashamedly. He knows that God will do all He has promised He will do and so he proclaims that Word with boldness.

From this encounter, we can also learn from Christian and Faithful’s example. They are delighted when Evangelist comes to them. They welcome his counsel and are attentive to his concern. May God make us continually grateful for those who care for our souls and have invested their labors for our spiritual well-being.

A Guide to John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress
See TOC for more posts from this commentary

The text for The Pilgrim’s Progress and images used are public domain
Notes and Commentary ©2016 Ken Puls
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV) ©1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Sufficient Is the Word of God

Bible Sketch

Sufficient is the Word of God
That we may know His will,
And trust each day His providence
By faith content and still.
The secret things belong to God;
Our lives are His to lead.
But He has given us His Word
And that is all we need.

How vain the questions in my heart
To know what lies ahead,
When I neglect to read His Word
And know not what He said.
I need not look beyond His Word
To know His will for me;
If I but walk within its light
My path I’ll plainly see.

Our God has purposed and designed
Each moment of each day,
And though we rise and make our plans
‘Tis He directs our way.
Thus we should say when we arise:
“Lord-willing I shall stand.”
For we, except His Word reveals,
Know not what He has planned.

For who can search the mind of God,
Know what tomorrow brings?
And who can grasp His providence
To understand all things?
Our future rests within God’s hands
And we must leave it there;
Content to walk each day by faith
Within His loving care.

Tomorrow need not cause us fear,
For God knows what will be.
Sufficient that we know His Word
To walk obediently.
Where He has spoken, Let us hear,
Upon His Word we stand.
Where He is silent, Let us rest,
And trust His kind, good hand.

Words ©2000 Kenneth A Puls

This hymn is a reminder that God’s Word is sufficient for us to know His will for us. We “do not know what the future will bring” and so we must learn to say “if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:13–17). “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29). We do not know what the future holds, but we can trust God in His providence and walk in obedience to His Word.

I wrote the hymn during a time of uncertainty. I had graduated from seminary, but was still searching for full time employment in teaching or ministry. I needed to preach truth to myself and rest in God’s providence. In an interesting turn of providence, in the same month I wrote the hymn (July 2000), I also began training to develop online courses and teach as an online instructor at Dallas Baptist University. I later used the knowledge from that training to develop the Founders Study Center when God gave me a full time job with Founders Ministries in 2003. God is good in all He provides.

Download the lyrics and  free sheet music (PDF) for this hymn, including chord charts for acoustic guitar, an arrangement of the tune for Classical Guitar, and an arrangement of the tune for Instrumental Ensemble.

—Ken Puls

The Battleground of the Mind

Bible on Table

It is essential that we give attention to the mind and fortify our thoughts with God’s Word—continually keeping Christ and His gospel foremost in our thinking, so we can recognize evil—to stand against it when needed; to flee from it when needed—and so we can know the truth and embrace it and set the course of our life by it.

It is God’s will that we engage our minds in the spiritual battle and arm ourselves with knowledge and obedience to His Word. There is not one thought that crosses our minds that we can allow to go unchallenged. Paul reminds us:

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled (2 Corinthians 10:4–6).

We must bring the thoughts and imaginations of our mind before the rule of Scripture—setting them under its light and submit them to God’s revealed and holy will.

Why is the mind such a prize for Satan? Why is it such a battlefield for the soul? It is a prize because it is God’s. God has made us to be vessels, to be reflectors. He created us to reflect His glory—to ponder His attributes and perfection and wonder at His holiness and moral excellence. He made it to absorb and delight in truth and righteousness.

Paul tells us in Romans 8:29 that God foreknew and predestined His people to be conformed to the image of His Son. It is our hope one day to be like Christ. We read in 1 John 3:

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (1 John 3:2–3).

It is by God’s design that we are made impressionable. He describes Himself as the Potter and us as the clay. He is the One who has given us the capacity to learn and grasp and know. According to Genesis 1:26 we were made to bear God’s image. Part of being made in the image of God is our ability to know Him and love Him and serve Him with our minds. His has given us a measure of some of His attributes—an ability to understand, to create, to be just, to show mercy, to love, to be truthful and faithful…

We are created to bear His image and to reflect a measure His glory. But sin has marred that image and dulled that reflection. And so instead of displaying His praise, we are twisted out of shape and bent by the evil that is in us and around us. Instead of delighting in truth, we exchange truth for a lie and squander our thoughts in paths that are empty and godless. We must be concerned with the mind, because we need guidance, direction, prodding and shaping to be made into the person God desires us to be.

We are in a battle for the truth. All of us will conform to something—we will be shaped. Satan’s goal is to deceive us and destroy us by marring that shape with evil. The world is attempting to shape us—intimidate us, allure us or shame us into conformity. Our flesh is weak and ready to give in and drift with the flow. But God desires us to stand firm and resist and fight. And to do so we must engage our minds.

[This excerpt is from a sermon entitled “Renewing the Mind in Worship” in the series Thoughts on Worship. You can read the full sermon text here.]

See more Sermons and Articles by Ken Puls

Sunlight in the Valley

Christian: But did you meet nobody else in that valley?

Faithful: No, not I; for I had sunshine all the rest of the way through that, and also through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

Christian: It was well for you. I am sure it fared far otherwise with me. I had for a long season, as soon almost as I entered into that valley, a dreadful combat with that foul fiend Apollyon; yea, I thought verily he would have killed me, especially when he got me down and crushed me under him, as if he would have crushed me to pieces; for as he threw me, my sword flew out of my hand; nay, he told me he was sure of me: but I cried to God, and he heard me, and delivered me out of all my troubles. Then I entered into the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and had no light for almost half the way through it. I thought I should have been killed there, over and over; but at last day broke, and the sun rose, and I went through that which was behind with far more ease and quiet.

Through the ValleyAs Faithful concludes the account of his journey through the two valleys, we see again the difference between Christian’s experience and Faithful’s experience. Faithful did not succumb to the same fears and temptations as Christian. For Christian the way was difficult and dark. He battled Apollyon in the Valley of Humiliation and was confounded with torments and terrors in the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Faithful encountered Discontent and Shame in the first valley, but “had sunshine all the rest of the way through” even through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

Sunlight is an important metaphor in The Pilgrim’s Progress. Earlier in the story, when Christian was in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Bunyan described the rising of the sun as “mercy” to Christian. This mercy was a reflection of Bunyan’s own experience. In Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners Bunyan tells of a dream that he had when he was beginning to understand his need of salvation. The dream provided him ideas he later used to create the story of The Pilgrim’s Progress. In his account of the dream, he explains the significance of the sun.

About this time, the state and happiness of these poor people at Bedford was thus, in a dream or vision, represented to me. I saw, as if they were set on the sunny side of some high mountain, there refreshing themselves with the pleasant beams of the sun, while I was shivering and shrinking in the cold, afflicted with frost, snow and dark clouds. Methought, also, betwixt me and them, I saw a wall that did compass about this mountain; now, through this wall my soul did greatly desire to pass; concluding, that if I could, I would go even into the very midst of them and there also comfort myself with the heat of their sun.

About this wall I thought myself, to go again and again, still prying as I went, to see if I could find some way or passage, by which I might enter therein; but none could I find for some time. At last I saw, as it were, a narrow gap, like a little doorway in the way, through which I attempted to pass; but the passage being very straight and narrow, I made many efforts to get in, but all in vain, even until I was well-nigh quite beat out, by striving to get in. At last, with great striving, methought I at first did get in my head, and after that, by a sidling striving, my shoulders, and my whole body. Then I was exceeding glad, and went and sat down in the midst of them, and so was comforted with the light and heat of their sun.

Now, this mountain and wall, etc., was thus made out to me—the mountain signified the church of the living God; the sun that shone thereon, the comfortable shining of His merciful face on them that were therein. The wall, I thought, was the Word, that did make separation between the Christians and the world; and the gap which was in this wall, I thought was Jesus Christ, who is the way to God the Father (John 14:6; Matthew 7:14). But forasmuch as the passage was wonderful narrow, even so narrow, that I could not, but with great difficulty, enter in thereat, it showed me that none could enter into life, but those that were in downright earnest, and unless they left this wicked world behind them; for here was only room for body and soul, but not for body and soul, and sin.

[Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, par. 53-55]

The sunlight represents the merciful face of Christ shining down on the members of the church in Bedford. They were comforted and refreshed while Bunyan was “shivering and shrinking in the cold, afflicted with frost, snow and dark clouds.” It was only when Bunyan repented of sin and looked to Christ as his only hope that he was able to join them and be “comforted with the light and heat of their sun.” In The Pilgrim’s Progress it was the light of day that comforted Christian when he neared the end of the Valley of the Shadow of Death. When “at last day broke” he walked “with far more ease and quiet.”

As Bunyan notes, the sun gives both light and heat. The light signifies our understanding of God’s Word. We can see and think more clearly in the light of Scripture. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). Christian was confounded and needed the helpful rays of truth on his path. But when the sun arose, it was not just Christian’s mind that was helped. He had not just light but also heat and warmth. His emotions and affections were lifted with the smiling face of Christ. God’s Word was precious to him. He delighted in truth. Christian had forsaken the world to become a pilgrim, a follower of Christ. He was rescued and redeemed, cleansed and forgiven. He belonged to the Lord and now enjoyed the warmth of His presence.

Does hearing and believing God’s Word impact you this way?

Do the promises of the gospel warm your heart and stir your soul? We need truth to do more than just satisfy us intellectually. We need it to do more than just answer our questions. When the truth of all that Christ has done for us truly lands on us, it will do more than simply make us wise to salvation. It will warm and rejoice our hearts. It will stir and overflow our affections. It will move us and grip us in ways that resonate through our entire being. It will cause us to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength (Luke 10:27).
If you know Christ, I pray that this describes your love for God and His Word—that your deepest delight is trusting and resting in Him. And if you don’t know Him, I pray that you will come to know Him this way—that you would understand the depth of His love in the light of His Word and feel the warmth of that love in His abiding presence—that you would know, as Bunyan came to know, “the comfortable shining of His merciful face.”

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
(Numbers 6:24–26)

A Guide to John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress
See TOC for more posts from this commentary

The text for The Pilgrim’s Progress and images used are public domain
Notes and Commentary ©2015 Ken Puls
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV) ©1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Run in with Shame

Christian: Met you with nothing else in that valley?

Faithful: Yes, I met with Shame; but of all the men that I met with in my pilgrimage, he, I think, bears the wrong name. The others would be said nay, after a little argumentation, and somewhat else; but this bold-faced Shame would never have done.

Christian: Why, what did he say to you?

Faithful: What! Why, he objected against religion itself; he said it was a pitiful, low, sneaking business for a man to mind religion; he said that a tender conscience was an unmanly thing; and that for a man to watch over his words and ways, so as to tie up himself from that hectoring liberty that the brave spirits of the times accustom themselves unto, would make him the ridicule of the times. He objected also, that but few of the mighty, rich, or wise, were ever of my opinion; nor any of them neither, before they were persuaded to be fools, and to be of a voluntary fondness, to venture the loss of all, for nobody knows what. He, moreover, objected the base and low estate and condition of those that were chiefly the pilgrims of the times in which they lived: also their ignorance and want of understanding in all natural science. Yea, he did hold me to it at that rate also, about a great many more things than here I relate; as, that it was a shame to sit whining and mourning under a sermon, and a shame to come sighing and groaning home: that it was a shame to ask my neighbor forgiveness for petty faults, or to make restitution where I have taken from any. He said, also, that religion made a man grow strange to the great, because of a few vices, which he called by finer names; and made him own and respect the base, because of the same religious fraternity. And is not this, said he, a shame?

Christian: And what did you say to him?

Faithful: Say! I could not tell what to say at the first. Yea, he put me so to it, that my blood came up in my face; even this Shame fetched it up, and had almost beat me quite off. But at last I began to consider, that “that which is highly esteemed among men, is had in abomination with God.” And I thought again, this Shame tells me what men are; but it tells me nothing what God or the Word of God is. And I thought, moreover, that at the day of doom, we shall not be doomed to death or life according to the hectoring spirits of the world, but according to the wisdom and law of the Highest. Therefore, thought I, what God says is best, indeed is best, though all the men in the world are against it. Seeing, then, that God prefers his religion; seeing God prefers a tender conscience; seeing they that make themselves fools for the kingdom of heaven are wisest; and that the poor man that loves Christ is richer than the greatest man in the world that hates him; Shame, depart, you are an enemy to my salvation! Shall I entertain you against my sovereign Lord? How then shall I look Him in the face at His coming? Should I now be ashamed of His ways and servants, how can I expect the blessing? But, indeed, this Shame was a bold villain; I could scarce shake him out of my company; yea, he would be haunting of me, and continually whispering me in the ear, with some one or other of the infirmities that attend religion; but at last I told him it was but in vain to attempt further in this business; for those things that he disdained, in those did I see most glory; and so at last I got past this importunate one. And when I had shaken him off, then I began to sing—

The trials that those men do meet withal,
That are obedient to the heavenly call,
Are manifold, and suited to the flesh,
And come, and come, and come again afresh;
That now, or sometime else, we by them may
Be taken, overcome, and cast away.
Oh, let the pilgrims, let the pilgrims, then
Be vigilant, and quit themselves like men.

Christian: I am glad, my brother, that you withstood this villain so bravely. For of all, as you say, I think he has the wrong name. For he is so bold as to follow us in the streets, and to attempt to put us to shame before all men, that is, to make us ashamed of that which is good. But if he was not himself audacious, he would never attempt to do as he does. But let us still resist him, for notwithstanding all his bravadoes, he promotes the fool and none else. “The wise shall inherit glory,” said Solomon, “but shame shall be the promotion of fools.”

Faithful: I think we must cry to Him for help against Shame, who would have us to be valiant for the truth upon the earth.

Christian: You say true.

Faithful and ShameAlong with Discontent, Faithful encounters one other foe in the Valley of Humiliation. He meets one whose name is Shame. Based on their conversation, Faithful’s impression is that Shame is misnamed. His name suggests one who feels a measure of guilt or inadequacy, one who is convicted of sin or embarrassed by his actions. But Shame has no shame for himself. He is intent on disgracing others, especially those who would put their hope in God.

Shame is a champion of the world and a reviler of ways of God. He values worldly vice not heavenly virtue. He mocks those who would give serious thought and attention to God’s Word.

Shame is convinced that religion is foolish and belief in God is a weakness. Religion may be fine for the poor and those who are less fortunate, but it is unbecoming to the educated and enlightened, those who should know better. It is not seemly for those who would be mighty, rich or wise in this world to so abase themselves. He scorns those who would ask forgiveness, feel conviction, make restitution, sorrow over sin, give benevolence to the poor, or label vices as sin. He thinks it a shame that people would be so taken in.

But Shame’s belief and boast should not surprise us. God’s ways are not man’s ways. Paul tells us:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).

The very things that Shame would denigrate, God uses to display His power. The things that Shame would despise, God uses for His own glory. God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).

What the world believes is wise “is foolishness with God” (1 Corinthians 3:19a). What the world highly esteems “is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15).

Though Faithful is taken aback at first, he sees the emptiness of Shame’s objections. It is God and His Word that matter most, not man and his opinions. It is God who will one day judge the world. It is God who will receive all the glory. It is God who has highly exalted His Son “and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9–11). Christ is preeminent (Colossians 1:18). Having Christ is more valuable than having all the riches and accolades of this world. Paul goes on to say in Philippians:

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ (Philippians 3:7-8).

Faithful is firm in his faith, but Shame is a persistent companion. Though Faithful attempts to ward him off, he keeps coming back, trying to make the world look more reasonable, trying to make religion look more futile.

Shame is a foe that we must be on guard against as well. He is one we are likely to meet on our own pilgrimage. He is the college professor who ridicules belief in God. She is the coworker who sees no need for God. He is the skeptic who has found reason to dismiss the claims of the Bible. We see Shame in the media as the Christian faith is portrayed as backward, irrational, and discriminatory. We hear his voice getting louder in our culture as Christianity is seen more and more to be out of step with shifting social standards.
We must meet Shame with courage and steadfastness. Like Paul, we must “not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation” (Romans 1:16). Jesus said:

For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels (Mark 8:38).

We must take God at His Word, count all things loss, and pray for divine help to stand firm in our faith.

Christian commends Faithful for bravely resisting Shame. And he reminds Faithful of the proverb:

The wise shall inherit glory,
But shame shall be the legacy of fools.
(Proverbs 3:35)

By scorning the gospel, the only way of salvation and life, Shame lost an inheritance of glory. His foolish choice will surely in the end lead him to shame.

A Guide to John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress
See TOC for more posts from this commentary

The text for The Pilgrim’s Progress and images used are public domain
Notes and Commentary ©2015 Ken Puls
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV) ©1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.