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“Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight,” Psalm 144:1.

David was a warrior. He was engaged in WAR all his days and that most successfully. In that he was a type of the Lord Jesus. This world has a very perverted view of Christ, mislead chiefly by the ‘pansied’ notions of liberal preachers. This world will one day see Him as He is.  “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war,” Revelation 19:11.

Please note from our text, read on the Sabbath past as part of my daily Bible readings, that:

I. THERE IS A WAR THAT IS HOLY AND RIGHTEOUS.

1. The wars of men are rarely if ever born of anything other than fleshly desires.There have been wars that are termed ‘just’. Evil dictators and aggressors have been opposed by those whose liberties and wellbeing they threaten. But even such are attended by wickedness and cruelty. The battlefield has very been a place where fleshly lusts have reared their head. The worst of crimes have marred the most honourable attempts to curtail and bring to justice those whose whole desire is to afflict and harm their neighbours.

In living memory, Adolf Hitler is an example of the tyrant who it was right to go to war to overthrow. None can deny however, that wrong was wrought by soldiers in the allied armies during that honourable crusade.

2. In more recent times we have seen tyrants warring against their weaker neighbours. In Iraq, Syria, North Korea, and at the present time, the evil attack of Putin’s Russia upon Ukraine, are all examples of the actions of tyrants. Many have sought to aid Ukraine’s struggle against her tyrannical neighbour, believing her cause to be just. Yet, we would be foolish to think that every action of Ukraine’s armies was untainted by wrongdoing! Man’s ‘rules of war’ are rarely kept on the battlefield. Human rage and revenge are frequently yielded to!

3. However, there is an ongoing war which is virtuous in ever detail, though sadly, it must be confessed that those engaged in this holy war have often marred its testimony by breaching the rules laid down for its conduct.

I am referring to that war the Lord started and has maintained against sin and the devil. The beginning of that war is recorded in Genesis. “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel,” Genesis 3:14-15. (more…)

“‭All the kings‭ of the earth‭ shall praise‭‭ thee, O LORD‭, when they hear‭‭ the words‭ of thy mouth‭.‭ ‭Yea, they shall sing‭‭ in the ways‭ of the LORD‭: for great‭ ‭is‭ the glory‭ of the LORD‭,‭”‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Psalm 138:4-5.

We sang the metrical version of this psalm in the morning prayer meeting last Lord’s Day. The above appears in this form in the metrical version.

All kings upon the earth that are
shall give thee praise, O Lord,
When as they from thy mouth shall hear
thy true and faithful word.

Yea, in the righteous ways of God
with gladness they shall sing:
For great’s the glory of the Lord;
who doth for ever reign.

As I joined in the singing, I was thrilled to note yet again in God’s Word, a reference to a wonderful future time when the present attitude of men, royal or otherwise, will be very different indeed.

I acknowledge that my eye seems to ‘home in’ on such references in the Bible whenever I am reading it. Often times it is to see the significance of the reference for the first time but at other times it is to peruse again with joy a familiar portion.

That there is a coming ‘golden age’ has ever been in the minds of men. It originated with the Greeks. The term ‘golden age’ comes from ancient Greek mythology and refers to a mythical time when all people lived in peace, prosperity, and happiness without having to work. Men have long looked for a re-birth of such a time.

THE BIBLE

Though Greek philosophers are credited with such a notion, in truth it is from the Bible that the hope of such an age is born! The prophet Isaiah spoke of a time on the earth when men “‭‭‭‭‭‭‭‭shall beat‭‭ their swords‭ into plowshares‭, and their spears‭ into pruninghooks‭: nation‭ shall not lift up‭‭ sword‭ against nation‭, neither shall they learn‭‭ war‭ any more,‭”‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Isaiah 2:4.

He speaks again of this wonderful time in chapter 11:6-9.

“‭The wolf‭ also shall dwell‭‭ with the lamb‭, and the leopard‭ shall lie down‭‭ with the kid‭; and the calf‭ and the young lion‭ and the fatling‭ together‭; and a little‭ child‭ shall lead‭‭ them.‭ ‭And the cow‭ and the bear‭ shall feed‭‭; their young ones‭ shall lie down‭‭ together‭: and the lion‭ shall eat‭‭ straw‭ like the ox‭.‭ ‭And the sucking child‭‭ shall play‭‭ on the hole‭ of the asp‭, and the weaned child‭‭ shall put‭‭ his hand‭ on the cockatrice‭’ den‭.‭ ‭They shall not hurt‭‭ nor destroy‭‭ in all my holy‭ mountain‭: for the earth‭ shall be full‭‭ of the knowledge‭ of the LORD‭, as the waters‭ cover‭‭ the sea‭.‭”‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Though mankind has lost its contact with the Word of God, as once the nations knew it in ages past, it has retained something of this longed for dream of an age utterly in contrast with the present turbulence, misery and death! (more…)

Here is how one newspaper headlined a report of a recent display of downright ignorance, irreverence and blasphemy by the ‘Archbishop of York’. This was no spokesman for the ‘anti-Bible league’ but the second most senior cleric in the Church of England.

Archbishop of York Rev Stephen Cottrell says that starting the Lord’s Prayer with ‘Our Father’ is problematic

What he says beggars belief for its illogical and unjustifiable ‘reasoning’.

He says that ‘victims of abusive parents’ would find this a problem. Surely the whole desire of the victim of an abusive father would be that he had had a loving father, just like our heavenly Father, rather than the cruel parent he suffered under.

It is impossible to fathom the depths of this man’s folly! If this is what it is like at the top of Episcopalianism, one can only imagine what its core is like!

Our Heavenly Father is one to Whom we ought to delight in coming to Him and having the privilege of calling Him ‘Father’. Of course, many who recite the prayer the Archbishop refers to, have no right to call God their Father. Millions upon millions, myself included for a time before my conversion, go through the process of repeating these sacred words and yet have no actual knowledge of or living relationship with God!

The Lord Jesus said: “If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me,” John 8:42.

God is not the ‘Father’ of those who do not believe in and who do not love Christ as their Saviour. (more…)