Lenten Devotional (8) and the Case for Psalm-Singing

Boasting in the Cross

Ever since the days of Babel, human beings have sought to make a name for themselves (Gen. 11:4). Today, our towers can lead to the same doom if we do not trust in Yahweh. C.S. Lewis rightly called this “the anti-God state of mind.” This form of pride that seeks to reach the heavens without the God of heaven suffers a great fall.

The Apostle Paul interpreted this as wrongful boasting. The Judaizers boasted in the flesh (Gal. 6:13), namely their physical rituals. Instead the Apostle spoke of a rightful boasting God endorses:

“But far be it from me to boast [in anything or anyone], except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14).

Fleshly boasting assumes our excessive trust in our own achievements; it builds towers and disregards the Architect. Yet, the Apostle Paul urges us to boast, but he rightly turns the direction of our boasting. For the inspired writer, our boasting is not in our own conquest. It’s the conquest of Another. We boast in a tree that was cut down to save us. We show forth pride in a wooden instrument shaped in the form of a sword where our Savior hung.

Jesus died to become the Savior of all who believe, the protector of all those born anew. In him, we are rescued, restored, and redeemed. We boast in a Savior who conquers by dying.

We do not build towers to the heavens to make a name. Jesus already ascended to heaven for us. There is no greater name in heaven above and earth below. In these remaining weeks, let’s boast! Let us proudly exalt the cross of Jesus. Let’s boast in a bloody cross bearing a beautiful Savior.

Prayer: O, Lord, who ascends to the heaven by way of a tree, make us to boast in serving a God who died for our transgressions and who gives us his name that we might be whole, Amen.

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Notations:

*I am reading 10 minutes a day of John Frame’s masterful Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief. While there are forms of biblicist ideologies that do not take into account history or experience, Frame’s biblicism is tri-perspectival. It is rooted in the text, guided by tradition and experience (context). He argues that every method of theology must root itself in the Bible. Any worthy theologian will build his case fundamentally from the text.

He notes that the reason this kind of thinking is no longer acceptable is that modern scholarship functions autonomously. The authority of the Scriptures is no longer viewed as supreme, and therefore its normativity is viewed as unrespectable.

*Jesus is the great substitute! While Passover celebrates the deliverance from bondage for the Israelites from Egypt, Jesus gives himself over to the Romans for the sake of Israel. The Passover is turned upside down so that we can be free from the Pharaohs of the first century who kept us in bondage.

*Also, hearty thanks to all the new subscribers to The Perspectivalist Podcast. My latest episode out today argues that Psalm-Singing is God’s preferred music for the church and that musical segregation damages the Church’s witness to the world.

Hymn of the Day: Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken