Psalm 23 Devotional:

GNV: 1 Because the Prophet had proved the great mercies of God at divers times, and in sundry manners, he gathereth a certain assurance, fully persuading himself that God will continue the very same goodness towards him forever.

A Psalm of David.

23:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou dost prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou dost anoint my head with oil; and my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Previously we saw the exclusive and covenantal nature of this Psalm, that it is entirely and utterly restricted from the sinner by the hand of God so that they cannot understand it or derive the invincible comfort that cometh by it. Like as the flaming sword was put in the garden of Eden so that man would not be allowed entrance therein on account of his fall into sin, so there is a flaming sword set before this spiritual garden of true rest that men may not be permitted to come in. For although God beckons to men to repent and be saved by the preaching of the word, this general call does not always take root in men’s hearts, given that God who is almighty does not intend to benefit man by it, but often on the contrary promotes their destruction through the same means by which He renews the hearts of His elect. Therefore many attempting to enter this garden of sweet rest and comfort, stumble over their own affections by it into damnation, skipping over the substance of the scripture which is the gospel, and the doctrine of free justification by faith through grace, and imagine they are permitted to rest here without authorization and access by the author thereof. For God will not be mocked. If we take our rest in the words which God has written for the benefit of His people, then it must follow that we have a mind and will to obey its commands also, and understand the doctrine contained therein. Such is why ministers labor to explain and expound passages in the Bible, for that the people are not benefited by their own understanding of any particular verse in scripture, but when the true word of God is found by the sound explanation of the same, they are encouraged to grow thereby, as a plant which is budding up and sprouting in new life must have good ground, light and water, so the Christian must be grounded in scripture doctrine, receive the light of the word by preaching, and be watered by the grace of the Spirit, else he receives no benefit by it. as it is written, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” and again, “Thy word is a light unto my feet, and a lamp unto my paths.” and again, “For he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that will bring forth his fruit in due season; whose leaf shall not wither; so whatsoever he shall do, shall prosper.” And so, it is not a sign of true piety that we come to the word and hope to receive comfort therefrom if we are not established in the doctrine that makes the word comfortable. For it is certain that Christians derive unspeakable and invincible comfort from the word of God, but it is equally certain that hypocrites and outsiders, though they may pretend to have fond admiration for things contained in the word, it is not pure or complete, and therefore it is a fantasy and delusion of their own making, the same kind of comfort that philosophers receive from their own stoic sayings. Therefore Calvin writes, “God is a shepherd only to those who, touched with a sense of their own weakness and poverty, feel their need of his protection, and who willingly abide in his sheepfold, and surrender themselves to be governed by him.” And again it is written in the prophets, “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.”

Westminster Confession 18. 1-2

“1. Although hypocrites and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of being in the favor of God, and estate of salvation (which hope of theirs shall perish): yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him, may, in this life, be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed.
2. This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope; but an infallible assurance of faith founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made, the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God, which Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption.”

Dickson,
This Psalme is the expression of the Prophets confidence in Gods grace, wherein from the setling himself in the belief of our covenanted relation, between God and him, he doth draw sundry comfortable conclusions and confirmations of faith, from it, concerning the Lords furnishing every necessary good thing to him, ver. 1, 2. For recovery of him from every evill condition, wherein he may fall, ver. 3 And for assisting and comforting him in the greatest danger he could fall into, ver. 4. And for making him blessed in despite of his enemies, ver. 5. And for his continuing in Gods grace, and fellowship for ever, ver. 6.

Poole,
He hath showed himself to be so by his gracious providences towards me and for me; and he hath taken upon him that office and relation to me by his entering into covenant with me, whereby he hath engaged himself to rule, and feed, and preserve, and heal me, and do all which shepherds do, or are obliged to do, to their flocks; which David very well understood, and had doubtless carefully performed his duty to his sheep; and therefore he strengthens his faith by this consideration, that God was his Shepherd; and as God was a much better Shepherd than he or any man could he, so he might confidently expect more than ordinary benefits from his conduct. I shall not want, to wit, any thing which is really necessary for me, either for this life or for the next. But foolish man may think many things to be necessary for him, which the all-wise God knoweth to be not only unnecessary, but hurtful, and therefore mercifully denies what men ignorantly desire to their hurt.

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And so coming before God as our covenantal Father through the Lord Jesus Christ let us offer our hearts to Him in worship, for that He is worthy of all praise and adoration.

Opening Prayer.

Intro. Calvin’s Sermon.
• I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. – Gal. 1:6-8

Now we will look more deeply into the subject I touched upon this morning. I said that whereas Paul does not spare the Galatians, neither does he wish to shut the gate of salvation to them completely. He intends to bring them to repentance, and for this reason he speaks of the grace of God into which they had all been called. Yet, he does not flatter them; rather, he rebukes them for their sins. In particular, he rebukes them for their fickleness, for they had listened to deceivers who came in among them distorting the pure doctrine of the gospel. In order to make them better perceive their treachery, Paul says he marvels that they have forsaken their heavenly calling so quickly and easily. He wonders how it is that they have been led astray so swiftly, and how it is that they have remained in that state, given that they had felt and experienced the grace of God in our Lord Jesus Christ. Because he is seeking to restore them, he is not saying at the outset that they have completely turned away from the gospel, but rather that they have been overtaken by temptation through seducers, who sought no less than to pervert the truth of God. There is only one pure gospel, as also there is only one Jesus Christ on whom it is founded. It is not for us to create the gospel anew; indeed, if we seek to add anything to the pure seed which we have received from our Lord Jesus Christ, we are destroying what God has established. This, in sum, is what Paul is teaching us in this first verse.

It might seem that Paul is being overly harsh and severe in rebuking the Galatians’ weakness, seeing they had never once thought of rejecting the gospel, nor Jesus Christ who had been preached to them. But Paul pays no attention to the way they viewed the situation; he sees it as it really is — in other words, that once people turn away from the truth of God, they are rejecting Jesus Christ and cutting themselves off from him. Some people may think this strange, for many would like to mix light with darkness. Indeed, the confusion that exists in Popery is an outstanding example of this. They make many wonderful claims to the effect that they are upholding the Christian faith into which they have been baptised. But, for all this, it is clear that they have turned everything upside-down. Superstitions reign, and they practise open idolatry of a worse kind than has ever been known, even among the pagans. Any reverence for God is destroyed, since each one sets himself up as a saviour in place of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the Papists would respond by saying that they are not apostates, and that they have not abandoned Jesus Christ. But our Lord Jesus Christ is no ghost; he cannot change according to the whims of men. In short, he cannot be separated from his church. Thus, whatever the Papists may claim, they rob Jesus Christ of all his authority. ‘If there is only one mediator,’ [they say], ‘what about the male saints, our patrons, and the female saints, our advocates?’ If we speak to them of the sacrifice by which our Lord Jesus Christ has obtained perfect justification for all believers, once and for all, [they will say], ‘Are we not supposed to say Mass every day and offer Jesus Christ again as a sacrifice to appease the wrath of God?’ If we speak to them of free forgiveness of sins, [they will say], ‘What about the ways in which we have made satisfaction for our own sins, and thus earned God’s pity?’ If we say that we can only be made good by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, and that until God transforms us, we are full of sin and rebellion, [they will say], ‘What? What about our free will?’ In short, they will name the name of Jesus Christ often enough, and will still give him his title of Redeemer, but they will divide his office and put it on offer so that each man may claim a share in it for himself. They also imagine that the saints and angels in paradise are their patrons, and that, therefore, they have infinite means of coming before God, for so it seems to them. Now, we may well conclude that the Holy Spirit has good reason to call them apostates; for they have forsaken Jesus Christ, and cut themselves off from him. They even misuse his name. But Jesus Christ never changes; we have seen that Paul says in 2 Corinthians that we will not find in him yes and no (2 Cor. 1:19), because he remains constant. Thus, whatever the Papists babble about Christianity, it is nothing but mere hypocrisy and lies. They falsely and wickedly use the name of the Son of God, either as a mask or as an idol.

This, then, is why Paul accuses the Galatians of having been led astray. If we ask what they had done, the answer is that they sought to observe the ceremonies of the law as if they were necessary. Yes, it is true that these ceremonies had been ordained by God. Of course; yet, they were a temporary condition for the people of old, for at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ all this had to cease. Because the Galatians were mixing old figures and the shadows of the law with the pure light of the gospel, Paul, unable to bear it, says that they have rebelled and turned away from God. But there was something worse: namely, that they were making the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ altogether void, by believing that man can merit and acquire his own justification before God, and make himself acceptable in God’s service. When these deceivers introduced this particular error of keeping to the ‘former shadows’, it led the Galatians to believe that they were presenting God with meritorious service. Yet, our salvation must be free, or Jesus Christ is no longer anything. We call it free salvation simply because it is given to us by God, and we come to him to be fed, with nothing but a hungry desire for what we are lacking. We should approach God as miserable beggars, if we would be justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. For if we imagine that we have one drop of merit, we will not be motivated to come to him. One of the learned ancients said, and not without reason, that we cannot receive the salvation offered to us in our Lord Jesus Christ unless we can first erase the memory of all our merits, and acknowledge that we are only full of wretchedness. Paul, therefore, was completely justified in saying that the Galatians had fallen away from Jesus Christ and from God the Father.

However, there was another problem: they had been deluded into believing what others desired them to believe. They had been subjected to a slavish bondage, which robbed them of the peace of conscience that they ought to have had in the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, together with the reconciliation we have through his sacrificial death and passion, we must also be set free from the rigours of the law to which we were once in bondage. To explain this (as we will soon see more clearly; for here I am dismissing these matters, but we will see their wider implications shortly), you know that it says in the law that all those who do not fulfil what God commands to the last letter will be accursed (Deut. 27:26). Yet it is impossible for us to reach such perfection. Therefore, it was necessary for our Lord Jesus Christ to obtain our liberty, and to free us from the yoke of the law, which we are unable to bear, as it says in the fifteenth chapter of Acts (Acts 15:10).

We have now seen, in effect, why Paul accuses the Galatians of rebelling, and why he calls them traitors to God and to our Lord Jesus Christ: they had robbed him of the loyalty that they had promised. By this, we too are being admonished to keep to the pure and simple doctrine of the gospel, without straying in one direction or another. For it is not enough to have the name and title of Christians, or to bear the mark of baptism: we must continue steadfast in the doctrine of the gospel. As we have said before, our Lord Jesus Christ cannot deny himself. He can only be known in the way he has been revealed to us by God the Father, our own various conceptions of him being irrelevant. The gospel shows us why he came, his office, the benefits that we receive from him and the strength that he gives us. If we do not have the pure and simple doctrine which our Lord Jesus Christ has revealed, we have nothing at all, but if we have been taught it, let us hold on to it to the very end. If we draw back, even just a little, it is nothing short of unfaithfulness. Indeed, we must remember that terrible Fall, where we, together with others, fell and became entangled with so many errors, lies and deceits of Satan, that Jesus Christ was totally unknown to us. Since God has now, in his goodness, taken us from such an abyss, let us resolve to have firm and constant faith, so that we are no longer shaken like reeds in the wind. Let us remain firmly rooted in the gospel, grounded upon the invincible power of our Lord Jesus Christ. In him all the promises of God are ‘yes and amen’ (2 Cot 1:20); their truth and their fulfilment is in him. Therefore, let our faith rest steadfast in these facts. This is what we must retain in our minds from Paul’s teaching in this passage.

To make the Galatians even more ashamed of themselves, he speaks to them of the calling of grace. We can relate the words, ‘from him that called you’, as much to Jesus Christ as to God the Father, there being no great significance in this. We can, however, understand what Paul is saying. He is criticising the Galatians for their base behaviour; for they had even less excuse for going astray, considering they had experienced the goodness of God. For if God calls us, even if he summons us in order to put us to shame, we are still his creatures, and, therefore, owe him our obedience. We must always submit to his authority, whatever he decides to do with us. It is our duty to say to him: ‘Here I am. What do you require of me?’ Whereas, if we make excuses when God calls us, we are perverting the proper order of things. But God not only calls us to himself, he gives us all the treasures of his goodness in our Lord Jesus Christ. He gives himself willingly to us, asking of us only that we should be his own. Since God treats us with such kindness, and ravishes all our faculties with admiration for him, this should render us most unwilling to draw back. Nevertheless, if we do happen to wander to and fro after we have come to him, we will have much less excuse, and will therefore suffer a more severe and a more terrifying condemnation, as I have already suggested.

We see now why Paul mentions the grace into which the Galatians had been called. In fact, we are more guilty today than our fathers were under the law, if we fail to abide in the pure doctrine of the gospel, without swerving from it. For although God led our forefathers to salvation under the law, yet that calling was not accompanied by such open and abundant displays of the riches of his mercy as we now have in our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us examine ourselves. If God has already made his grace known to us, may this inspire and encourage us to have even greater boldness and invincible strength, so that we may continue in our calling, until we reach the place to which he is calling us. When we compare ourselves with wretched, ignorant unbelievers, our ingratitude is all the more apparent, in that we have had fuller and nobler grace shown to us. We know that many poor souls stray far and wide. They are, however, subject to condemnation: ‘For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law’ (Rom. 2:12). Now, as for us, God has declared his will to us in such familiar terms, and has given us the opportunity to learn the doctrines of the gospel (if we would only apply ourselves to them); therefore, our condemnation will be even greater than theirs, if we do not make every effort to devote ourselves entirely to God, as I have already said. This makes our responsibility all the greater.

To the True and Faithful Members of Christ’s Church. Lesson 7. The Christian’s opposition to idolatry.

1. And thus hitherto stood the condition of the true Church of Christ, albeit not without some repugnance and difficulty, yet in some mean state of the truth and verity, until the time of Pope Hildebrand called Gregory VII, which was near about the year 1080, and of Pope Innocent III in the year 1215. By whom altogether was turned upside down, all order broken, discipline dissolved, true doctrine defaced, and Christian faith extinguished. 2. Instead, there was set up the preaching of men’s decrees, dreams, and idle traditions. And whereas before, truth was free to be disputed among learned men, now liberty was turned into law, Argument into Authority. Whatsoever the Bishop of Rome denounced, that stood for an oracle, to be received by all men without opposition or contradiction. Whatsoever was contrary, ipso facto it was heresy, to be punished with fagot and flaming fire. Then began the sincere faith of this English Church, which held out so long, to quail. Then was the clear sunshine of God’s word overshadowed with mists and darkness, appearing like sackcloth to the people, who neither could understand what they read, nor were yet permitted to read what they could understand. In these miserable days, as the true visible Church began now to shrink and keep in for fear, so upstarted a new sort of players to furnish the stage, such as School Doctors, Canonists, and four orders of Friars. Besides other Monastic sects and fraternities of infinite variety. Which ever since have kept such a stir in the Church, that almost none dared to rout, neither Caesar, king, nor subject. What they defined, stood. What they approved, was Catholic. 3. What they condemned, was heresy. Whomsoever they accused, almost none could save. And thus have these hitherto continued or rather reigned in the Church, the space now of four hundred years and odd. During which space, the true Church of Christ, although it dared not openly appear in the face of the world, oppressed by tyranny, yet neither was it so invisible or unknown, but by the providence of the Lord, some remnant always remained from time to time, which not only showed secret good affection to sincere doctrine, but also stood in open defense of truth against the disordered Church of Rome.

(In which Catalogue, first to pretermit Barthramus and Barengarius, who were before Pope Innocent III, a learned multitude of sufficient witnesses here might be produced, whose names neither are obscure nor doctrine unknown: as Joachim Abbot of Calabria, Almericus a learned Bishop, who was judged a heretic for holding against Images, in the time of the said Innocentius. Besides the Martyrs of Alsatia, of whom we read a hundred to be burned by the said Innocentius in one day, as writeth Hermanus Mutius. Add likewise to these Waldenses or Albigenses, which to a great number segregated themselves from the Church of Rome. To this number also belonged (Reymundus Earle of Toulouse, Marsilius Patiuius, Gulielmus de S. Amore, Simon Tornacensis, Arnoldus de nova villa, Ioannes Semeca) , besides divers other preachers in Suevia standing against the Pope. Anno 1240. Ex Cranz. Laurentius Anglicus a Master of Paris, anno 1260. Petrus Ioannis a Minorite, who was burned after his death, anno 1290. Robertus Gallas a Dominicke Friar, anno 1291. Robert Grosthead Bishop of Lincoln who was called Malleus Romanorum, anno 1250. Lord Peter de Cugnerijs, anno 1329. To these we may add more: our Gulielmus Ockam, Bongratius Bergomensis, Luitpoldus Andreas Laudensis, Ulri∣cus Hangenor, Treasurer to the Emperor, Ioannes de Ganduno, anno 1330, mentioned in the Extravagantes, Andreas de Castro, Buridianus, Euda, Duke of Burgundy, who counseled the French king not to receive the newly found constitutions and extravagantes of the Pope into his realm, Dantes Alligerius, an Italian, who wrote against the Pope, Monks, and Friars, and against the donation of Constantine, anno 1330. Taulerus, a German preacher, Conradus Hager imprisoned for preaching against the Mass, anno 1339. The author of the book called, Poenitentiarius Asini, compiled about the year 1343. Michael Cesenas a gray Friar, Petrus de Corbaria, with Ioannes de Poliaco, mentioned in the Extravagantes and condemned by the Pope, Ioannes de Castilione, with Franciscus de Arcatara, who were burned about the year of our Lord 1322. Ioannas Rochtaylada, otherwise called Haybalus, with another Friar martyred about the year 1346. Franciscus Petrarcha, who called Rome the whore of Babylon, &c. anno 1350. Georgius Ariminensis, anno 1350. Ioannes de Rupe Scissa, imprisoned for certain prophecies against the Pope, anno 1340. Gerhardus Ridder, who also wrote against Monks and Friars a book called Lacryma Ecclesiae, anno 1350. Godfridus de Fontanis, Gulielmus de Landuno, Ioannes Monachus Cardini, Armachanus, Nicholaus Orem preacher, anno 1364. Militzius a Bohemian, who then preached that Antichrist was come, and was excommunicate for the same, anno 1366. Iacobus Misnensis, Mathias Parisiensis a Bohemian born, and a writer against the Pope, anno 1370. Ioannes Mountziger, Rector of the University of Ulm, anno 1384. Nilus Arch. of Thessalonica, Henricus de Sota, Henricus de Hassia, &c.)

4. I do but recite the principal writers and preachers in those days: How many thousands there were who never bowed their knees to Baal, that is known to God alone. Of whom we find in the writings of one Brushius that thirty-six Citizens of Maguntia were burned, anno 1390, who following the doctrine of the Waldenses, affirmed the Pope to be the great Antichrist. Also Massaeus records of one hundred and forty, who in the province of Narbon were put to the fire for not receiving the decretals of Rome, besides those who suffered at Paris to the number of twenty-four at one time, anno 1210, and the next year after four hundred were burned under the names of Heretics. Besides also a certain good Hermit, an Englishman, of whom mention is made in John Bacon, Dist. 2. Quest. 1, who was committed for disputing in Paul’s Church against certain Sacraments of the Church of Rome, anno 1306.

To descend now somewhat lower in drawing out the descent of the Church. What a multitude here cometh of faithful witnesses in the time of John Wycliffe, as Ocliffe, Wickliffe. an. 1376. W. Thorp White, Purvey, Patshall, Payne, Gower, Chaucer, Gascoyne, William Swinderby, Walter Brute, Roger Dexter, William Sautry about the year 1400. John Badby, an. 1410. Nicholas Taylor, Rich. Wagstaffe, Mich. Scrivener, William Smith, John Henry, W. Parchment-maker, Roger Goldsmith, with an Ancress called Mathilde in the City of Leicester, Lord Cobham, Sir Roger Acton knight, John Beverley preacher, John Husse, Jerome of Prague Schoolmaster, with a number of faithful Bohemians and Thaborites not to be told with whom I might also adjoin Laurentius Valla and Johannes Picus, the learned Earl of Mirandula. But what do I stand upon recall of names, which almost are infinite.

Wherefore if any be so far beguiled in his opinion to think the doctrine of the church of Rome (as it now standeth) to be of such antiquity, and that the same was never impugned before the time of Luther and Zwinglius now of late, let him read these histories: or if he think the said history not to be of sufficient credit to alter his persuasion let him peruse the Acts and Statutes of Parliaments, passed in this realm of ancient time and therein consider and confer the course of times; where he may find and read. An. 5. Regis Richardi. 2. in the year of our Lord. 1380. of a great number (which there be called evil persons) going about from town to town in frieze gowns preaching unto the people etc. which preachers although the words of the Statute do term there to be dissembling persons, preaching diverse Sermons containing heresies & notorious errors, to the blemishment of Christian faith, and of holy Church etc. as the words do there pretend: yet notwithstanding every true Christian reader may conceive of those Preachers to teach no other doctrine, than now they hear their own Preachers in Pulpits Preach, against the Bishop of Rome and the corrupt heresies of his Church.

5. Furthermore, he shall find likewise in the year of our Lord 1402. another like company of good Preachers and faithful defenders of true doctrine against blind heresy and error. Whom albeit the words of the Statute there, through corruption of that time, do falsely term, to be false and perverse Preachers, under dissembled holiness, teaching in those days openly and privately new doctrines and heretical opinions contrary to the faith and determination of holy Church. etc. yet notwithstanding whosoever readeth histories and conferreth the order and descent of times, shall understand these to be no false teachers, but faithful witnesses of the truth, not teaching any new doctrines contrary to the determination of holy Church: But rather shall find that Church to be unholy, which they Preached against, teaching rather itself heretical opinions contrary both to antiquity, and verity of Christ’s true Catholic Church.

Of the like number also, or greater, of like true faithful favorers and followers of God’s holy word, we find in the year of our Lord. 1420. specified in a letter sent from Henry Chicheley Archbishop of Canterbury, to Pope Martin 5. in the fifth year of his Papacy, where mention is made of so many here in England infected: (as he said) with the heresies of Wycliffe and Husse, that without force of any army they could not be suppressed. etc. Whereupon the Pope sent two Cardinals to the Archbishop to cause a tenth to be gathered of all spiritual and Religious men, and the money to be laid in the chamber Apostolic, and if that were not sufficient, the residue to be made up of Chalices, Candlesticks, and other implements of the Church etc.

1. Idolatry is the defacement of religion and the extinguishing of Christian faith.

2. Tyranny is lies and idolatry enforced by law or the sword. Christians have no need to fear of truth or upright conduct being enforced.

3. Heresy in the false church, Catholic or evangelical is whatsoever is repugnant to the church. Heresy according to the scripture is whatsoever is disagreeable to scripture.

4. True believers are characterized by opposition to idolatry.

5. As we have said pertaining to the duty of ministers so Foxe has set down in writing the matters of chief importance concerning the identity of the church, that is opposing idolatry and defending sound doctrine.

6. It is ever the nature of the false church to bite against the true, with fangs and venom agreeable to that scripture, “I will put enmity”.

Conclusion.

Closing Prayer.

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