October 7th 2013

Good morning Ollies

Happy October

Today we will review the second chapter in, The Prodigal God, by Tim Keller.

and Psalm 86

Psalm 86 speaks of deep longing , a need for holiness, for something worthy truly sacred to right and comfort us in our distress.

 Verses 4- 7 read:

Gladden the soul of your servant,
    for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
    (I)abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
6 (J)Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
    listen to my plea for grace.
7 In (K)the day of my trouble I call upon you,
    (L)for you answer me.

Then verse 8 and 9 go on to speak of God alone as holy.
If we turn this towards the acts of the Younger Son in chapter two, the astounding truth of the child demanding his claim to inheritance from his father is magnified in light of the Psalm. How can any child so completely eschew this overwhelming need for righteous devotion in favor of worldly gum, only to savor a cheap flavor them spit it out.

Keller breaks up this part of the Scripture into three scenes in Act I. The first scene has to do with the request, I'd rather you be dead father, just give me my portion and I'll leave you. The father acquiesces. It shocks us, but it shocks more fully when paired with our need for this father and what the father does to satisfy his son. He sells his land, crippling himself for a child who does not appreciate him.

In scene II the son goes off to a faraway land and squanders all he has been given, so that he is little more than the pigs he slops. He decides to return and ask to be taken on as an apprentice to a hired hand. He believes he will at least have food and shelter in this manner. He has dishonored the family and expects not to return to it, only to learn a trade and possibly to pay off some of his debt before he dies.

In the final scene of Act I the Younger Son comes within sight of the house and his father races to greet him. Keller points out that children and occasionally women will run , but men, especially heads of households do not run, but this father does. Not only that he call for a feast, a rare feast with a expensive delicacies inviting the entire village. The message, God's love and mercy extend to all sin. He is wholly holy and only He can accomplish this, as Psalm 86:9 states.

Keller goes on to state that Act I show us the freeness of God's grace, but Act II will show us the costliness of God's grace.

Keller ends this chapter by looking at the Elder Brother's response. He is furious. He refuses to enter the feast. His father begs him to join them, to celebrate the return of the one who is lost., but the Elder brother refuses, easily as defiant and as scorching as the Younger Brother's earlier request for his inheritance.

More next month. Thanks you for reading BEV