Come Thou Fount, Psalms 8:1, and 31:1-4

My Shepherd met me in His green pastures and laid me down in Luke 6. Two passages spoke to me in a particular way: Luke 6:20-26:**

Luke 6:20 ¶ And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.

Luke 6:21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.

Luke 6:22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.

Luke 6:23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

Luke 6:24 But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.

Luke 6:25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.

Luke 6:26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

Notice that Jesus said blessed (translated happy in John 13:17), are the poor,* the hungry, and those who weep (Luke 6:20-21). And He warns that woe will come to those who are now rich, full, and laughing (Luke 6:24-25). Did you catch His insertion of the word now? He is talking about a present condition.

The basis for His assertion that such as are poor now, who are hungry now, and who weep now, should be happy, and count themselves blessed, is that the poor*** will inherit the kingdom of God, the hungry will be filled, and those who weep will laugh (Luke 6:20-21).

He pronounces woe upon those who are now rich, full, and laughing (Luke 6:24-25). Why? The rich have received their consolation. Those who are full now will hunger later. Those who laugh now will later mourn and weep.

Along the still waters, as I pondered all this, I asked, “What is the point?” Think about it! Be happy if you are poor in this world, if you are hungry, and if you are sad. Then, be grieved if you are rich, full, and happy. I noticed that the reason for each of these exhortations rests on the expectation of change.

The poor can anticipate a change in their circumstances: an inheritance that will make them richer than Elon. The hungry will experience a change in their status: they are hungry, but they will be full. The sad may anticipate that they will not remain sad forever; things will change, and they will be happy. Therefore, be content rather than despondent in times of trouble.

Likewise, riches make themselves wings and fly away (Proverbs 23:5; see James 5:2). If riches increase, “set not your heart upon them” (Psalm 62:10). A time of feasting can turn to famine (Deuteronomy 8:10-20). A time of laughing can quickly be turned to mourning, for there is “a time to weep, and a time to laugh” (Ecclesiastes 3:4), and time and chance happen to all (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Therefore, be content, but not complacent, in times of plenty.

Paul, by the Spirit, instructed the preacher: “Having food and raiment … be content,” and “godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6-8). Less than this, we can know that our Lord has called us to be afflicted and mourn, and let our laughter be turned to mourning, and our joy to heaviness (James 4:9). And we may endure such seasons knowing that it will pass.

Whether you are in a season of abundance or abasement, or anywhere in between, learn what Paul learned: “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11).

Contentment is grounded upon acceptance of what is your case in any given season, knowing God cares for you (1 Peter 5:7), that He works all things to good on your behalf (Romans 8:28), that He has some good purpose to work through your circumstances: sickness: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; persecution: Genesis 50:20 (this is especially mentioned by Jesus in the sermon we are examining (Luke 6:22-23, 26)). In seasons of abasement or seasons of abundance (Philippians 4:12), seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, trusting He Who knows what you have need of in advance will provide (Matthew 6:31-34).

In the valley, kneeling in the shadow of His Cross, I heard the Spirit speak to my heart: “Lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

The voice, as a sound of many waters, filled my heart with peace: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

Jesus endured the Cross for the “joy that was set before him.” Let us be content to take up our cross for the joy He has set before us: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him:

2Timothy 2:11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:

2Timothy 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

2Timothy 2:13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

At the table, my Shepherd spoke to me concerning the power of contentment: it breaks every chain  Satan has forged to snare you in this world (Mark 4:19 — “And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.”)

Remember, He Who grasped not at His own glory, instructs us to be likeminded, and to “Let [our] conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as [we] have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5).

He anointed my head with His oil and filled my cup with His grace. Goodness and mercy followed as we moved into the harvest, together!

Praying for revival! 🙏

Going live asap:

https://rumble.com/v7bi08c-shepherds-pasture.html

[*The word poor here is not qualified, as it is in Matthew 5:3, where it does not refer to paucity but rather to humility. (See the footnote ** where I show that this Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:17) is not a parallel account of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1).) In our present text, the word should be taken in the sense of lack, or impoverishment, but also qualified by His use of the word in Matthew 5:3. In other words, those who are humble and are lacking material things should consider themselves blessed.]

[**Many believe Luke 6:20-38 is a parallel account of the Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew 5-7. However, Levi (Matthew) was not called until after Jesus healed the man sick of the palsy (Mark 2:5-13, 14), but Matthew records this event as occurring after His Sermon on the Mount (See Matthew 5-7; 9:2). Besides, although the general outline and theme are the same in both accounts,  the layout of the sermon recorded in Luke 6:20-38 does not correspond closely to the expanded message recorded in Matthew 5-7. Furthermore, it appears that Matthew 10:1-2 is Matthew’s account of the naming of the 12 Apostles, and in Luke’s account, that even occurred before His sermon recorded in Luke 6:20-38; in Matthew’s Gospel, therefore, this occurred later (Matthew 5-7; 10:1-2). Finally, Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount on “the Mount” (Matthew 5:1). The account recorded in Luke 6 occurred while Jesus was “in the plain” (Luke 6:17). While it is reasonable to suppose the reference to Jesus in the plain (Luke 6:17) might have omitted the detail that when the multitudes gathered, He went up into the Mount (Matthew 5:1), taken together with the other observations, I think a strong case may be made for saying, Jesus gave the full version of His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, and later, after He named the 12 Apostles, repeated this message in the plain, which accounts for the wide variations we find in the accounts.]

[*** This is a weak point in my observations on this passage. If we take the word poor without the qualifier, in spirit, and say this suggests the idea is intended to speak of impoverishment, it sounds like Jesus is saying the impoverished will inherit the kingdom. However, we know that no one inherits the kingdom of God by poverty, rather, we inherit the kingdom when we are translated into it at our conversion to Christ, when we repent and believe on our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). However, Jesus did say it is difficult for a rich man to enter into the kingdom (Matthew 19:20-24; See also Luke 18:18-25.) Therefore, I aver, or state, that Jesus was not saying the way to heaven is to be poor, but that indeed riches can be a bar forbidding entrance unless such are “poor in spirit.” Every rich man must see himself poor (Revelation 3:17.]