The Narrow Path

  Friday, December 1, 2023 Psalm 74 2 Kings 25:8-21 Mark 3:7-19a Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to Him those He wanted. Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to Him those He wanted, and they came to Him. The Word of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, has come down from heaven and put on human flesh. He has descended from the unveiled majesty which He had from eternity past and, for a season, will veil His glory as He walks around as a man. Now the King is calling His men to His side. The Captain is commissioning His officers. Jesus ascends the mountainside, a throne which He made as Creator, to set apart a group of people to go out and operate with His authority. These apostles heard the voice of their Shepherd, and they did not refuse: they came to Him. This is how Jesus calls all those whom the Father has given Him. It is how He called you and me. Once we were part of that great mass of sinful humanity, but His eye spied us ...

  Thursday, November 30, 2023 Psalm 72 2 Kings 24:10-25:7 Mark 2:18-3:6 Observance: Andrew, apostle and martyr Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a gift from God to all people. A gift from our Creator, for us to use to better enjoy our existence. It was designed for us to help us, for us to make use of, to take advantage of in order to be more truly human in the presence of God. Six days shall we work – but on the seventh, we are to rest. When God gave Moses the instruction to observe a day of rest, He gave two reasons. The first is because God made the heavens and the earth in six days, but on the seventh, God rested. (Exodus 20:11) We are made in the image of God, and God made us in such a way that we find benefit in “unplugging” from the daily grind. Look at what a beautiful universe God has made! Down tools and have a look at it. Enjoy your existence in the presence of such a beautifully creative God. Go on, take the whole day off! The second re...

  Wednesday, November 29, 2023 Psalm 69:1-16 2 Kings 23:31-24:9 Mark 2:1-17 Observance: Ember Day The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. When we affirm that Jesus is Lord, we throw off all restrictions on His authority. We say Christ is king of the movement of the galactic bodies, and that He rules over the weather. We say Jesus has the authority to lift up governments, and the authority to depose them. Jesus has claim over our behaviour, and, even more incredibly, He demands authority over our intimate desires. Jesus’ rule over us and everything else is a good and loving rule. He is the Prince of Peace, and His message to His subjects is “Peace, be still.” His authority does not come because He makes us the best offer, however. The Lord of all is not running for election. His authority is an inherent, defining aspect of His character. What is inherent to Jesus’ character – something that makes Jesus Jesus – is His authority to forgiv...

  Tuesday, November 28, 2023 Psalm 71 2 Kings 23:16-30 Mark 1:40-45 Observance: Ember Day Defiling the altar. “It is not enough to simply not be racist” quoth the communist, “one must be actively anti-racist”. As rationally self-defeating as that particular cult may be, our Captain calls us to arms in a similar way. It is not enough to believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, wrote Paul, but in order to be saved one must also confess with the mouth that Jesus is Lord. (Romans 10:9-11) Good King Josiah did not just put the state to work in renovating the Temple; and when he discovered the books of Moses, he did not simply read them and repent. Josiah did not simply put a blanket ban on devil worship; he did not simply call canny on child sacrifice. It was not enough for Josiah to simply not be pagan. Josiah had to be actively anti-pagan. To the glory of God Josiah desecrated and defiled the places of worship where prostitutes worked and ch...

  Monday, November 27, 2023 Psalm 68:1-20 2 Kings 23:4-15 Mark 1:29-39 Observance: Ember Day Wings of a dove covered with silver. The Lord God is a fearsome adversary for those who would oppose Him. Rising from His throne, He scatters His enemies with the flash of lightning, the peal of thunder, an onrushing tide, an unstoppable force. Holiness attends our God, holiness that consumes and destroys all imperfections. Darkness has nowhere to flee; God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. Those who hate God and love evil melt like wax. Sing praises to Him who rides on the clouds! The Son of Man who, after He had died for the sins of His people, rose again from the dead, and ascended into heaven on clouds, rode those clouds to the throne of the Ancient of Days. (Daniel 7:13-14) Here in the holy dwelling of God is where the orphans and widows find their comfort and shelter. Blessed are the meek, the poor in spirit, those who mourn: here they a...

  Saturday, November 25, 2023 Psalms 62; 63 2 Kings 22:12-23:2 Mark 1:14-28 Observances: James Noble, pioneer Aboriginal deacon (d. 1941); Ember Day Without delay He called them. Before the world began, the Godhead had prepared the list of names for the Book of Life. In that Book were listed the names of everyone whom the Father was going to give to the Son. All those whom the Father would give to the Son would indeed go to the Son; and the Son will never drive them away. Indeed, the Son will lose none whom the Father has given Him, and we will be raised on the last day. Now, as we are reading in Mark, the Son has come down from heaven and walks about on earth. His name is Jesus, His deity veiled in His incarnate flesh, and He is searching out everyone whose name is in that Book of Life. Without delay Jesus begins calling His apostles. These are the men who will be the front line workers of the kingdom. Jesus is here to save people and He is doing Hi...

  Friday, November 24, 2023 Psalms 56; 57 2 Kings 21:19-22:11 Mark 1:1-13 Observance: Ember Day I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the LORD. Josiah had a good example set for him. We read that he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord by following the ways of his father David. David of course wasn’t his immediate father; if we rendered it today we would describe David as Josiah’s forefather. But such is the power of generational blessings. Men who live today in the way of the Lord lay out the path for their far-off descendants to follow in. Mothers who raise their children with an eye on their great-grandchildren water the seed that grows into the mighty ancient tree. Soak this generation in prayers, because while we may be planting trees which we will never feel the shade of, that shade will come at just the right time. In Josiah’s case, David’s example gave Jerusalem a king they could finally be proud of, a king like one they hadn’t had for ...

  Thursday, November 23, 2023 Psalms 54; 55:1-12 2 Kings 21:1-18 Matthew 25:31-46 Observances: Clement of Rome, bishop and martyr (d. c. 100); Ember week (Prayers for the ordained ministry of the church are appropriate this Ember week) Come, you who are blessed by my Father. When the Son of Man comes in His glory – when, not if. The Lord Jesus will return. There is a day coming when the veil between heaven and earth will be lifted, and Jesus will appear with all His angels. This is the mystery of faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again, and we joyfully proclaim it every week at the table of the Lord. This day will be like nothing else. The prophet warns us not to long for the day of the Lord (Amos 5:18), and for the goats, it will indeed be a day of darkness. But for the sheep, those of the flock of the great Shepherd Jesus, that day will mark the vindication of our labours here in this life. All the sweat poured out in our pr...

  Wednesday, November 22, 2023 Psalm 51 2 Kings 20 Matthew 25:14-30 Observance: Cecilia, martyr at Rome (d. c. 230) The word of the LORD you have spoken is good. Hezekiah has heard some bad news from the prophet Isaiah. Seeking to discover how his own life will end, Hezekiah has learned how instead his descendants will meet their demise. But that is far off in the future – will there not be peace and security in Hezekiah’s time, meaning he can breathe a sigh of relief? Perhaps this is not short-sighted selfishness on Hezekiah’s part. Perhaps he is demonstrating an attitude towards God’s sovereign plan that is enviable for any true disciple of Jesus. God is good, and His steadfast love endures forever. There is no darkness in God. Whatever God does is worked out for good for those who love Him. Should God deliver abundance, then we praise God and give Him the thanksgiving which is His due. And when God lifts His restraining hand of grace, and a...

  Tuesday, November 21, 2023 Psalm 50 2 Kings 19:20-37 Matthew 25:1-13 Gather to me this consecrated people, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice. Our God is so high and wonderful we exhaust all the words of all the languages on earth in our attempt to speak about Him. So begins the Psalm: “The Mighty One, God, the LORD!” God holds all things together through His words – He speaks, and the earth is summoned. This wonderful Being we call God has a beauty that shines; and He is not silent. Nothing can compare to God’s beauty, to God’s righteousness. Why should God let us into His heaven? His fire of holiness devours before Him; the tempest of His righteousness rages above. A covenant of sacrifice is what our God asks of us. But God has no need of dead bulls or goats. Every animal of the forest belongs to God; He knows every bird in the mountains, and every insect belongs to Him. God asks us for a sacrifice of thanksgiving. God wants us to call to...

  Monday, November 20, 2023 Psalm 48 2 Kings 19:1-20 Matthew 24:32-51 Observances: Edmund, King of the East Angles, Martyr (d. 870); Priscilla Lydia Sellon, a Restorer of the Religious Life in the Church of England (d. 1876) Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love. The fortress that protects our spiritual safety is unassailable. Forces of the enemy, all the kings of darkness, even once they banded together and attacked as one, were unable to bring down the walls. God’s city is so impregnable that those armies could not even launch the attack – once they see the citadel on the holy mountain, they realise the futility of their endeavour. Trembling in fear – a trembling as painful as childbirth – they flee the destruction of the Lord. What is this fortress protecting? What could be so precious that God would build such a structure? It is a house of prayer. This is the place we go to when we pray. It is the place where God hears the...

  Saturday, November 18, 2023 Psalms 41; 44:1-9 2 Kings 18:17-37 Matthew 24:15-31 On what are you basing this confidence of yours? The mighty armies of Assyria march relentlessly across the country. No gods of any nation can stand against them. False idols made of steel and wood are no match for an angry man wielding weapons of steel and wood. Look at the idols who have fallen before the Assyrians: where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Those who trusted in them have become like them: deaf, dumb, lifeless. The hubris of man looks at all these fallen idols, the dead political systems, the antiquated cultural practices, the outdated scientific conclusions, and asks “How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem?” This hubris, this arrogance, looks at the peoples of the world, looks down at the sword grasped in the hand, and looks up again. “Force is violence. The supreme authority from which all other auth...

  Friday, November 17, 2023 Psalm 40 2 Kings 18:1-16 Matthew 24:1-14 Observances: Hilda of Whitby, abbess (d. 680); Hugh, bishop of Lincoln (d. 1200) This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world. The Middle East is in war; but this is not yet the end. Europe is burning; but this is not yet the end. The last century had two world wars; but that was not the end. Not only do we hear of wars and of rumours and wars, but we all have a little device in our pocket that can show us exact, specific details of wars, updated every minute. But this is not yet the end. How does the world end? Are we on a downhill slope? Will things just get worse and worse until God has finally had enough of our nonsense? Does this even sound like the God of the Bible? The kingdom of heaven is like the smallest seed that grows into the largest tree; and we know that the kingdom of heaven is already here, growing every day. God is not God of the dead, but of ...

  Thursday, November 16, 2023 Psalm 38 2 Kings 17:21-41 Matthew 23:29-39 Observance: Margaret of Scotland, queen, helper of the poor (d. 1093) As a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. When Jesus gets the wind under Him, He does not mince words. These hypocrites have been working as hard as they can to try and trap Him in a battle of words – but the Word of God Himself cannot be backed into a corner. Now it is Jesus’ turn to shoot back, and what a verbal salvo He gives. Woe after curse after woe falls upon His enemies, each one more withering than the last. You can imagine it: gentle Jesus, meek and mild, offended by one thing above all – religious hypocrisy. Standing up from His teaching seat, His voice increases with each denunciation, until the walls of the Temple ring with His words. But the anger of God is only for a moment; His favour is for a lifetime (Psalm 30:5). And so the moment passes, Jesus having done what He needed to do by giving u...

  Wednesday, November 15, 2023 Psalm 37:1-17 2 Kings 17:1-20 Matthew 23:16-28 Do not do as they do. Long ago, God saw a people who suffered. Even though He had made them, blessed them, and called them good, the people turned away from God’s goodness, into a darkness of their own making. God’s love prevailed over this rebellion: hearing their cries from His throne in heaven, He sent a saviour to prophecy against their tormentor, and brought them out of that place of darkness. Later, there was a river. This river blocked the way to the promised land. God went into that river, separated the water, and opened up a way for His people to pass through in safety. Given new life in a new land, God spoke: Do not follow the way into darkness; remain in my light. We Christians have been rescued from the clutches of Satan. We too have this God who is our Saviour. We have passed through the Jordan River in the waters of our baptism, through Jesus’ death, into H...

  Tuesday, November 14, 2023 Psalm 34 2 Kings 16 Matthew 23:1-15 But I will use the bronze altar for seeking guidance. King Ahaz seems hell bent on pursuing the destruction of his kingdom. All he can see is what is immediately in front of his face; the record of his rule that we have here in the sixteenth chapter is nothing more than a series of reactions. Going along with the flow, he begins his rule in ignominy. Foolishly thinking he can mix the worship of the Lord with the observance of pagan religion, he even goes so far as to murder his own son by setting him on fire. Behold the folly of mixing true religion with culture. We are following the one true God, the Almighty who sees everything and knows everything. Everything we could ever need or know will be freely given to us by our loving Father. All we have to do is to ask Him. But He is also a jealous God. Our Father is jealous for our affections; jealous for our spiritual well-being. He knows even...

  Monday, November 13, 2023 Psalm 35:1-17 2 Kings 15:23-38 Matthew 22:34-46 Observance: Charles Simeon, priest, evangelical divine (d. 1836) Tell me your view concerning the Messiah. The Son of David has ridden into the holy city of Jerusalem. As the heir to the crown concerning His physical nature, Jesus is reclaiming the throne that was lost. The streets were thronged with the people supporting His rightful claim, singing songs of praise to the son of the greatest songwriter who ever lived. Nervous, the authorities set out to discredit the returned king – knowing that they themselves are merely stewards, they too must set aside their crowns and acknowledge King Jesus – yet they are too comfortable with their illegitimate power. A human heir can easily be denied his birthright. Human history is littered with the wrong people getting into power through dark schemes. Yet this is no mere human the authorities are dealing with. “Tell me your view concer...

  Saturday, November 11, 2023 Psalms 28; 29 2 Kings 15:8-22 Matthew 22:15-33 Observance: Martin, bishop of Tours (d. c. 387) He is God not of the dead but of the living! One of the great gifts that the Reformers gave to the Church was the affirmation that God protects all the saints, both now and in the next life. And by saints, we refer not just to those Christians who are famous for their love, but for all of us who do our deeds of love without one hand knowing what the other is doing (Matthew 6:3-4). Or, as the Austrian missionary put it: “Preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten”. We will all go to our death one day; this is an inescapable truth. But our attitude to our death will affect everything we do up to that point. Some people are very ill, but cannot yet feel the effects. They know they are ill, and they know that there are some important test results in a few months time. But for now, they feel perfectly well. What should they do between...

  Friday, November 10, 2023 Psalm 25 2 Kings 14:17-15:7 Matthew 22:1-14 Observance: Leo of Rome, bishop and teacher (d. 461) Where are your wedding clothes? When Christ hung there outstretched on the cross, He was inviting the entire world to His wedding feast. Embracing the whole world in His love, He then went to the grave, lay there for three days, and then rose again. Spending time with His disciples for just a little over a month, He ascended into heaven to prepare that feast for all who would accept the invitation. Accepting the invitation to the wedding feast might seem easy – we have the warnings, we have the promises, we have the miracles which prove the truth of the whole matter. But we won’t be welcome if we aren’t wearing our very best outfit. This wedding outfit which we must wear is not that nice suit in our wardrobe, or that elegant dress we have hanging in the bedroom. That outfit is as worthless and flimsy as the fig-leaves our...

Thursday, November 9, 2023 Psalm 22:1-22 2 Kings 14:1-16 Matthew 21:33-46 In the assembly I will praise you. Praise is the highest action a human being can perform. It elevates the senses; enriches the emotions. Praise is what we were built for. Praising the Lord God Almighty is the intended aim of our praising nature. To praise the Lord is to step out of the material and into the spiritual. Not spiritual in the sense of amorphous blobs, serenely floating through the clouds; that is fantasy. True spirituality is to recognise that this material universe is incomplete – by adding the truly spiritual, our bland matter becomes rich and magnified holy matter. So, praise is what we are made to do. Praising the one true God makes us complete. To praise God means to infuse the material with the spiritual and make it something greater than the sum of its parts. We can praise God doing anything – walking the dog, brushing our teeth, singing songs of worship – th...

  Wednesday, November 8, 2023 Psalms 20; 21 2 Kings 13:14-25 Matthew 21:23-32 Observance: Saints, martyrs, missionaries and teachers of the Anglican Communion You have given him his heart’s desire. See the love between the Father and the Son of which this Psalm sings! King Jesus rides out, our glorious king, He whom the Father loves to the utmost. Everything the Father has, the Son receives. As Jesus rose from the grave, taking up His life again, the Father places a crown of fine gold upon His head. Jesus’ trust in His Father is steadfast love – Jesus is able to go to the cross, give up His life for our sake, and get that life back again in the resurrection because He knows how much love His Father has for Him. As reigning monarch, King Jesus is on a program of reform. This world which He has been given by His Father is in rebellion. Jesus demands perfection, and rides out to make this world perfect. There will be no more evil; mischievous schemes wi...

  Tuesday, November 7, 2023 Psalm 19 2 Kings 13:1-13 Matthew 21:14-22 My house will be called a house of prayer. The Temple: the centre of worship. The house where the Ark of Covenant is held; where sacrifices are made daily: if God is anywhere, God is in the Temple. Jesus is outraged at what is happening. He quotes two prophecies, words that He had already spoken through His Holy Spirit years ago. The outrage is because the situation is no less than that which concerns God’s loving care over His people. When Jesus says that “my house will be called a house of prayer”, He is talking about what will happen after the final judgement. He quotes Isaiah 56:7, a passage speaking about the new creation. When the final remnants of evil are finally swept away, only good will remain. The Temple was designed by God to be a shadow of God’s perfection, and yet Jesus sees “a den of robbers”. That second line comes from Jeremiah 7:11. In that passage, God speaks...

  Monday, November 6, 2023 Psalm 18:1-31 2 Kings 12:9-21 Matthew 21:1-13 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. Blessed is the one who is poor in spirit and calls on the name of the Lord, for then the Lord will give them His kingdom. Blessed is the one who mourns over what the Lord mourns over, for it is the Lord Himself who comforts them. Blessed are the meek, for the Lord is meek, and the heavens, and the earth, and everything in them belong to Him. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for the King of righteousness is the bread of heaven, and those who drink of Him will never be thirsty. Blessed are the merciful, because in His great mercy the Lord took on the sins of His people and suffered and died for their sake. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they are following in the steps of their Lord, the Prince of Peace. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, because the light ha...

  Saturday, November 4, 2023 Psalms 11; 12 2 Kings 11:17-12:8 Matthew 20:17-34 Observance: Day for Australian Anglicans and Roman Catholics to pray for one another (General Synod, 2001) Jesus had compassion on them. We conclude a rather lengthy section of Jesus’ teaching on humility with this story of the blind men. It was very important to Jesus that we know that “the first shall be last and the last shall be first”. This phrase may be worn with familiarity – even pagans recognise it, if not the One who said it – but it is a truly amazing teaching. The first – the greatest, the most powerful, the strongest, the smartest – will be last in the kingdom of heaven. Instead, those who humble themselves like children will be those who enter the kingdom first. But look at how this section ends: Jesus hears the blind men calling out, and stops. He is on His way to die on the cross. He is on the way to save the world. And still, He hears these people on the s...

  Friday, November 3, 2023 Psalm 9 2 Kings 11:1-16 Matthew 20:1-16 Observance: Richard Hooker, priest and teacher (d. 1600) You also go and work in my vineyard. Look around, Christian, there is work to do! Christ’s Holy Spirit is working through the body of believers all over the globe. At any point in time you will be able to find a place where the sun is shining and the workers are labouring. Some workers were called from birth; others lived a worldly life before God called them into the kingdom. That is beside the point, however, because we are all working for the same reward. No-one has beaten you to the job. There is plenty still to do. And besides, God made every single one of His elect to be a unique individual, so that we would have our own specific and special job to carry out. Even now that you have been called by God, do you feel like you are standing around with nothing to do? The owner speaks to all of His workers personally...

  Thursday, November 2, 2023 Psalms 5; 6 2 Kings 10:18-36 Matthew 19:16-30 Observance: All Souls The LORD accepts my prayer. Lying in bed, faint, the pillow drenched in tears: this asks for a certain type of melody. The sixth Psalm, composed by David, calls for sheminith , a particular set of low-pitched string instruments. It is a prayer set to music, like a solo cello singing out into the night. Just as the cellist holds their instrument intimately in a tender hug, so David holds his prayer like the precious treasure it is. For, when trouble comes, our brains freeze, our plans dissolve, and our only thought is for the stress of inaction. But there is one thing we all can do in such a state, and it is also the most effective, and that is to pray about it. The clinician teaches that hope is composed of two parts: options to choose from, and the agency to fulfil them. Hopelessness would be the point at which we lose both. But for the Christian, ...