Covenant of Works

The Heavens Declare/Declare Me Innocent [v.1]/[v.12]

We often point to this psalm to underscore the truth that God has revealed Himself to all men in a manner sufficient to reveal their animosity toward Him and their condemnation for making the Invisible and All Powerful Creator into something like the creature, worshiping the creature instead of the Creator.[1] We often neglect, however, to consider the running theme throughout this psalm: Declaration. The heavens declare the glory of God, but David, although part of creation, nonetheless prays that his own words would be acceptable in the sight of God. Why? All of Adam’s descendents are born in sin and are guilty of “not honoring Him as God or giving Him thanks” although they know Him.[2] The sky above “proclaims His handiwork,” but we all “suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”[3] Night to night reveals knowledge, but professing ourselves to be wise, we have become fools.

Hence, David’s prayer is an implicit declaration of the true condition of man. “The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but [men do not] know, [they] do not understand.”[4] That is to say: The wind and the waves obey the Creator, but man does not. The donkey is wiser than man is in this sense, therefore, in his obedience to God’s commands. David’s prayer for God’s Word to cleanse him, to make him what he ought to be – viz. a morally upright image of God bearer – underscores at once the dissimilarity between creation and redeemed man as well as their similarity as being caused to be by the Word of God. The Lord made the heavens and the earth by His Word just as He makes us new creatures by His Word.[5] This is why the apostle Paul tells us that “God, who said ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ…Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”[6]

And this is why our Lord Jesus tells His disciples: “Already you are clean because of the Word that I have spoken to you.”[7] The Word of God at the cross says: “It is finished!” And to our hearts, the Word of God now says: “There is, therefore, now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus.” There is nothing else upon which we may cast our hopes. There is no other source of mercy and grace and help in our time of need than the Word of God which tells us that God justifies the wicked. God declares them to be just on the basis of the absolutely pure and perfect merits of Jesus Christ His Son. The antichrists who oppose the doctrine of the imputed righteousness of Christ our Lord should at this point stop to think of the ramifications of David’s prayer, for there is no crying out for covenantal obedience. Rather, David prays first for the declaration of innocence (which is the forensic act of justification by grace alone through faith alone), and then prays for continued obedience and, in the end, blamelessness. And such should be our prayer as well, knowing that only God can declare us righteous by the Word of Truth and sanctify us by the same means.

Amen.

-h.

[1] Cf. Romans 1:18-23

[2] Cf. Ro 1:21

[3] Cf. Ro 1:18-20; The theory of evolution is a very good example of this kind of suppression of the truth. Men work day in and day out on trying to forget what they know with absolute certainty: God is the Creator of all men and He demands their perfect obedience to His Laws, promising life on the completion thereof or death on the neglect thereof.

[4] Cf. Isa 1:3

[5] Cf. James 1:18; The false antithetical opposition of Paul to James, concocted by liberal “Christians” along with Muslims and Atheists, is here completely undermined as we see James using the same terminology with respect to (a.)the means of God’s agency in making men new creatures (i.e. “the Word of Truth”), (b.)the language of a new creature/creation, and (c.)the principal end for which the new creature/new creation is made (viz., fruitfulness in Christlikeness, also cf. Col 1:5-6).

[6] 2 Cor 4:6; 5:17

[7] John 15:3

Strive/Rest [Read: Hebrews 3-4:11]

What appears to be a contradiction, viz. “striving” to enter the promised “rest” of God, is not at all contradictory when we consider that our Lord used the same terminology in Luke 13:24, where He tells us: “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and not be able.” The Lord Jesus is not speaking here of works, but of the object of saving faith. Judgment would come to Israel for their unbelief in Messiah, the Christ, and Christ was warning them of this coming judgment by urging them to place their faith in Him now, before the door was closed. This is a call to faith and repentance, but it does not mean that all who are being outwardly called will be effectually called. This passage in Luke runs exactly parallel, I think, to Hebrews 4:11 in that (i.)both address Jews, (ii.)both groups of Jews have seen Christ personally and have had personal interactions with Him that proved His supernatural power and confirmed that He was indeed a Man sent from God, (iii.)both groups are told to strive, and (iv.)the striving mentioned, in both passages, is an entering into something else – in Luke it is the narrow door, while in Hebrews it is the rest that God has provided for sinners.

Is this a merely accidental parallel? Or do we have here evidence of the apostle’s intimate knowledge of our Lord Jesus’ teaching? On His way to Jerusalem, our Lord teaches men that He is the Way into the kingdom, the only Way to the Father,[1] and by so doing shows us that the Jews were shown great mercy by God who gave them time after time to repent of their sin and believe on the Messiah, and yet did not. There are some valuable things to glean from this parallel.

i. Those who artificially create a distinction between “the Jesus of history” and “the Christ of faith” would be hard pressed to reconcile the fact that the writer of Hebrews is arguing much in the same manner as our Lord Jesus does in Luke 13:22-35.

ii. Although the Greek terms translated as “strive”/”striving” (ESV) are different, what is being conveyed in both instances is the same: Taking heed to the Gospel before the time is over. While the Greek word our Lord uses in Luke 13:24 is agōnizomai (ἀγωνίζομαι), and signifies a battle, fight, endeavor, and is different than spoudazō (σπουδάζω), which signifies promptness and diligence to perform a certain task, they do not present entirely different teachings, but harmonize with one another quite beautifully. Adding to the above similarities, we should take note that in both instances the nationality of the persons who are to be saved is not limited to just the Jews. Rather, salvation is limited to those who will call upon the name of Christ and rest in Him, ceasing from their own labors.

The Lord Jesus’ admonition to the Jews of His day, as He traveled to the cross was the same as the apostle’s message to the Jews after Christ had already ascended, and that was simply:

Apart from Christ there is no salvation. Believe on the name of Lord Jesus Christ before it is too late and judgment takes away the opportunity of anyone who professes to be a believer to actually begin believing in Christ. One must strive to enter through the narrow door, i.e. one must strive to enter into the rest given freely in His Son Jesus.

There may be something else that is implied here, viz. self-examination in light of the Gospel promises. Peter speaks this way in 2 Pet 3:14, where he uses the same Greek word as Hebrews 4:11, and the context is very similar. Peter, writing to Jews, is speaking of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ and is urging his hearers to continue in the faith and to be “diligent” (Gr. Spoudazō) to make sure their calling and election sure. The apostle is writing in a similar fashion to those who think they are Christians but may not be, and he is doing so in light of the Lord’s soon return.

[1] Cf. John 14:6, where the Lord Jesus’ Words are, again, spoken in the context of heading toward Jerusalem to be crucified.