Rocks and Stones

Psalm 118: 22 – 23

The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

Today’s psalm has several famous verses in it. I chose this one because of the imagery of it. Among the ideas presented by this verse is the representation of Jesus, the rejected stone, as something hard and unflappable. He is the rock upon which we stand and the stone upon which the whole building is built.

Wikipedia says of the cornerstone, “The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.” As the foundational stone, the integrity of the whole building relies upon the cornerstone. It determines the strength of the whole building.

This is a more important concept than one might, at first, realize. Three of the four gospels quote this passage. It is also quoted in Acts and Paul referenced it in his letter to the Ephesians and it shows up in Peter’s first letter. Consider this from Peter:

[ As Living Stones ] And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,” and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. 1 Peter 2: 4 – 8 (See also Romans 9: 32 – 33).

This “chief corner stone” is also the rock of offense over which some will stumble but as for us, we are living stones; stones being transformed into the church of the living God through Jesus who is the principle stone upon which the entire structure depends.

I hope you find this as fascinating as do I. Since we have headed down this path, I wish to share one other verse with you that you may think about differently in light of the foregoing. “For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone,” (Psalm 91: 11 – 12). This is commonly thought of a protection verse as, indeed, all of Psalm 91 is, but consider that Jesus is the stumbling stone, the stone of offense. Could it be that one of the angels’ duties is to help us to recognize Jesus as the corner stone so that we do not stumble over him to our eternal peril? At minimum, it is an interesting question.

I hope this Psalm Monday has found you well and that this excerpt from the psalms is a blessing to you. The Word of the Day will resume in October albeit in a slightly different form. We will continue our Psalm Mondays, but the other days of the week will be more brief. They will, as always, focus upon God’s Word as it is the life and breath we all need. I will, therefore, continue to send you a Bible verse daily. My elucidation thereof, however, will be shorter. It should make it easier for you to receive a dose of the Lord everyday without unduly burdening you. There will, of course, be the occasional message that needs a bit more but in any case, the Word of the Day will take five minutes or less to read. I hope this will aid you in your hectic schedules. Of course, I am always interested in your feedback. Simply reply to this email, use the comments section or leave us a comment on the website at https://iveyministries.org.

No Cause for Stumbling

Psalm 73: 2 – 5, 12

But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling; my steps had almost slipped. 3 For I was envious of the arrogant, as I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For there are no pains in their death; and their body is fat. 5 They are not in trouble as other men; nor are they plagued like mankind. 12 Behold, these are the wicked; and always at ease, they have increased in wealth.

I suppose most dedicated Christians have almost stumbled over this stone at some time or another. You dedicate yourself and your life to the Lord and you fully expect that you will fare well in your service to Him. The next thing you know, you look around you and it seems the heathen are succeeding while the Christians are suffering.  

Well, don’t lose hope if that is where you are now. It is only an appearance. When you read this passage in its entirety, you see that the wicked get the fruit of the seed they have planted. The good news is that you will reap the fruit of your good seed as well. While it looks for a while like the good guys are losing, it is just an illusion. The universe produces fruit after its own kind. You cannot sow broccoli and get tomatoes. Galatians 6: 7 reads, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” The wicked will fall and you will succeed if you do not faint. Do not envy their success because it is short lived and laden with sorrow and pitfalls. Do not stumble over the apparent success of the unbelieving. God is faithful. Hang in there.

Peculiar

Luke 7: 22 – 23

And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard; the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. 23 And blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me.”

John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus to ask if he was the one the Jews were awaiting, the Messiah. Above is Jesus’ response. Verse 22 makes perfect sense; it is about what you would expect Jesus to say but what about verse 23. Isn’t that one of the most amazing statements?

I really had not thought about people stumbling over Jesus. He is our light but think about Jews. I suppose quite a few have stumbled over him. Still though, I perceive that there is much more to this statement than first appears. Over the last 5 years or so since I first began thinking about this verse, I have noticed that quite a few of us do stumble over Jesus.

This has been startling to me. This stumbling seems to take the form of not wanting to acquiesce to his leadership or to his words. We read the Word and right there, in plain sight is a mandate and yet are unwilling to yield. Here is one example, you can think of many others. Jesus says plainly, “Forgive” and yet some of us will go to our graves with unrepentant anger and unforgiveness. How about this one, “Do not judge”? Again, it’s pretty clear what this commandment demands. You don’t need a theologian to explain it to you but every day we judge others and condemn whole populations to hell.

The truth of the matter is that many of us routinely trip over Jesus. Who knew? Well, I guess Jesus did. He knew that people would struggle with living life according to the Spirit of truth and the way of the Kingdom rather than living according to the world’s rules and standards. “The Way” is not the common way. Following Jesus necessarily means being different. We are called a peculiar people. “For you are a holy people [set apart] to the Lord your God; and the Lord has chosen you to be a peculiar people to Himself, above all the nations on the earth” (Deuteronomy 14: 2 Amplified). And speaking of Jesus Paul wrote “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2: 14). But people stumble over Jesus. They stumble over the love commandment. People who claim to love Jesus and who present a holy life to outside observance trip over his words and the nudges of the Holy Spirit.

Blessed is he who keeps from stumbling over Me.” Our blessing is in our adherence to Jesus and his ways. Salvation, in all its forms, is in him. I don’t think we can ignore his words and teachings and still experience his grace. This seems to be a package deal. Are you in or are you out? Be blessed in Jesus’ name!