The Gospel, as seen in the Old Testament

Psalm 16

¹Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. ²I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you."

³As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight.

⁴The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names on my lips.

⁵The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
⁶ The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

⁷I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
⁸ I have set the LORD always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

⁹Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
¹⁰For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.

¹¹You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Verse 6 has been running through my head recently: "The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance."

This is a preposterous statement, and is not born of comfortable prosperity theology. Verse 1 starts with the cry "Preserve me!" Verse 10 demonstrates a confidence that the Lord will not "let your holy one see corruption."

Nevertheless, in the Lord's presence "there is fullness of joy; at [His] right hand are pleasures forevermore." If this is true, and it is, then regardless of circumstance we are able to say that the lines have fallen for us in pleasant places, and that our inheritance is beautiful.

Mark 9:24 "I believe; help my unbelief!"

An abortion doctor, Dr. George Tiller, was murdered on Sunday in Wichita, Kansas. Abortion is wrong. Unspeakably wrong. Killing an abortion doctor is also wrong. Al Mohler (president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) wrote an article about his murder, explaining very well why this action was wrong and should be condemned as such. I recommend it.

One thing stood out to me about this event. Tiller was murdered in a church. Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, where he was serving as an usher.

Mohler described Tiller thus: For many years, Dr. George Tiller has represented the horrific reality of the abortion industry in this nation. Infamously known to the pro-life movement in America, Tiller was known as "Tiller the Killer" because of his well-known willingness to perform late-term abortions almost no other doctor in the nation would perform. Because of Dr. George Tiller, Wichita became the destination of choice for women seeking abortions in the late third trimester.

What does it say about that church that a doctor who performed late-term abortions served on Sundays as an usher?

Ephesians 5:11 "Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them."