Psalm 75:6-7, "For promotion
cometh neither from the
east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God
is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up
another."
This morning, people always desire credit for
things. When they perceive that people "do not
appreciate them," they become put out and heated. As
disciples of Christ, we need to avoid this tendency
and overcome this temptation, for our Lord has commanded us to be selfless not selfish. (Mark
8:34-35) One of the things that ministers should pray
for is that the message outlive the messenger. As my
late father once said, "If when I am dead and gone all
you can remember is the doctrines of Christ that I
preached, that is fine with me. Maybe in years to
come folks will say, 'Who was that old preacher that
taught us about election, predestination, total
depravity, eternal security, and the noble sacrifice
of Christ for His people? I don't know, but we sure
learned about the goodness of the Lord.' That is just
fine with me." May we all desire the accolades be
given to the cause we serve and not to we ourselves.
The Psalmist tells us much in telling us what things
are not. Promotion does not come from three places.
So, we learn where it does come from as the three
places mentioned (south, east, and west) comprise
three parts of a known four-part group (quadrant
directionality). The position of north is left out of
the discussion to signify to us that promotion comes
from the north. There is, I believe, a significant
reason that the Holy Spirit moved the Psalmist to pen
the structure in this way. Had the verse read that
promotion comes from the north (positive mood), we
might conclude that one of the ways promotion comes is
from the north, but by structuring the thought in this
negative way, the other positions are excluded from
the realm of possibility. For example, if I said that
a certain bank was offering a specific type of loan,
you might conclude that others might offer the same
loan type as well. If I say that all the banks in
town but one do not offer a specific loan type, then
it becomes obvious that it can be found in only one
place.
Our Lord is the giver of all the good gifts and
perfect gifts in this world. (James 1:17) There is no
other place where they can be found. When one looks
to give others what only God can put in (such as
regeneration), the effort will fail miserably every
time. Paul tells the Ephesians that ALL spiritual
blessings in heavenly places are in Christ. (Ephesians
1:3) Let us say, for example, that a particular bank
held all the money and assets there were in this old
world. Yet, they offered accounts with the bank for a
$50 service fee. Obviously, no one would be able to
pay the entrance or service fee because the bank isholding all the money and collateral assets. No one
would have an account. In the sight of God, we are,
by nature, bankrupt and unable to pay the smallest of
service fees to receive His good graces. Since all
the spiritual blessings are in His Son, the promotion
comes from Him and not us.
What is the significance of the northward position being the source of promotion? There is an abundance
of Scripture to show that this position is where God
sits and dwells. While we many times point up to
reference heaven, the thought is that God is above us.
Likewise, the northward position is typically shown
above the other directional points on a map or
compass. The Great King sits in His mountain of Zion
on the sides of the north. (Psalm 48:1-2) Lucifer,
king of Babylon, aspired to sit upon the mount of the
congregation in the sides of the north. (Isaiah
14:12-13) North is where the King dwells, and it is
where the enemies of the King desire to rule. While I
believe that the devil knows that He is no match for
God (Revelation 12:12), he still desires to sit in
God's place with that power and rule.
There are others today that desire that glory that
rightfully is God's. The greatest blasphemies ever
perpetrated by man (in my opinion) are these: 1. We
must save what God did/could not, 2. God is
responsible for my shortcomings. In both instances,
the ultimate promotion that God gives is lessened. In
the first instance, God is robbed from the glory of
promotion in the saving of His people from their sins.
(Matthew 1:21) In the second instance, God's salvation
is not really that matchless since He is responsible
for putting us in that shape to begin with. Such
blasphemies should be spurned from the slightest
consideration.
The preacher cannot save anyone to heaven. Parents,
grandparents, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, and
cousins are incapable of placing someone within the
love of God. Promotion from depravity and ruin to
grace and glory alone cometh from the north where the
Great King dwells. The forms of promotion that we
experience in the kingdom when the sense of glory
seems to enshroud us while in service can only come
from the blowing of the Holy Spirit from the north
upon the garden of the Lord. (Song of Solomon 4:16)
While the north wind blows upon the garden in
conjunction with our efforts of service and labours of
love (planting and watering) the promotion comes when
the Spirit is in attendance (God giving the increase).
He has promised us that by exalting ourselves
(self-promoting) we will be abased, but by abasing
ourselves, we will be exalted (true promotion). (Luke
14:11)
We must state here that all perceived forms of
promotion cannot be attributed to the Great King. As
the two blasphemies we touched on above bear out, some
attribute wicked things to God. While we have
Scripture that shows us the exaltation of a wicked man
for the glory of God (Romans 9:17), we cannot
conclusively declare that all forms of "earthly"
promotion come from the Lord. When people are
promoted to offices above us (perhaps at work) that
gain that position by shady deals and underhanded
ethics, we ought not say that God is in the matter.
The promotion of the Lord is not abased or shaken as
His church will continue in this world till time shall
be no more, and His people will all be delivered up to
the Father for all eternity. The earthly promotions
come to nothing as the Lord abases kings and kingdoms.
(Isaiah 40:15-25)
We need to take great care to specifically identify
(with plain speeches) what area of consideration we
are dealing with as the same applied principles do not
always go across the board identically. For example,
the Lord promotes His people in a redemptive way with
all the work being on His end, and His people
completely passive in the equation. The Lord promotes
His people in the kingdom (specifically in the church
service) when we actively engage ourselves. Indeed,
the promotion still comes from above (north), but He
requires us to walk humbly with our God to see and
experience it.
Let us therefore seek His face and counsel and come
boldly before His throne of grace. He has promised to
exalt us in due time. (I Peter 5:6) That is not our
motivation for being humble, but He has promised to
exalt us in our humility. Therefore, when we feel the
exaltation of the King, let us recognize from whence
all blessings flow. Promotion belongs to Him. When
people promote themselves, the Lord puts that one down
to set up another. He is not being capricious, but
rather, He is exercising His authority to exalt whom
He will based on the good pleasure of His good will.
Let us seek His and not our own so that if promotion
comes in the kingdom we can praise Him for that
goodness and let those spices and pleasant fruits flow
out to be a blessing to those around us for the
ultimate praise and glory of His Matchless Name.
In Hope,
Bro Philip
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