Guide for the Preparation for Worship 7 November 2021

October 31, 2021
Silas Schreyack
Worship Guide

7 November 2021

Call to Worship: Psalm 105:1-3

Opening Hymn: Hymn 236 “To God Be the Glory”

Confession of Sin

O great and everlasting God, Who dwells in unapproachable light, Who searches and knows the thoughts and intentions of the heart; We confess that we have not loved You with all our heart, nor with all our soul, nor with all our mind, nor with all our strength; Nor our neighbors as ourselves. We have loved what we ought not to have loved; We have coveted what is not ours; We have not been content with Your provisions for us. We have complained in our hearts about our family, about our friends, about our health, about our occupations, about Your church, and about our trials. We have sought our security in those things which perish, rather than in You, the Everlasting God. Chasten, cleanse, and forgive us, through Jesus Christ, who is able for all time to save us who approach You through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for us. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Jeremiah 31:31-34

Psalm of Preparation: Psalm 15B “Who, O Lord, with Thee Abiding

Old Covenant Reading: Ezra 9:1-15

New Covenant Reading: Romans 2:1-11

Sermon: A Prayer of Repentance

Psalm of Response: Psalm 51C “God, Be Merciful to Me” (Stanzas 1-4)

Confession of Faith: Apostles Creed (p. 851)

Doxology (Hymn 568)

Closing Psalm: Psalm 51C “God, Be Merciful to Me” (Stanzas 5-8)

Evening Service

Hymns: 214, 147B, 22B

OT: Psalm 147:1-20

NT: 1 Peter 1:13-21

Sermon: The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him

Suggested Preparation

Monday (11/1) read and discuss Ezra 9:1-15

Ezra 9 (ESV)

¹ After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. ² For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.” ³ As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. ⁴ Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. ⁵ And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, ⁶ saying: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. ⁷ From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today. ⁸ But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. ⁹ For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem. ¹⁰ “And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, ¹¹ which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. ¹² Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’ ¹³ And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this, ¹⁴ shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? ¹⁵ O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.”

Derek Thomas writes:

The issue is not so much marriage to non-Israelites, but marriage to nonbelievers. A Moabite such as Ruth, for example, of one of the races mentioned by Ezra, may marry an Israelite (Boaz), because in the goodness of God she had been wonderfully converted! These alliances of which Ezra (and the law of Moses) spoke were essentially marriages outside the faith of Israel. They Brough with them the specter of idolatry as one or the other partner maintained his or her false religion within the marriage, diluting or even obliterating true faith. If the practice continued, Israel would no longer be a Sistine people through whose line the redemptive promises of a Savior would come. She would no long be the covenant bride, recipient of the promises given to Abraham, Moses, and David and through whom “all the families of the earth” were to receive a blessing (Gen. 12:3).

MEMORY WORK

Q. 63. Which is the fifth commandment?
A. The fifth commandment is, Honor thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Tuesday (11/2) read and discuss Ezra 8:1-36

Ezra 8 (ESV)

¹ These are the heads of their fathers’ houses, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king: ² Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush. ³ Of the sons of Shecaniah, who was of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, with whom were registered 150 men. ⁴ Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men. ⁵ Of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men. ⁶ Of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men. ⁷ Of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men. ⁸ Of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him 80 men. ⁹ Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men. ¹⁰ Of the sons of Bani, Shelomith the son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men. ¹¹ Of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah, the son of Bebai, and with him 28 men. ¹² Of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men. ¹³ Of the sons of Adonikam, those who came later, their names being Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men. ¹⁴ Of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men. ¹⁵ I gathered them to the river that runs to Ahava, and there we camped three days. As I reviewed the people and the priests, I found there none of the sons of Levi. ¹⁶ Then I sent for Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, leading men, and for Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of insight, ¹⁷ and sent them to Iddo, the leading man at the place Casiphia, telling them what to say to Iddo and his brothers and the temple servants at the place Casiphia, namely, to send us ministers for the house of our God. ¹⁸ And by the good hand of our God on us, they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah with his sons and kinsmen, 18; ¹⁹ also Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, with his kinsmen and their sons, 20; ²⁰ besides 220 of the temple servants, whom David and his officials had set apart to attend the Levites. These were all mentioned by name. ²¹ Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. ²² For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” ²³ So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty. ²⁴ Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests: Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen with them. ²⁵ And I weighed out to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the offering for the house of our God that the king and his counselors and his lords and all Israel there present had offered. ²⁶ I weighed out into their hand 650 talents of silver, and silver vessels worth 200 talents, and 100 talents of gold, ²⁷ 20 bowls of gold worth 1,000 darics, and two vessels of fine bright bronze as precious as gold. ²⁸ And I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers. ²⁹ Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel at Jerusalem, within the chambers of the house of the Lord.” ³⁰ So the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God. ³¹ Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way. ³² We came to Jerusalem, and there we remained three days. ³³ On the fourth day, within the house of our God, the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed into the hands of Meremoth the priest, son of Uriah, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas, and with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui. ³⁴ The whole was counted and weighed, and the weight of everything was recorded. ³⁵ At that time those who had come from captivity, the returned exiles, offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel, twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and as a sin offering twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord. ³⁶ They also delivered the king’s commissions to the king’s satraps and to the governors of the province Beyond the River, and they aided the people and the house of God.

Derek Thomas writes:

There are no details of the journey itself: no description fo what would have otherwise been fascinating stories of individual families and their children in what must have been episodes of danger and laughter along the way. The Bible so often passes over such things in order to keep us on track with the real issue at hand—the story of redemption itself. What we are told gives a hint of “ambushes” and “the hand of the enemy,” but we are left to imagine the details of these episodes. The author wants us to know that though every danger, the good hand of God was upon his people. They were given a safe journey without loss of life or property. God had heard the prayers of his people and shown his faithfulness to his covenant.

MEMORY WORK

Q. 64. What is required in the fifth commandment?
A. The fifth commandment requireth the preserving the honor, and performing the duties, belonging to every one in their several places and relations, as superiors, inferiors or equals.

Wednesday (11/3) read and discuss Romans 2:1-11

Romans 2:1–11 (ESV)

¹ Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. ² We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. ³ Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? ⁵ But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. ⁶ He will render to each one according to his works: ⁷ to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; ⁸ but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. ⁹ There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, ¹⁰ but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. ¹¹ For God shows no partiality.

R. C. Sproul writes:

Paul continues in verse 4: Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you towards repentance? To despise the riches of God is to neglect them, to consider them unimportant and insignificant. How much time have we given to a consideration of the mercy of God towards us? In Jonathan Edwards’ famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, he reminded his people of this. He said, ‘O sinner, can you give any reason why since you have risen from your bed this morning God has not stricken you dead?’ What Edwards was getting at was this: if you consider honestly the rebelliousness that you have practised since you got out of your bed this morning, can you give a rational explanation for why God has withheld judgment from you? If you are thinking that the reason is because God is kind and merciful, you would be correct. But some people are perpetually angry with God, feeling that God has not treated them fairly. What is it that God owes us?

To show contempt for the riches of God is not to hate the mercy of God, it is to think lightly of it. For the most part we take God’s kindness for granted and therein lies the danger. Notice, it is not just a bankrupt kindness, or a stingy kindness, but the riches of kindness that is being bestowed upon us by God. Paul uses a term that calls attention to the abundance that we receive from God, not only of kindness, but of tolerance and patience.

The purpose of God’s kindness, tolerance and patience is to bring us to a proper state of repentance before him, but just the opposite effect takes place. Instead of our taking advantage of God’s kindness, by coming to him in repentance and faith and expressing our gratitude for his patience, we assume that it really doesn’t matter to God that we are disobeying his law.

MEMORY WORK

Q. 65. What is forbidden in the fifth commandment?
A. The fifth commandment forbiddeth the neglecting of, or doing anything against, the honor and duty which belongeth to every one in their several places and relations.

Thursday (11/4) read and discuss Psalm 147:1-20

Psalm 147 (ESV)

¹ Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting. ² The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. ³ He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. ⁴ He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. ⁵ Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. ⁶ The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground. ⁷ Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre! ⁸ He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills. ⁹ He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry. ¹⁰ His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, ¹¹ but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. ¹² Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! ¹³ For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you. ¹⁴ He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat. ¹⁵ He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. ¹⁶ He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. ¹⁷ He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold? ¹⁸ He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow. ¹⁹ He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and rules to Israel. ²⁰ He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his rules. Praise the Lord!

John Calvin writes:

Not in the strength of the horse, &c. After the Psalmist has shown that there is proof of the divine goodness in every part of the world, he takes particular notice that men have no strength but what is given them from above, and this he adds with the express purpose of checking the pride by which almost all men are inflamed, and which leads them to trust in their own strength. The meaning of the passage is, that let man come in the preparation of his own strength, and with all the assistances that seem to him most prevalent, this will only issue in smoke and vanity; nay, that in arrogating the very least to himself, this will only be a hindrance in the way of the mercy of God, by which alone we stand. The strength of the horse is mentioned by synecdoche to denote any kind of protection. Not that God is displeased with those things in themselves considered which he has given us as helps, but it is necessary that we be withdrawn from a false confidence in them, for very commonly when any resource is at hand, we are foolishly intoxicated and lifted up with pride. He opposes the fear of God therefore to the strength both of men and of horses, and places his hope in his mercy, intimating that it is highly incumbent upon us to show our moderation in worshipping God with reverence and holiness, and depending upon his grace. Hence we learn that he only condemns that strength which would take from God the honour due to him.

MEMORY WORK

Q. 66. What is the reason annexed to the fifth commandment?
A. The reason annexed to the fifth commandment is a promise of long life and prosperity (as far as it shall serve for God’s glory and their own good) to all such as keep this commandment.

Friday (11/5) read and discuss 1 Peter 1:13-21

1 Peter 1:13–21 (ESV)

¹³ Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, ¹⁵ but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶ since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” ¹⁷ And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, ¹⁸ knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. ²⁰ He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you ²¹ who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

John Calvin commenting on verse 17 writes:

The fear that is mentioned, stands opposed to heedless security, such as is wont to creep in, when there is a hope of deceiving with impunity. For, as God’s eyes are such that they penetrate into the hidden recesses of the heart, we ought to walk with him carefully and not negligently. He calls the present life a sojourning, not in the sense in which he called the Jews to whom he was writing sojourners, at the beginning of the Epistle, but because all the godly are in this world pilgrims.

MEMORY WORK

Q. 67. Which is the sixth commandment?
A. The sixth commandment is, Thou shalt not kill.

Saturday (11/6) read and discuss Ezra 9:1-15

Ezra 9 (ESV)

Derek Kidner writes:

Something of the devotion and insight of the man praying can be sensed in this confession. His involvement with those for whom he spoke comes through at once, in the swift transition from ‘I’, in the first sentence, to ‘our’ and ‘we’ for the rest of the prayer. Ezra could have protested his innocence, but like the servant of Isaiah 53:12 he was impelled to reckon himself ‘numbered with the transgressors’, more deeply ashamed of the national guilt than any of them, and thus more fit to be their spokesman in confession.

MEMORY WORK

Q. 68. What is required in the sixth commandment?
A. The sixth commandment requireth all lawful endeavors to preserve our own life, and the life of others.