Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
When we prayerfully consider God's word, even weeping like Mary at the empty tomb, the Paraclete comes alongside and helps us see "this Jesus". The Spirit comes through the word of God. And this Spirit reveals to us this Jesus.
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Once I was singing Psalm 3, "I lay me down and slept/I awaked, for the L
ORD sustained me", and I began to weep uncontrollably. It just happened; the melody was engaging and I sang the song periodically, and at some point while singing a presence simply caused me to sob as tears streamed down my face.
At that moment, I could hear Jesus saying, "I have the power to lay My life down, and the power to raise it up again." Now, WL may have given messages on John 10:17,18. But at that moment Jesus' words unfolded to me through OT type. Through the oppressed and suffering David I could hear the voice of Jesus. Like Paul described it in Col 3:16 - as 'the word of Christ' - a word now indwelling me more richly, the unfolding of which brings life (Psa 119:130).
Now, my point is, before dismissing the Psalms as irrelevant, did WL sing? Did he pray? Did he weep? If he had, he might not have been so dismissive of the "righteous man" described therein. WL first might have considered that Jesus was not only righteous, but whose "one righteous act" on the cross opened the way; and we Christian are accounted as righteous in our faith in that His work(Gal 3:6, Rom 4:3).
But I doubt WL had time to consider all this. He had a ministry to run. Plus, the saints had already gotten there first, and were singing psalms with relish, and -- gasp -- some of the melodies came from dreaded Christianity! So WL needed to cut that short. He therefore rejected the Word, and consequently also he denied the Spirit that came alongside that Word. And the organizational turmoil that followed his ministry should not surprise; it's probably related.