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Latest Devotional
Joyful Sorrow…And Other Paradoxes
Leviticus 16:30a, 31a
“For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. … It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves.”In human terms, it’s impossible to unlock the treasure trove of divine atonement without the conceptual key called paradox. All the great truths of the Bible arrive in this enigmatic form. All symbols of divine revelation are double-sided as it were, and Christ is the most absolute and best of these. What do I mean by ‘paradox’? This: that what seems opposing and contradictory to our finite minds is unified in God’s.
Theologians often speak of Christ being ‘fully God’ and ‘fully man,’ or ‘100 percent divine and 100 percent human,’ but 100 percent plus 100 percent is 200 percent, right? Which is an impossibility according to every mathematical principle we have. Such an equation breaks the very law of non- contradiction God inscribed in our reason. To measure Christ’s hypostatic nature by human standards (as theologians refer to it) means that Jesus can only be fifty percent divine and fifty percent human—a half-God, half-man hybrid. Yet that isn’t the case! But the truth of His nature exceeds our ability to speak of it. It breaks our mathematical formulas, defies our limits and measures. And the moment we try to condense divine paradoxes like these into the limits of finite language, we end up confounding the mystery rather than expounding it.
Take that example into your reading of Leviticus 16:29-31, friend, and open the treasure-box with this key of paradox. Recognize that God symbolizes atonement as a Sabbath rest throughout the Bible and subdivides it into the two contraries of somberness and joy. One moment, it’s a time of affliction and grief. The next, it’s a time of dancing and jubilee! Why? Because the life of faith is both. Because Christ was the Man of Sorrows, draped in grief, and the Wellspring of joy! He was the sacrificial Lamb and the triumphant Lion! The servant to all and the King of all! Son of God and Son of Man!
Rejoice in the LORD’s mercies today, but mourn over your sin. Dance with delight over the wounds of your Redeemer, but weep in agony for putting them there. Season your sorrow with laughter and your joy with somberness, because to leave out half is to miss the whole.
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Seeing Double
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Sabbath Psalm (Revision of John M. Neale’s hymn ‘Art Thou Weary?’)
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Cleaning House
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The Buck Stops With You
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The Seminal Covenant
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Word from our Land-LORD
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Stop the Spread
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Sabbath Psalm (From Lidie Edmunds hymn, ‘My Faith Has Found a Resting Place’)
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A Less-Than-Perfect Conception
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Altars and Alterations
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The City Center
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Hold Your Peace
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Fight the Tide
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Sabbath Psalm (Revised from Dora Greenwell’s hymn, ‘My Savior’)
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Hearts Ablaze
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The Glory in the Commandment
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New Dawn
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The Big Six
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The Hermeneutic of Hindsight
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Sabbath Psalm (A revision of Horatius Bonar’s hymn ‘Here, O My Lord, I See You Face to Face’)
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Earth-Shattering Faith
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Over-the-Top Confession
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Top-Top Shelf
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Pleading the Fifth
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From Immanuel’s Veins
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Sabbath Psalm (from William Cowper’s hymn, ‘There is a Fountain Filled with Blood’)
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Grace is More
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A Little Clarity
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Buried in the Sinews
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Cometh the Tide
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Better than BBQ
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Sabbath Psalm (A revision of A. Cleveland Coxe’s hymn, ‘O Where are Kings and Empires Now?”)
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Picture Perfect
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Pressing Onward
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Unwritten Prayers
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Blood on Our Hands
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Goodness: the Greatest Blessing
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Sabbath Psalm (Revision of Frederick Brewster’s hymn, ‘Lord God, Our Thanks to Thee We Raise’)
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Shimmering in the Fire
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On Holy Ground We Tread
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You, Me, and Other Gemstones
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Self-Sacrifice
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Faith, Worked Out
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Sabbath Psalm (Revision of Mary Ann Lathbury’s hymn, ‘Break Thou the Bread of Life’)
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Love—in Excess
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A Hand-Me-Down Art
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Gendered Language
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The Afterglow
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Moses and the Red Letters
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Sabbath Psalm (Revision of John Peterson’s hymn, ‘Holy Spirit, Now Outpoured’)
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Crime and Forgiveness
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Unbreakable
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On the Face of It
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The Distinguishing Mark
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A Plot Twist
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Sabbath Psalm (Revision of Frank Bottome’s hymn, ‘The Comforter Has Come’)
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Come Away with Me
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A Critical Departure
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Down with the Ship
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The Good Fight
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A Horror Story
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Sabbath Psalm 47 (Revised from John Peterson’ hymn ‘Jesus is Coming Again’)
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Come All Who Thirst!
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A Reassuring Truth
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What's On the Menu Today?
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Choices and Consequence
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What Have We Become?
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Sabbath Psalm 46 (Revision of John Bakewell’s hymn ‘Hail, Thou Once-Despised Jesus!’)
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When Adjectives Fail
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Epics and Epitaphs
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A Team Effort
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What a Guy!
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A Holy Touch
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Sabbath Psalm 45 (Revision of Thomas Kelly’s hymn ‘Hark! Ten Thousand Harps and Voices’)
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Name Your Price
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Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Smell
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A Most Fulfilling Prophecy
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Marked by the Blood
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Dressing the Part
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Sabbath Psalm 44 (Revision of John Peterson’s hymn ‘Open Wide, Ye Doors’)
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Facts and Feelings
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Priesthood: A Balancing Act
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Beautiful Glory—Glorious Beauty
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Lamplighters
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A Mobile Home
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Sabbath Psalm 43 (Revision of Giovanni P. Da Palestrina’s hymn ‘The Strife is Over’)
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An Open Door
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Gold Rush
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Practicing God’s Presence
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An Ark Like No Other
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A Heavenly Contribution
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Sabbath Psalm 42
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A Crackling Fire
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Picnic Time!
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There is a Fountain
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A Book Signing
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A Recurring Theme
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Sabbath Psalm 41
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Are You Listening?