“I need thee every hour, stay Thou nearby; Temptations lose their power when thou art nigh.”
Introduction:
“I need thee every hour, stay Thou nearby; Temptations lose their power when thou art nigh.”
As we approach Labor Day weekend and the end of our first summer meeting together as one unified body…I am struck by the focus our combined worship format has put on the theology behind the songs we sing on Sunday mornings. This week is no exception.
As we go about our day-to-day lives, we no doubt have faced temptations…I know I have. Temptations to ignore the voice of God and instead follow our own voice, the voice of man, the voice of self.
Who do we turn to when we are tempted to sin? The answer may seem like a simple ‘Sunday school answer’…but to put it into practice is another thing entirely. As we strive to become ‘doers’ of the Word and not just ‘hearers’, as James would put it…Let’s look to our ultimate example in Jesus. How did Jesus exemplify the words in this song lyric? Let’s take a look…
Devotional:
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” -Matthew 4:1 ESV
In the previous chapter of Matthew, we see John the Baptist announcing the coming of Jesus and baptizing Him. The Spirit of God then descends on Jesus like a dove, coming to rest upon Him. Why is this important?
New Testament Scholar, Grant Osbourne notes:
“There is a wilderness typology and a deliberate contrast with Israel here: they failed the test in the wilderness, but Jesus is victorious. In fact, the order of the temptations and Jesus’ responses reverse the order of Israel’s failures in Deuteronomy 6-8…”
God delivers Israel from slavery in Egypt…carrying them through the waters of the Red Sea (Exodus 14)…similarly, Jesus passes through the waters of baptism in Matthew 3. Shortly after the Red Sea crossing…Israel complains of hunger in the wilderness (Exodus 16).
So let’s see how this comparison continues to unfold…
“And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” -Matthew 4:2-4 ESV
Jesus directly quotes Moses’ words to Israel in Deuteronomy 8:3 which reads:
“And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” -Deuteronomy 8:3 ESV
Temptation #1…Jesus succeeds where Israel failed. Next!
Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” -Matthew 4:5-7 ESV
Jesus again quotes Deuteronomy…referring to the people of Israel putting God to the test in Exodus 17:
“You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.” -Deuteronomy 6:16 ESV
Temptation #2…Jesus succeeds where Israel failed. Finally…
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. –Matthew 4:8-11 ESV
Jesus quotes…you guessed it…Deuteronomy!
It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. -Deuteronomy 6:13 ESV
Israel had continuously been unfaithful to the Lord, going after other gods.
Temptation #3…Jesus succeeds where Israel failed. Jesus then goes on to launch his ministry!
What now?
Like Israel, we have failed…but where we failed, Jesus succeeded!
For each temptation, Jesus’ immediate response was quoting scripture. This is why it is vitally important that we are continuously in the Word.
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. -Hebrews 4:12 ESV
Notice that Satan catches on after the first temptation and starts to quote scripture to Jesus. He is a master deceiver. How does Jesus know how to handle this? He knows his own Word better than the devil and quotes scripture right back!
We must be so rooted in the Word, that we are able to discern when we are being deceived!
Temptation loses its power when we are FILLED with the Word. Jesus finally rebukes Satan and drives him away with one final scripture. Too often, we place our emphasis on simply abstaining from sin. The problem is that if we are not ‘filling’ ourselves with the Word in the process…we have no means of offense…no means of attack. This makes it so easy to give into temptation. If we do not have the voice of God in our heart, we will follow our own voice, the voice of man, the voice of self.
We truly do need Him every hour. We need his voice…we need his Word. If we live this out…temptation really does lose its power!
“I need thee every hour, stay Thou nearby; Temptations lose their power when thou art nigh.”
– Sean Wagner