Times of crisis have a way of escalating our struggle with anxiety, sometimes raising it to the level of panic, and making it seem impossible for us to respond in a righteous way. What can we do when debilitating fear threatens our peace of mind and heart? Psalm 27 gives encouraging, faith-building counsel as it shows how King David responded to crises in his own life.
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? . . . One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. (Ps. 27:1, 4)
As King David’s enemies increased, so did his anxiety. Three times in the opening verses of this psalm he confesses to being afraid (see vv. 1–3). At least six times in the whole of the psalm he identifies the basis of his fear: evildoers, adversaries, armies at war, enemies, and false witnesses (see vv. 2, 3, 6, 12). Yet rather than responding with sin, David responds in a righteous manner, with a heart that is strengthened by God-centered faith. He turns to his only help and cries out to God (see v. 7). He fights fear with confidence in God as his defender.
How did he do this? What can we learn from his example?
Faith cripples the power of fear by reminding us of the right-now presence of the Lord (v. 1).
David reminds himself that “the Lord is my light and my salvation” and that “the Lord is the stronghold of my life.” In fear’s grip, biblical faith doesn’t look only to promises of future deliverance but to assurances of present protection. While being persecuted by enemies, David says, “God is here with me. In him I will put my trust. He is my protection.”
Faith cripples the power of our fear when our focus and affection become singular in the Lord (v. 4).
David deliberately turns the eyes of his heart away from real-life fears and toward his one, undying passion—to live in the real-time presence of the Lord. David seeks, “all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.” As it was with David, so it can be with us. Gazing on the beauty of the Lord will rightly align our affections, enliven our faith, and alleviate our fears. Do you have that same singular longing—to seek after the Lord? Or does anxiety distract you from the Lord?
Faith is powerful, isn’t it? It helps us to fight our fears as we find our confidence in the Lord.
Dr. Sproul’s classic gets to the heart of humanity’s search for personal worth. As he sheds light on daily obstacles to dignity—in home, school, hospital, prison, church, and workplace—Dr. Sproul points us to new ways of loving and serving one another.
Endorsements
“As Dr. Sproul unpacks the powerful and biblical axiom of human dignity, he shows the reader how to effectively ascribe life-worth to the people we encounter every day. In an age of identity politics where the weak and vulnerable are forgotten, The Hunger for Significance is a must-read!”
—Joni Eareckson Tada, Founder, Joni and Friends International Disability Center
“This is classic R.C. Sproul. It is precisely the book the church needs to help us to rightly grasp the dignity and purpose of each and every human being, all image bearers of our holy, loving, and gracious God.”
—Burk Parsons, Senior Pastor, Saint Andrew’s Chapel, Sanford, Florida
“In this penetrating analysis, R.C. Sproul explores our search for meaning in a variety of circumstances and places. We were created in God’s image to live in communion with our Creator and under his Lordship. Sproul uses his keen mind to teach us how and why we all want our lives to count. This book is a must-read for everyone: pastors, church leaders, and laypeople.”
—Miguel Núñez, Pastor Titular, Iglesia Bautista Internacional
“It takes someone who so profoundly wrestled with the question Who is God? to help us so clearly and cogently with the question Who am I? In our current moment of identity confusion, chaos, and crisis, this new edition is urgently needed. With biblical wisdom, theological maturity, and generous anecdotes, Dr. Sproul covers every aspect of our lives, painting the portrait of true human dignity.”
—Stephen J. Nichols, President, Reformation Bible College
Bringing together contributors from Africa, Asia, North and South America, and Europe, A Covenantal Vision for Global Mission seeks to ground the growing interest in the missional character of Christian outreach in the classic biblical and historic Reformed theological understanding of God’s covenantal relationship—of creation, grace, redemption, and consummation—with mankind. In the words of editor Peter A. Lillback, president of Westminster Theological Seminary, this is “the best paradigm for developing Christ’s global mission.”
Endorsements
“A treasure trove of mature theological reflections on how Reformed covenantal theology intersects with various aspects of global missions. The renowned scholars who have written for this significant work should be commended for their insights and contribution to Reformed missiology for this generation and generations to come.”
—Lloyd Kim, Coordinator, Mission to the World, PCA
“If theologians and missiologists are still debating the merits and problems of missio Dei theology, Reformed theology with its Christ-centered focus, rooted in the biblical redemptive history of promise and fulfillment, provides an antidote to certain of its dangers. The book is recommended reading for all those who want to familiarize themselves with good, biblically based Reformed mission theology.”
—Hannes Wiher, Missiologist in French-speaking Africa; Adjunct Professor, Seminaries at Vaux-sur-Seine and Aix-en-Provence, France
“This collection does more than enlarge on the missional component of core theological themes. The authors also make application to the heart of those engaged in missions, to the outward-focused identity that the church must embrace, and to new missional realities in the world.”
—Rob Edwards, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology, Westminster Theological Seminary
Table of Contents
Foreword by Peter A. Lillback
A Missions Declaration
Introduction
Part 1: The Covenant Theology of Mission
1. The Source of Mission in the Covenant of Redemption — Davi Charles Gomes
2. Covenant of Creation, Cultural Mandate, and Mission — Pierre Berthoud
3. The Covenant of Grace as the Paradigm for Mission — Peter A. Lillback
4. Mission and Gathering God’s New Covenant People — Flip Buys
5. Mission in the Light of Covenantal Eschatology — Paul Wells
Part 2: Covenant Theology and the Mission-Minded Church
6. Missions in the Fear of God — Flip Buys
7. Christ’s Dominion over Creation and Spiritual Warfare in Mission — Henk Stoker
8. Missional Preaching and the Covenant — Robert Norris
9. Tithing as a Covenantal Strategy for Mission — In Whan Kim
Part 3: Covenant Theology and Global Mission Vision
10. Covenantal Missions and the City — Naas Ferreira
11. The Witness of Reformed Christianity in a Minority Situation: Indonesia — Benyamin F. Intan
12. The Missional Minority in Post-Christian Europe — Paul Wells
13. Covenantal Apologetics and Mission — Guilherme Braun
Epilogue — Kent Hughes
Select Bibliography on Mission and Covenant
Contributors
Index of Scripture
Index of Subjects and Names
Contributors
Pierre Berthoud is president of the Faculté Jean Calvin in Aix-en-Provence, France, and president of the Federation of European Evangelical Theologians.
Guilherme Braun is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and a postulant for the ministry of the Igreja Anglicana Reformada do Brasil (IARB).
P. J. (Flip) Buys is research professor of missions at North-West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa, and international director of the World Reformed Fellowship.
Ignatius Wilhelm (Naas) Ferreira is senior lecturer of missiology in the Faculty of Theology at North-West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Davi Charles Gomes is chancellor of Mackenzie Presbyterian University, pastor of the Igreja Presbiteriana Paulistana in São Paulo, Brazil, and a board member of the World Reformed Fellowship.
R. Kent Hughes retired in 2019 as professor of practical theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, and was for many years senior pastor of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois, USA.
Benyamin F. Intan is president of International Reformed Evangelical Seminary in Jakarta, Indonesia, a member of the Council of the World Reformed Fellowship, and a senior editor of Unio cum Christo (an international journal of Reformed theology and life).
In Whan Kim is president/vice chancellor at Swaziland Christian University in Mbabane, Swaziland, and a board member of the World Reformed Fellowship.
Peter A. Lillback is president and professor of historical theology and church history at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, and a senior editor of Unio cum Christo (an international journal of Reformed theology and life).
Rob Norris is teaching pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Henk Stoker is professor of apologetics and ethics in the Faculty of Theology at North-West University and vice-rector at the Theological School of the Reformed Churches in Potchefstroom, South Africa, and a member of the Council of the World Reformed Fellowship.
Paul Wells lives in Liverpool, UK, and is professeur émérite of the Faculté Jean Calvin in Aix-en-Provence, France, extraordinary professor at North-West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa, and editor in chief of Unio cum Christo (an international journal of Reformed theology and life).
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Matt. 6:25)
Anxiety is so much a part of our lives that it’s natural for us to talk about it frequently. However, defining it, and understanding how it works, sometimes seems like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. Anxiety is an emotion—but it’s more than a feeling. It often includes a physical reaction—but it’s more than that, too. So what is anxiety, exactly?
The writers of the New Testament employ two different, but related, words to refer to the experience that we call anxiety. They combine the noun merimna, which is usually translated “care,” with the verb merizo, which means to draw in different directions or distract. To be anxious, then, means to have a distracting care—to have our minds and hearts torn between two worlds. We see this in Jesus’s warning about thorns choking out the Word of God, which is intended to produce faith. He identifies these thorns as “the cares of the world” (Mark 4:19) or “the cares and riches and pleasures of life” (Luke 8:14). Anxious cares are typically tied to our earthly lives and are most often temporal, not eternal.
These distracting cares divide our mental energy and cloud our spiritual vision; they keep us focused on the here-and-now instead of on the future-promised-but-not-yet. They form cataracts over our spiritual eyes and hinder us from keeping heavenly things in clear focus or from keeping diligent watch for the Lord’s return (see Luke 21:34).
Anxiety diverts us from what is most important. It causes our eyes to see only what is before us at that very moment. Our worries exert great effort to keep our vision fixed on the horizontal (the things of the world) instead of on the vertical (the things of God).
In today’s passage, Jesus commands us not to be anxious about our food or drink or clothing. He then immediately directs us to “look” somewhere else (Matt. 6:26). By looking at the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, we shift our focus to the heavenly Father who promises to provide even better care for us than he does for them.
Instead of allowing our minds to be distracted by the troubles of today, Jesus tells us to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33). As we renew our minds and discipline our hearts to keep eternal matters as our central priority, we learn to rest in God, who has promised to meet all our needs. Therefore, even when our personal responsibilities require a certain amount of our attention, we can always look to the Lord with confidence rather than being fearful.
In the 31-Day Devotionals for Life series, biblical counselors and Bible teachers guide you through specific situations or struggles, applying God’s Word to your life in practical ways day after day. Deepak Reju is the series editor.
Addictive Habits: Changing for Good, by David R. Dunham
After an Affair: Pursuing Restoration, by Michael Scott Gembola
Amid the rise and fall of nations and civilizations, the influence of a few great minds has been profound. Some of these remain relatively obscure, even as their thought shapes our world; others have become household names. As we engage our cultural and social contexts as ambassadors and witnesses for Christ, we must identify and test against the Word those thinkers who have so singularly formed the present age.
Each author was invited to meet a threefold goal, so that each Great Thinkers volume is, first, academically informed. The brevity of Great Thinkers volumes sets a premium on each author’s command of the subject matter and on the secondary discussions that have shaped each thinker’s influence. Our authors identify the most influential features of their thinkers’ work and address them with precision and insight. Second, the series maintains a high standard of biblical and theological faithfulness. Each volume stands on an epistemic commitment to “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27), and is thereby equipped for fruitful critical engagement. Finally, Great Thinkers texts are accessible, not burdened with jargon or unnecessarily difficult vocabulary. The goal is to inform and equip the reader as effectively as possible through clear writing, relevant analysis, and incisive, constructive critique. My hope is that this series will distinguish itself by striking with biblical faithfulness and the riches of the Reformed tradition at the central nerves of culture, cultural history, and intellectual heritage.
Nathan D. Shannon, Series Editor
Praise for the Great Thinkers Series
“After a long eclipse, intellectual history is back. We are becoming aware, once again, that ideas have consequences. The importance of P&R Publishing’s leadership in this trend cannot be overstated. The series Great Thinkers: Critical Studies of Minds That Shape Us is a tool that I wish I had possessed when I was in college and early in my ministry. The scholars examined in this well-chosen group have shaped our minds and habits more than we know. Though succinct, each volume is rich, and displays a balance between what Christians ought to value and what they ought to reject. This is one of the happiest publishing events in a long time.”
—William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary
“When I was beginning my studies of theology and philosophy during the 1950s and ’60s, I profited enormously from P&R’s Modern Thinkers Series. Here were relatively short books on important philosophers and theologians such as Nietzsche, Dewey, Van Til, Barth, and Bultmann, by scholars of Reformed conviction such as Clark, Van Riessen, Ridderbos, Polman, and Zuidema. These books did not merely summarize the work of these thinkers; they were serious critical interactions. Today, P&R is resuming and updating the series, now called Great Thinkers. The new books, on people such as Aquinas, Hume, Nietzsche, Derrida, and Foucault, are written by scholars who are experts on these writers. As before, these books are short—around 100 pages. They set forth accurately the views of the thinkers under consideration, and they enter into constructive dialogue, governed by biblical and Reformed convictions. I look forward to the release of all the books being planned and to the good influence they will have on the next generation of philosophers and theologians.”
—John M. Frame, Professor of Systematic Theology and Philosophy Emeritus, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando
A search can be fun—from hide-and-seek to hunting Easter eggs on the White House lawn; from looking for a hot spot where the fish are biting to the scavenger hunt at a Halloween party.
A search can be futile—from the ancient Diogenes examining the darkest corners of Athens with his lantern, looking in vain for an honest man, to the medieval knight pursuing the Holy Grail; from the quest for the Lost Dutchman mine to the lure of discovering Shangri-La.
A search can be tedious, yielding its reward after countless hours and lingering years of failure—Thomas Edison experimenting with a thousand substances before finding one suitable for use as a glowing filament; Jonas Salk peering through a thousand microscopes before finding a vaccine for polio.
A search can be quixotic—the alchemist seeking a formula to turn lead into gold; Ponce De León tracking down the Fountain of Youth. It is searching for gold at the end of the rainbow and chasing the will-o’-the-wisp with a butterfly net.
A search can be maniacal—Captain Ahab sailing his troubled soul into uncharted waters, risking his crew and his mission to gain revenge on his loathsome nemesis, the great white whale Moby Dick. It is the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk shouting, “Fee fi fo fum” while frantically chasing after his golden harp.
Man is by nature a hunter. He longs to discover the new frontier, the lost horizon, the magic formula, and the ultimate trophy. From Nimrod stalking the primordial lion to Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal’s relentless pursuit of Adolf Eichmann and Dr. Josef Mengele, the hunt is fierce. It is Columbus seeking a new world, Galileo a new moon around Jupiter, and Christian Dior a new flair for fashion.
We are the seekers. We hunt for animals and precious gems; for a cure for cancer and a way to solve the national debt. We look for jobs, for dates, for bargains, and for thrills. The pursuit of happiness is our inalienable right. We are like Dorothy, off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Ours is a new world, fraught with the peril of nuclear annihilation, torn by the violence of international terrorism, embittered by our failure to build the great society. The rigorous pursuit of our day is the search for dignity and personal worth. It is a mighty quest fueled by the flames of passion that burn in the souls of people who refuse to surrender to the voices that declare we are nothing.
The search for dignity is a titanic struggle, an epic adventure, prodded by a pain that will not go away. Modern man has an aching void. The emptiness we feel cannot be relieved by one more gourmet meal or another snort of cocaine. We carry water in a sieve when we try to fill the empty space with a better job or a bigger house.
Dignity is never found in plastic. We must search further and probe deeper if the haunting cries of indignity are to be silenced. Ours must be a transcendent quest—going beyond the trivial to the ultimate questions of our worth as human beings.
It was Saint Augustine who declared that within each of us is a vacuum that must be filled if the scourge of insignificance is to miss us in its vicious attack. We must seek our roots, our origin, and our destiny if we are to know our present value.
This book is written by a Christian for Christians and for anyone else who shares in the search. It explores the human cry for dignity, the deep desire for significance, the hallowed longing for love and respect. It touches the aching void in the home, the school, the hospital, the prison, the church, and the workplace. Wherever people come together, hunters meet in common cause—the discovery of worth, the assurance of our dignity.
At times the book is autobiographical—not as if I alone have felt the aching void but that I may speak from the most intimate chamber of my quest, my own heart. Some will identify and others will not. My pain is not always your pain. And my delight may leave you bored.
But my earnest hope is that at some point our kindred spirits will meet, and whatever else our differences, we will be cemented together in a renewed commitment to preserve and protect the dignity of the men, women, and children who surround us every day.
My gratitude must be expressed to Bob and Lillian Love for providing me with a place to work, far from the intrusions of ringing phones and administrative pressures, and to Leo and Todge Collins for helping me with support material. Special thanks go to Mrs. Lillian Rowe for allowing the tender moments of her husband’s death to be included in the book.
Thanks also to Karen Snellback for typing the manuscript, to Tim Couch and Dave Fox for running the ship of Ligonier Ministries in my absence, to my son R.C. Sproul Jr. for editorial assistance, and to my friends at Regal Books: William Greig, David Malme, and my patient editor Donald Pugh for prodding me to write the book, and for all their encouragement and assistance.
Finally, my heartfelt thanks to my wife, Vesta, without whose help this book would be far more abstract and far less readable.
