1/30/2020

March 1 (First Sunday in Lent): Psalm 32 and Matthew 4:1-11

by Rev. Dr. Neal Presa

As the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness and accompanied him through the formative and deeply challenging encounter with the devil as narrated in Matthew 4, the three “Selah” exhortations in the 11 verses of Psalm 32 provide the needed pause to internalize, reflect upon, and trust in the affirmations that the Lord forgives and the Lord protects.

Jesus and the tempter meet in an inauspicious place at the most inauspicious of circumstances; in a wilderness after 40 days and nights of Jesus fasting, leaving him vulnerable in every respect. Weakness of mental concentration, spiritual fortitude, and physical resilience would be at their lowest. Note, that this story followed the account of Jesus’ baptism at the river Jordan. The baptismal declaration of his belovedness, his belongingness are evidenced in this practical way: God will preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of Jesus in every respect. Jesus does not have to prove his belovedness, his belongingness, notwithstanding the tempter’s continual onslaught of conditions, “If you’re the Son of God. . .” For Jesus, this is not a game of quid pro quo. Jesus is and always will be the beloved Son of God, by origination; we will always be beloved daughters and sons of God by derivation because of Jesus, who encounters us in every moment, from our first breath to our last, “in life and in death, we belong to God” so says the Heidelberg Catechism. Jesus’ citation of Old Testament Scriptures at every arrow thrown his way by the tempter demonstrates the protective power of the Lord and of his Word.

Psalm 32 is a series of “Selah” moments where we can trust that the Lord forgives our transgression, protects us from all those who seek to contradict or contravene God’s love, trusting in the Lord who preserves our hope, which results in us rejoicing and being glad for what God has done. It’s when we pause for the “Selah” times that the Lord encounters us with the reality of who God is, who we are, and what God is doing to impress upon us that we are beloved and belong to the Lord already.

Rev. Dr. Neal Presa

Rev. Dr. Neal Presa

The Rev. Neal D. Presa, Ph.D. is Executive Presbyter of the Presbytery of San José. He also serves as Affiliate Associate Professor of Preaching at Fuller Theological Seminary, and Senior Fellow of The Center for Pastor Theologians. He is past chair (2020-2022) and vice chair (2018-2020) of the Board of Trustees of the Presbyterian Foundation. He served as Moderator of the 220th General Assembly (2012-2014), and he currently represents the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on the World Council of Churches Central Committee and Executive Committee, where he is moderator of the finance policy committee. He is moderator of the Theology Working Group for the World Communion of Reformed Churches’ 27th General Council (2025, Chiang Mai). He is author/(co-)editor of nine books and over 100 essays, journal articles, and book reviews, including the recent Worship, Justice, and Joy: A Liturgical Pilgrimage (Cascade, 2025), as part of the Worship & Witness series in partnership with the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship and with funding from the Louisville Institute. For two decades he served congregations in New Jersey and California, and as a senior administrative faculty and visiting professor/research fellow in theological institutions in the United States, Philippines, and South Africa. He is married to Grace née Rhie (a publisher of English books on Korean subjects) and they have two college age sons. Connect with Neal on social media @NealPresa or email Neal@sanjosepby.org.

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