For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
These two proverbs definitely go together. It is their very distaste for lies and falsehood which protect the godly from going astray. Since they choose honesty and integrity their path is clear and straight. The wicked on the other hand are misled into trouble because they believe that lies and falsehood can bring them happiness (they are wrong).
Yes, it is a joyful experience to live near to God. Reading this psalm fills me with joy and with the desire to be closer to God. It always amazes me how a psalm like this, or a song which expresses similar sentiment can both fill me with joy and give me a strong desire to be close to God. I was reading this psalm and feeling convicted because I do not always feel this way when the feeling the psalm expressed began to overwhelm me.
I do indeed agree with the psalmist when he says:
is better than a thousand anywhere else!
I am not very good at being a servant, but I understand the sentiment when the psalmist says that he would rather be a gatekeeper in the House of the Lord than live as lord among the wicked (I know that is not quite what he says, but I think that is what he means).
The story about the ten lepers is here for two reasons (yes, there I go again only two points). First, it reminds us that those who respond with gratitude for a miraculous event are the exception, not the rule. Second, it shows us that just because no one else expresses their gratitude does not mean that we shouldn’t. Let us live our lives like the on healed leper who returned to express his gratitude to Jesus.
When Jesus was asked about the coming of the Kingdom of God, His answer is exactly the opposite of what Islam teaches about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is not an earthly kingdom which stands separate, controlling a certain amount of land and the people living there. And it is not some future utopia. No, the Kingdom of God is right here among us. It is composed of those who are servants of God, whom God has made citizens of His Kingdom. We bring God’s Kingdom to those around us when we act as the one leper did by expressing our gratitude to God for what He has done for us.
When the rest of the peoples who lived in the land heard what had happened in yesterday’s passage they did not follow the path of the Gibeonites and attempt to make peace with Israel. Instead they joined their armies together and attempted to defeat the Israelites with overwhelming force. There are two lessons here (there is that number again). The first is a warning for Israel’s enemies today. In this passage, Israel’s enemies outnumbered them by a large amount AND they possessed superior military technology. Yet the Israelites defeated them and destroyed their weapons.
The second lesson is for everyone who serves God. If we follow the instructions which God gives us we will overcome all of our enemies, no matter how much they outnumber us and no matter how much power they have on their side. God will crush those who obstruct the path upon which He has set His people.