For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
Foolish behavior appeals to those who are ignorant (lacking in knowledge). Such behavior appears to offer sweet rewards, but it disguises the dangerous consequences of following its path. Those without foresight see only the short term advantage, neglecting to take into account the long-term results of their actions.
This psalm reminds me of a passage from a book I read (although I no longer remember what book it was), “You can tell more about a person from his enemies than from his friends.” If the various people and groups who have set themselves up in opposition to someone are consistently evil, that someone is almost certainly doing good. If we have enemies like those described by the psalmist, who are treacherous and hate us without cause, who plot against innocent people who mind their own business, we can be sure that God will come to our defense. It may seem to take Him a long time, but He will do so.
I am struck once again by the fact that Jesus healed many sick people who were brought to Him and cast demons out of the demon-possessed. The change in those He healed was sudden and dramatic. He told us elsewhere in the Gospels that we would perform similar miracles. Yet we rarely see such dramatic healing in the Church today (at least, not in the U.S.). I do not know why we do not see miraculous healing in the Church today, but at least part of the answer is that we do not expect to see such healing.
Another thing that struck me as I read this was Jesus casting out demons. I am convinced that those we call mentally ill today would have been called demon-possessed in Jesus’ day. Whether the fist century understanding is more accurate than ours today, or vice versa, is really irrelevant. What is relevant was that Jesus was able to address those with these sorts of problems every bit as effectively as He was able to cure the physically sick. The Church today should be casting out “demons” from those suffering from such problems just as it should be curing the sick. In both cases, when we look at what Jesus did we see two important factors. The first is the actual removal of the infliction which the people were suffering from. The second was Jesus instruction to them to go, and sin no more. And perhaps this answers the question as to why we do not see more healing in the Church today. We do not put enough emphasis on the second. The Church spends a lot of time calling people to repentance and accepting God’s forgiveness, but not much time telling them to go and sin no more.
The passage describes in detail the nature of the offerings which the Israelites were to present to God. When we offer something up to God it is to be the best of what we have, not something we weren’t going to use any way. When we give of our time it is not to be, “Well, I did not have anything else to do then, so I may as well give my time to God.” When we give money to God it is not to be, “Well, I have this money left over after I paid my bills and did the other things I really wanted to do.” Let us give to God from the best of what we have, not from what is left over.