For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
Stay faithful to your wife/husband. You will be rewarded for doing so by the love you receive in return. Do not turn from your spouse to an immoral person. The pleasure from immorality cannot compare with that to be had with a faithful spouse.
Today we look at the rest of the psalm which Jesus referenced from the cross just before He died. The part I read and commented on yesterday expressed great despair. However, today’s portion expresses great faith and hope. Despite the terrible situation he finds himself in and the despair he feels, the psalmist tells us that he will proclaim God’s name, that he will praise God among the assembled people. This is not the statement of a person who is abandoned by God.
The psalm starts out with the statement, “My God, my God why have You forsaken me?” But then in verse 23 it tells us to praise the Lord because:
He has not turned his back on them,
but has listened to their cries for help.
Those are not the words of someone abandoned by God, and they are words Jesus wanted us to think of as He hung on the cross dying. So, no matter how dire our situation is, let us always remember that God will not ignore our suffering, nor will He turn His back on us. He will listen to our cries for help and we will praise Him in the assembly.
The disciples asked Jesus who is greatest in the kingdom of Heaven? I think it is clear they were asking which of them was the greatest, or what individual they should strive to emulate. So, they were looking for an answer like, “John the Baptist”, “Moses”, or “Abraham”. Instead, Jesus gave them a completely different answer. He told them that if they wanted to get into the kingdom of heaven, they needed to become like little children. They needed to stop thinking about who would be the greatest and accept a lowly position in the kingdom of heaven. The message here is that if we want to get into Heaven we need to not seek to be great in the kingdom of Heaven. Rather we need to be willing, and eager, to be servants.
After God told Moses to return to Egypt to lead the Israelites Moses asked God, “But what if they won’t believe me?” In response to this question, God gave Moses three miracles he could perform to demonstrate that God had spoken to him. However, Moses was not done. Next he complained that he was not a good public speaker. To which God replied that just exactly did Moses think had given people the ability to speak. God promised Moses that He would give him the words to say when he spoke to the people and to Pharaoh. With all of his excuses used up, Moses came right out and asked God to send someone else. Every time I read this I think, “I’m not that bad…Am I?” Really, how often do we do the same thing? We tried once years ago and things didn’t work out like we planned, so now, when God calls us to do something we reply, “Please send someone else!” Every time I read this, I tell myself I won’t do that the next time God calls me. Maybe this time I will keep that promise.