For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I hope those of you who regularly read my blog are not getting tired of pictures of flowers and of Magrat (my cat), because there are a lot more to come.

    I have noticed that the proverb writer spends a lot of time telling us that easily losing one’s temper is a sign of foolishness. Those who are wise and understand how the world works control their anger. He does not tell us that the wise do not become angry, just that they do not let their anger control them. We would do well to spend a similar amount of time teaching (and learning) this lesson.

    Today we reach the end of this psalm which tells us about how God always has a plan, a plan that comes to fruition. God used the difficulties and trials described in yesterday’s psalm to mold and shape the children of Israel. Then when the shaping was done He revealed His plans and brought them out of bondage with wealth. Let us remember that God has a plan for us that will end with our joy, even if we are going through a difficult and painful shaping process right now.

    When Jesus came upon the crowds of sick people by the pool of Bethesda, He only healed one of them. Why did He pick this man out of the crowd? We don’t know, but it is worth noting that Jesus did not heal all of the sick who were by the pool that day. It is worth noting that the religious leaders were more concerned with the fact that Jesus told the man to carry his mat on the Sabbath than with the fact that the man was healed. How often do we get so caught up in the “rules” of righteous behavior that we forget what those rules are about?

    When I covered the beginning of the Book of Ruth I commented that people often denigrate Orpah but that they were wrong to do so. Here, people rarely mention Peninnah, yet she is someone worthy of criticism. She taunted and made fun of Hannah because she had not had children. Today, we would call this bullying (although I would consider that to be a misuse of the word “bullying”). The only mention I have ever heard about Peninnah is as an example of why multiple wives is a bad idea, or to criticize Elkanah for not stopping her mistreatment of Hannah. Those are both valid lessons from the passage.
    That being said, I think there is value is comparing and contrasting Peninnah and Hannah. Peninnah was blessed by God with children, but rather than feel pity for Hannah who was not so blessed, she berated and belittled her. Hannah, rather than strike back, or ask their husband to punish Peninnah, turned to God and begged Him for a son. When God granted her request Hannah dedicated her son to serving God. We know nothing about how Peninnah’s children turned out, but we do know how Samuel turned out. It is important to note that Eli had already raised two sons, both of whom turned out badly. That means we need to look elsewhere to find out why Samuel turned out so well (although, we should not overlook the possibility that Eli had learned something from his earlier failures). We know that Hannah was a devoted mother to Samuel and I would give her most of the credit for how Samuel turned out.