I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Psalms 82-89.

As I read the first two psalms of today’s passage they made me think of a message from God different than the one I think the psalmist intended.  The first addresses those who think they are above everyone else and should direct others decisions.  Those who think they are the experts to whom everyone else should listen.  An examination of their record indicates that instead of doing good they hand down judgments which favor the wicked.    Then in the second the psalmist addresses Israel’s enemies, those who seek to destroy God’s people.  It struck me that today it addresses not just those who seek to destroy the Jewish people or the nation of Israel.  It speaks to me today of those who want to eliminate the godly from our society.  But they are not just coming after those who act righteously, they seek to drive God from the world.  The storm they are unleashing will demolish them rather than those at whom they seek to aim it.  God will not be, cannot be, harmed by their actions and He will defend those who rely on Him.

There is another theme which runs through these psalms.  I am not sure that I can capture it in coherent thought, but I am going to try.  The psalmist cries out his longing to be in the presence of God, a longing which hopefully we share.  The psalmist describes how you can develop such a longing, and why you should wish to do so, if you do not already have it.  There is joy which comes from walking with the Lord, from being close to Him that surpasses anything else you can experience.  If we but ask Him, God will teach us His ways.  Let us call on God to restore and revive us, not for the first time, but again and again.