This struck me this morning as something I need to pray. It is strange because this psalm is about facing difficult times and persecution. Yet, this morning this psalm struck me as my prayer in my struggle with sin. Despite this, I think this psalm represents my prayer asking God to help me in my struggle against temptation.
John was a voice shouting in the wilderness that people should prepare the way for the Lord’s coming. Jesus has come, but we are still called to prepare the way for Him. Proclaiming the Gospel can still feel like shouting in the wilderness.
It is not enough to be a voice shouting in the wilderness, John did not just shout, “Prepare the way!” He told people how to prepare the way. He told them that it is not enough to say that you have repented of your sins. You need to prove by how you live that you have repented and turned to God. When the crowds asked John to be more specific, he gave an answer that is still good today. “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.” There is the message we need to be preaching to those around us.
Just as John’s message comes at the start of the Gospel of Luke, so this message is merely the start to preaching the Gospel. However, it is the start. You cannot preach the Gospel of Jesus unless you start here (and by starting here I mean doing this as well as preaching this).
Once the census had been taken of the warriors, the men over the age of 20 in each of the tribes except the Levites, Moses took a census of the Levites. The census of the Levites was of every male one month and older. None of the people on the earlier census which Moses had taken just after the Israelites left Egypt were on either of these lists (except for Joshua and Caleb. The Israelites had spent an entire generation in the wilderness.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day, or more. in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
The key to gaining long-term respect and reward is kindness and graciousness. Those who are cruel and ruthless will gain only wealth and in the long-run their cruelty will cause their downfall.
This psalm resonates with me now. I am calling out to God for help. I am confident that He will lead me through this time of trouble to His strong fortress. I will sing His praises each day, even now as trouble surrounds me.
According to Luke, John the Baptist called the crowds who came to hear him preach a brood of vipers and asked them who warned them to seek an escape from God’s coming wrath. Different groups asked John what they should do. John gave them answers that applied to their specific places (tax collectors, soldiers, general populace). His answer to all of them can be easily summed up, “Do what you can to help those in need.” A fiction author whom I like, Lois McMaster Bujold, put words into the mouth of one of her characters which I think applies to what John was telling these people. I am going to paraphrase what she wrote here. When the character was told that his effort would not make any difference in the long run, that the bad guys would just pick up the pieces and go back to doing what they had been doing, he replied that it made a difference for those few he helped. People make the excuse that they can’t help everybody in need, so they don’t help anyone. John’s message here is to help those you can. We may not be able to change the world for everyone, but we can change the world for someone.
When God told Moses that his day had come and the he would die soon, Moses’ response was to ask God to appoint his successor. Moses had led the people of Israel for 40 some years and as he faced death his concern was that they should have a good strong leader after he was gone. Joshua had been Moses’ assistant for most of the last 40 years, yet Moses was concerned that he was not the man for the job. Therefore Moses gave Eleazar, Aaron’s son, a greater role in leading the people of Israel beside Joshua than either he or Aaron had held while Moses was alive. Moses had groomed a leader to replace himself. Joshua did not follow his lead on this and the people of Israel suffered for it.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
At the conclusion of the second census, God instructs Moses to divide up the land among the tribes according to their populations. Those tribes with more people would get more land than those with fewer. The land is to be divided by lot but according to population. The passage tells us that of those who had been counted in the first census, only Joshua and Caleb were still alive.
While they are at this camp God tells Moses that he will soon die, that he will not enter into the promised land because of his failure to fully obey God’s commands. Moses accepts the Lord’s judgment and asks that He appoint someone to lead the people after Moses’ death. God instructs Moses to anoint Joshua as his successor. In particular God instructs Moses that Joshua will consult with the high priest to determine what God’s will is in leading the people. This passage Points out the importance for an organization of a leader setting up a plan of succession. Do the organizations we are part of have a plan of succession? Do we know what we will do when the leader who has led the organization to its current success is no longer able to do so?
Today’s passage discusses the ministry of John the Baptist. John preached along the Jordan River. He did not stay in one place but traveled through the area around the Jordan River. Luke tells us that he fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah for someone to be “A voice of one calling in the wilderness,‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. When the crowds came to John for baptism, asking them who had warned them to seek cover from the coming of God’s anger? He told them that baptism was not enough, their actions needed to reflect that they had turned from their sins. John preached a message that was a key part of Jesus’ message. It is not enough to repent of our past sins, we must bear good fruit going forward. The people asked John what they should do. John told them that anyone who has two shirts should share with someone who has none and the same holds true when it comes to food. He had an additional message for tax collectors and soldiers. Tax collectors were to only collect what the government required. Soldiers were to be content with their pay and not use their position to extort money or to accuse people falsely. We have here a message that fits with that of Jesus. First, recognize that we are sinners and turn from our sins. Second, publicly acknowledge before all that we need to be cleansed by God of our sins. Then, take action to show that we have repudiated the sins which we formerly practiced and act to help those around us.
The people heard John’s message and saw the power that he had from God and wanted to know if he was the Messiah. John told them that no, he was not the Messiah, but that the Messiah was coming soon.
From the ends of the earth I will call to God for help, for the big things and for the small things. There is no place too far for God to reach and nothing too small (or too big) for Him to address. He will be my shelter. I will take refuge with Him. I need to be reminded to turn to Him for all of my problems on a regular basis.
Those who are kindhearted will gain great honor, even if they have little power. On the other hand those who are powerful and ruthless will only gain wealth. If we are kind, we will be rewarded by our very kindness. On the other hand, if we are cruel, our cruelty will destroy us. Forget what happens in the world around us, just look at what happens within us. When we are kind, it changes who we are so that we are happier and enjoy life more. However, when we are cruel it, also, changes us. It makes us bitter and unhappy causing us to enjoy life less.
