For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

    I am a firm believer that those who choose to deal with others honestly and fairly will do better in the long run than those who use deceit and false measures in an attempt to gain advantage. Good people allow honesty to guide them. They choose their actions and their words so that they can honestly answer when questioned. Those who are treacherous and choose dishonesty will find that the lies they told to save themselves bring about their downfall.

    Knowing that this psalm is about Doeg the Edomite, who killed the priest (and his relatives) who unknowingly helped David when David fled King Saul really sheds a light on its meaning. I have known people like Doeg, and like that described in the psalm, people who brag about doing wrong. The psalmist is correct. God will strike them down, making them an example of what happens to those who trust in their wealth and power rather than God. Meanwhile those who trust in God will thrive.

    Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane is another model for us when we pray. He asked God to rescue Him from the suffering He knew was about to come. However, He also prayed that God’s will be done, not His own. When we pray we should similarly seek that God’s will be done, not our own. The key is not the words, but the attitude. Jesus knew that He was about to face excruciating suffering. He did not want to face that suffering and asked God to take it from Him. Yet, if that was God’s will Jesus was willing to face it. That is the difficult thing for me, being willing to face excruciating suffering if that is God’s will.

    We have two more examples of ways in which it is possible to resist God’s will. The first is Aaron’s and Miriam’s jealousy about Moses’ position. They thought that they should have a coequal role with Moses in making decisions. God clearly demonstrates that He has chosen Moses as His primary spokesperson. The passage suggests that Moses was too humble to confront them himself. There are two ways to look at this. The problem with Aaron and Miriam arose because Moses did not assert himself sufficiently in the role which God had given him. Or, Moses was correct in leaving it to God to sort out when Aaron and Miriam asserted their equal authority with Moses. I would suggest that the latter is the lesson we should learn from this. It was not up to Moses to assert his authority over others. It was better to allow God to demonstrate who had God-given authority in this situation. If Moses had chosen to assert his authority, the decision would have come down to who had the greater force of personality (and could have led to ongoing attempts by Aaron and Miriam to reverse the situation).
    The second example of resisting God’s will was the report given by most of the returning spies. The people were stirred up by the reports of how powerful the people living in the land were. This in itself was not the problem. However, when Caleb attempted to convince the people that they could be victorious, the other spies argued that they could not take the land. The other spies were realistic, but had failed to exhibit faith. The question that they did not ask was, “Is it God’s will that we take the land?” It is valuable to make a realistic assessment of the obstacles in our path. However, we need to recognize that if the task is one that it is God’s will we undertake, our success, or failure is in His hands.

    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.

    Deception vs honesty, pride vs humility, duplicity vs integrity. These are the choices we have to make. These go together, people are generally on the same side of every one of these choices. People who are honest are generally humble and always live lives of integrity. Those who are proud are typically unfaithful and rarely honest in their dealings. I will strive for honesty, humility, and integrity although I do not always succeed at any of the three.

    The psalmist warns those who boast of their crimes and are proud of deceiving the weak. God will strike them down. I will trust in God, not in my strength or my wealth. The psalmist does not explicitly state it, but the implication is clear, those who trust in their own strength and in their own wealth will treat others with contempt and will se no reason to deal honestly with them.

    When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane He gave us an important model for our prayers. Jesus prayed to the Father desperately asking to avoid the suffering which He knew was coming. Yet, as desperately as He desired to avoid the suffering, He prayed that God’s will be done, not His own. Do I do the same? When I ask God for something, am I willing to accept that His will may be for something different? Do I desire God’s will to be done more than what I want? Do I accept that His will is better than anything I can imagine? Am I willing to suffer in order to further God’s will?
    When Jesus returned to the disciples and found them asleep, He singled out Peter and asked him if he could not stay awake for a single hour to pray? Jesus’ words here strike deep into my heart. He told Peter “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” This is both great advice and a great comment on my life. My spirit is definitely willing, but my flesh is weak and, all too often, I fall short of fulfilling God’s will for me. If I would just follow Jesus’ advice to Peter, perhaps I would more often follow through on the things God desires me to do. I need to spend more time watching and praying. Definitely more time praying.

    In yesterday’s passage, some of the people had been grumbling and complaining about the lack of variety in the food which God provided them. When Moses went to God to ask Him why He had burdened him with these complaining people, God told Moses to gather the 70 elders of the people to the Tabernacle. God’s Spirit would come down upon the 70 elders and they would share the burden of leading these people with Moses. Further God told Moses to have the people purify themselves because on the following day He would provide them with meat for them to eat for a month. The following day God did indeed supply the people of Israel with enough meat for them to eat meat for a month. Many of those who had been grumbling ate too much of the quail, perhaps without cooking it properly, and they died. In this case, the people were not grateful for the provision which God had given them. They complained because He had not provided them with the luxurious foods they had eaten in Egypt. In light of my theme, they paid a price for not turning to God and saying, “Please Lord, we want variety in our food, but not as we will, let it be as You will.” They were selfish and demanded God provide them what they wished for without considering the possible negative consequences. When God provided them what they asked for, they suffered the consequences.
    Later in today’s passage, Moses sent scouts into the Promised Land. When they returned they reported on how the land was a land of bounty. They also reported that the people of the land were powerful and well defended. Caleb immediately spoke up saying that they should march at once, they could conquer the people of the land. However, the other scouts disagreed and expressed their fear that the people were too powerful for them. They allowed their sense of inadequacy get the better of them. They failed to remember the great things which God had done for them in bringing them out of Egypt. How often do we fall into the same trap? When God gives us a mission, we scout it out and conclude that it is beyond our abilities. Then, rather than trusting in God to bring us through, we retreat and refuse to do as God had called us. All too often, we allow our sense of inadequacy overcome our faith. Let us remember that while we may be grasshoppers, God is leading us and will see us through to victory.