I am trying something different. Previously, I have always placed my comments on the passage in the order Old Testament passage, New Testament passage, Psalm, Proverb. For the near future I am going to post them in the order in which I prepare the comments. This is likely to be the reverse of how I was doing it, but I foresee changing it up depending on what strikes me first. Please let me know what you think of this change.
     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 NIV tells us that wisdom resides with prudence, or cautious good judgment. Together they possess knowledge and discretion, the quality of behaving and speaking so as to avoid giving offense. The aforementioned characteristics of wisdom mean that it stands in opposition to arrogance and pride. Those who are wise will avoid corruption and other evil behavior and avoid perverse speech. A step in the direction of wisdom is learning to control what words you will use.

     I am reading this psalm and writing this as Ken Ham debates Bill Nye about creation vs evolution. I am already seeing Ken Ham’s enemies write about how they despise him and think he is an idiot. How typical this is of people’s reactions to those who profess faith in Christ. There are those who will mock us for that faith. Our neighbors, who often know better, will despise us. Even our friends, who silently agree with is, will avoid associating with us. Our only choice is to call on God, who will not allow us to be disgraced. Our future is in God’s hands. He will rescue us from those who hunt us down. I will call out to God and He will not let me be disgraced. By His mercy He will rescue me.

     Jesus told the story of the sheep and the goats to describe judgment day. In the story, He tells us that the difference between those welcomed into heaven and those cast out into eternal darkness was what they had done. He told the sheep that they had fed Him when He was hungry, given Him a drink when He was thirsty, invited Him in when He was a stranger, clothed Him when He was naked, cared for Him when He was sick, and visited Him when He was in prison. He told the goats that they had done none of these things. However, He tells us that both the sheep and the goats have one thing in common, they did not see Him when they did, or did not, do these things. The message here is not that we must do these things to get into heaven. The message is that if we are going to heaven, we will do these things. Do you take advantage of every opportunity to help those in need? I have a new motivation to work harder at “getting ahead”. That motivation is to have more resources to help those who are in need.

     The passage tells us that the people of Israel were to make special garments for Aaron and his sons in order to give them dignity and honor. As I read this, it strikes me that today all believers stand in the stead of Aaron’s sons, all believers are priests serving under our High Priest, Jesus. This means that we should, to the best of our ability, dress in a manner that indicates to those around us that we possess dignity and honor. I will leave it to each believer to determine what constitutes dressing so as to convey that they possess dignity and honor (although if I know you personally, I might ask you if you think that your mode of dress conveys an image of dignity and honor).
     There is an element of this passage which has always fascinated me and which we have insufficient information to obtain an answer about. The passage mentions the Urim and the Thummim, which were used by the priests to determine God’s will on certain matters. They were placed in, or on, the breast piece which was worn by the high priest. I have wondered for a long time what manner of objects they were and how decisions were made using them. There is, I far as I have been able to discern, no place in the Bible where a more detailed description is given. It is interesting to speculate about the nature of these objects. God has chosen not to give us a description here because we would rely more on the objects than on God Himself. He has provided us the means to determine His will by the application of our mental abilities to His instructions to determine His will. When that is insufficient His Spirit will guide us if we are willing to listen.

     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.

     Today’s passage describes in great detail the clothing that the priests were to wear when they came before the Lord. They were to dress with great care, down to the underwear that they wore. Reading the description of these garments I was struck by the attention to detail that was necessary each time they put them on in order to get everything right. While getting dressed the priest would have plenty of time to purify their thinking before they came before God. I was struck by how much more effort I should put into spending time with God. There can be something therapeutic about going through a ritual of preparation. There is also great benefit in spending time analyzing my life for behaviors that I should change in order to better serve God.

     Jesus describes the day of judgment when all people will stand before God to be judged. Jesus tells us that He will divide the people into two groups, one to His right and one to His left. He will invite the ones on His right into their reward because when He was suffering they provided Him with relief. Then He tells those on His left to be cursed because they could not be bothered to help Him when He was in need. Neither group will know what He is talking about. In both cases they will deny ever encountering Him in need. Jesus tells them that whenever they have done it for the least, they have done it for Him. Jesus responds that whatever we have done, or not done, for “one of the least” we did, or did not, do for Him.
     I have heard many people comment on the fact that Jesus is telling us that the difference between the “sheep” and the “goats” in this parable is what they did and didn’t do. And that is absolutely true. There are also people who talk about how important it is for us as Christians to act to help those in need, whether it is feeding the hungry, taking in strangers, clothing the naked, visiting those in prison, caring for the sick, or whatever other need it is. And that is absolutely true. But what struck me about this passage today was that those who were rewarded did not know when they had done all of these things. Helping those in need was such an ingrained part of who they were that they could not remember doing the things Jesus praised them for as anything special. They never even noticed that they had done something for those in need. They just did it and went about their business. On the other hand, the other group never noticed those in need either. The first group helped those in need because they could not imagine acting any other way. They are the people who when someone praises them, or thanks them for something they have done respond, ‘I only did what anybody would have done.” Our goal should be to become people who, when someone tells us how special it was that we helped someone in need, we don’t understand why they even noticed what we did.
     After this parable Jesus once more tells His disciples that He will be arrested and crucified. This time telling them that it will happen during the upcoming Passover. The political and religious leaders of the Jewish people gathered to plan to have Jesus secretly arrested and killed, planning it carefully to avoid triggering riots.
     Today’s passage ends with the woman who anoints Jesus with oil. The disciples were indignant because they thought that it would have been better to have sold the oil and used it to help the poor. Their reaction makes perfect sense as this was probably only hours after they heard the above mentioned parable of the sheep and the goats. Jesus response suggests that they still did not understand. He tells them that the poor will always be there, but that He will not always be with them in the flesh. I think the point being made here is that we should try to meet the needs and soothe the cares of those we interact with without thinking about how to “earn points.” It should just be something that grows out of who we are. Just as this woman’s actions grew out of who she was.

     The psalmist expresses that despite the distress that he is in that he will trust the Lord. He is confident that God will deliver him from the hands of his enemies, even though his health is failing and even his closest friends avoid being seen with him. I will not be ashamed to call out to the Lord.

     Wisdom cannot readily be separated from good judgment. Those who employ wisdom will seek out knowledge and discernment. Those with wisdom hate pride, arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. It is worth noting how the writer here links pride, arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. These things all reflect the same basic lack of wisdom. The failure to control the words we use will lead us to make other unwise choices.