You should not judge people by the front they put up, some people will pretend to be richer than they are, some people will pretend to be poorer. Let us treat the rich and the poor the same, judging people by the results of their actions, not by who they pretend to be.
Two phrases stood out to me in this psalm: “Now restore us again, O God of our salvation.” and “Won’t you revive us again,” I find myself praying to God for restoration and revival. I spent some time trying to compose deep thoughts about how that all tied together, but I will settle for that.
Jesus reminds us of the importance of being persistent in our prayers. When we see injustice in this world, let us cry out to God in prayer day and night until he brings justice. And not just about injustice, but whatever need we see in this world, let us persistently cry out to God that it be met. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this parable of Jesus is how He concludes it. After telling us to be persistent in asking God for justice, Jesus asks how many He will find on earth with faith when He returns. There is a connection between having faith and continuing to cry out to God for justice day and night. Do we have enough faith to keep asking God for the changes we desire in this world? Even when nothing seems to happen?
The next parable which Jesus told is further instruction on praying. The Pharisee was busy telling God ho good he was. The tax collector was busy asking God for mercy. Do we recognize that we are sinners, or do we think we are good people? Being a Christian is not about being a good person. It is about knowing that you are not a good person and that you need God’s mercy.
Today’s passage begins by telling us that Joshua was an old man by the time the things recounted here take place. After describing the lands yet to be conquered and how the land was to be divided up, it tells us that Caleb came to Joshua for permission to claim his portion. Caleb was a contemporary of Joshua and had been one of the twelve spies whom Moses sent to scout out the land. Caleb was the only one, aside from Joshua, who advised the people to enter the land at that time. Caleb was forty years old when he spied out the land. Now forty five years later he was going to lead the conquest of the land that would be his and his families. At 85 years of age, Caleb was still a warrior for the Lord. Will I still be fighting for God’s causes when I am 85? I pray that I am.
God forgave our sins and covered them over. As I read this psalm there were a couple of lines which are my prayer today:
Now restore us again, O God of our salvation.
…
Won’t you revive us again,
I humbly request God to restore me and revive me in my love of Him. The phrase “revive us again” reminds me of this song. My prayer is not just for God to restore and revive me. I pray that He restore and revive all of those who have at one time or another accepted His invitation to become His people. God will pour down His blessing upon those who accept His call to righteousness and peace.
Luke recounts two of Jesus’ parables in this passage. In the first parable Jesus gives us a lesson for our prayer lives. If an unjust judge will grant the widow’s request because she is persistent, how much more will our loving Father grant our requests? As we seek God’s will in our lives and in the lives of those around us, let us be persistent in asking God to send His Spirit to carry out His will. When we feel that what we wish God to do will further God’s will, it is not enough to pray to God once requesting that He act. We are to be persistent in asking God to act in this world.
The second parable is the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying. The Pharisee spends his entire prayer telling God how righteous and wonderful he is, recounting everything he does right. The tax collector on the other hand, recognized his sin and begged God to be merciful. When we come to God let us recognize our shortcomings and acknowledge that we need God’s mercy in our lives. By God’s standard of righteousness, there was not a significant difference between the tax collector and the Pharisee, except that the tax collector recognized his sin and turned to God for mercy. In the same way, the only difference between myself and the vilest sinner on this earth is the extent to which I recognize my need for God’s forgiveness.
When Joshua was reaching the end of his life, God came to him and told him that in due time He would drive the peoples out of the rest of the land promised to the Israelites. God further told Joshua to assign those, as yet, unconquered lands to the tribes according to God’s direction. In Joshua’s lifetime the people of Israel were insufficient in numbers to occupy all of the land which God had promised to the descendants of Abraham, so God did not give drive out all of the people living in those lands. In the same way, in our lifetime the number of people serving God may not be sufficient to fulfill the mission which He sent us to begin (or extend). Nevertheless, let us carry out as much of it as He grants us the strength and wisdom to accomplish. The fact that the mission is not completed in our lifetime does not mean that we are a failure.
I am not quite sure what to write about the explosions in Boston yesterday, but considering the topic I listed as the title for today I think I need to say something. I will be praying for the people in Boston, but not only for the victims. The people who did this need to be struck the way that Saul was struck on the road to Damascus. I pray that God will strike them down and reach into their souls and show them how much He loves them and brings about change in their hearts. I, also pray that people everywhere see how horrible this was and turn to God, that people recognize that only God can protect us from something like this. All too often we turn to the “authorities” after a tragedy like this rather than turning to The Authority who can truly offer protection and healing.
I have been using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study for almost a year. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. 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.
When Joshua grew old, God described to him the lands left for the Israelites to conquer. God told Joshua that He would drive the peoples from those lands ahead of the Israelites, so Joshua should include that land as he divided the land up among the tribes. The passage goes on to describe how Moses had allotted land to some of the tribes and to tell us that Joshua and the priest Eleazar assigned lands to the rest of the tribes.
Today’s passage concludes with the story of Caleb coming to Joshua to request his land. Caleb recounts how he was one of the spies who Moses sent into the land from Kadesh-barnea. Caleb reminds Joshua that he was the only one of the spies besides Joshua who encouraged the people to invade right away. He says that Moses promised him that he would have the lands which he had explored as his part of the mission. Caleb asserted that, at 85, he was as strong and able to travel and fight as he was when he went on the spy mission and 40 years of age. Joshua heard Caleb’s petition, blessed him and gave him the Hebron as his portion of land.
All too often today, some of us think we are too old to do much, yet here was Caleb, at 85, requesting permission to go forth and conquer the land which had been promised to him. Joshua was no younger than Caleb, so that means that Joshua was around 80 years of age when he took over from Moses as leader of the Israelites. Moses himself was around 80 years of age when God appeared to him in the burning bush. When God comes to us with a task, we should not think that we are too old for that task.
Jesus told His disciples a story about a widow who was seeking justice. The judge from whom she needed a ruling was corrupt and had no concern for justice, public opinion or righteousness. The judge initially ignored the widow’s request. However, the widow did not give up, she continued to come to the judge and pled for justice. Eventually the judge got tired of her pleas and granted her justice to get her to stop bothering him. Jesus tells us that we should cry out to God day and night for relief from our troubles and that God will give us justice quickly. Then Jesus says something that appears to be a non sequitur (I don’t think that it is, I just don’t see how it fits). He asks, “But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?” When He returns, will He find that you and I have faith?
Jesus then tells another story, one which tells us quite a bit about how we should view sin and those around us. He tells of two men who went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee (who in the view of those of the day would have been considered an exemplar of righteousness) the other was a tax collector (who in the view of the day was the prototypical sinner). The Pharisee stood by himself and thanked God that he was such a righteous man, recounting all of the things he did to serve God. The tax collector, on the other hand, stood with his head down, beat his breast in remorse, acknowledging that he had no righteousness and crying out to God for mercy. Do we come before God recognizing that we are sinners? Or are we confident in our “righteousness”? Jesus tells us that it is the one who acknowledges his sin before God who returns home justified. Let us humble ourselves before God so that He may raise us up, rather than exalt ourselves so that He needs to humble us.
This is a wonderful song of hope and pleading with God. The psalmist requests that God “restore us again” and “revive us again”. I will echo the psalmist’s plea. I ask that God restore me again and revive me again. That He brings me back into a right relationship with Him. But more than that I ask that He do the same for those who seek to worship Him throughout the world. Restore us, revive us dear God, not just me, but all who call on Your name. Show us Your unfailing love.
But there is more to what the psalmist says. After asking God to grant us His salvation, the psalmist says that he will listen carefully to what God has to say. He also asks God to not allow His people to return to their foolish ways. I desire to make that my prayer. Dear Lord, do not allow me to return to my foolish ways. I know that I tend towards doing sin and I request that You guide my steps away from such foolishness.
Today’s proverb tells us that some who are poor pretend to be rich, while some who are rich pretend to be poor. Then the writer warns us of the danger of pretending to be rich. The writer tells us that there are dangers that result from being perceived as wealthy and the rich may be able to ransom themselves from that danger. But if someone who is poor faces such danger, they will be unable to escape it if they are perceived as wealthy. It is better to be rich and pretend to be poor than poor and pretend to be rich.
