Choose your words with care. If you speak gently when someone is angry, you can defuse and/or deflect that anger. If you speak with anger, frustration, or other harsh emotions you will elevate the tempers of those around you. But there is more to choosing words wisely than cooling or raising tempers. By choosing our words wisely we can cause others to desire to learn.
The key point of this psalm is in verse 2, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.”(KJV). I know that I do not tell others about my faith as much as I should. God has done wonderful things for me. He has redeemed me from my sins and I am grateful for the changes He has wrought in me.
The psalmist describes some of the many situations from which people have been redeemed. Some were lost, hungry, and homeless; some were imprisoned in misery because they had rejected God’s words and scorned His advice; some were fools who rebelled against all authority; some suffered the damage wrought by nature (storm, earthquake, volcano, etc). They all had one thing in common, from the depths of their torment they cried out to God for help and He saved them. If you were one of those described, or if God redeemed you from some other tribulation, speak up! Let the people around you know what God has done for you. How will someone else suffering a similar tribulation know that if they cry out to God He will redeem them if you do not tell them what He has already done?
The key phrase in today’s passage is when Jesus says that we must eat His flesh and drink His blood if we wish to receive eternal life. In my mind there are two ways to understand this passage, and both of them are correct. When Jesus said this He was telling us that we need to take His teaching and internalize them. We need to allow His words to transform us into His likeness. The saying that this brings to my mind is “you are what you eat.” If we “eat” Jesus’ flesh and blood we will become like Him.
The other part of this message is about the importance of taking Communion/the Eucharist/the Lord’s Supper with our fellow believers. Jesus had not yet established the Lord’s Supper when He taught this lesson, but I am convinced that when He said “this is my Body, take and eat” and “this is my blood, drink this in remembrance of me” He was referring back to what He said here.
Samuel gathered the people of Israel together at Mizpah in order to declare who God had chosen to be their king. Even though Samuel already knew who God had chosen, he went through the process of determining who that would be by lot. Despite this, there were those who refused to accept Saul as king. Shortly after this Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, besieged an Israelite city east of the Jordan (a manuscript of 1 Samuel among the Dead Sea scrolls contains a passage which suggests that Nahash had taken control of all of the rest of the Israelites east of the Jordan). Nahash demanded that the Israelite men have their right eye gouged out as one of the conditions of surrender. The men of the city agreed that they would submit to this if no one came to their rescue within seven days.
When word of this reached Saul’s hometown the people wept to hear that their fellow Israelites would be subject to such a demand. But none of them suggested any action. Saul had been out in the fields plowing when word came. When he heard the news, he was outraged. He sent word throughout the land demanding that the warriors of Israel gather. He took the army which had gathered and relieved the siege. In doing so Saul completely broke the power of Nahash. When the battle was over, Saul’s supporters demanded that Samuel gather those who had refused to accept Saul as king so that they could be killed. Saul refused to use his victory as an excuse to rid himself of opposition. By doing so he actually managed to unify the people in a way which killing the opposition would not have done.
Since today is Mothers’ Day I want to thank my mother for the grounding in faith which she gave me. It is because of her that I have the faith that I do. For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
The importance of choosing our words carefully cannot be overstated. If we respond to anger with calm, those who are angry with us are likely to become more calm. When we discuss knowledge and learning wisely, we make others want to know more. When we blather on about things which we do not truly understand we show others that we are fools.
Sometimes it seems that He is ignoring evil. Other times, it seems like He does not reward good. In addition, there are times when it appears that God is not paying attention to either. Yet the truth of the matter is that God is watching both the good and the evil. He will give us just recompense for what we do, whether good, or evil.
I love this psalm. The psalmist commands us that if God has rescued us from difficulty to tell others about it. Then he goes on to give us examples of the sorts of things which God has rescued people from.
Some were lost and nearly died.
Some rebelled against God and became imprisoned by misery.
Some were fools and suffered for their sins.
Some faced threats from nature and nearly died.
Yet, when each of the above cried out to God for help, He saved them. I will praise the Lord for the times when He has rescued me, and I will tell those I meet about what He has done for me. For those with eyes to see, one can look at history and see the faithful love of God for those who call on Him.
This passage is a hard one, as John tells us in the passage itself. Jesus tells us that only those drawn to Him by the Father will come to Him. But He also tells us that those who are seek out God and are willing to listen to what God teaches them will come to Him. Many in our society that anyone of good will can attain salvation. This is absolutely true. However, if they are honest seekers after goodness and righteousness, they will, sooner or later, be drawn to Christ. Those who reject Him are rejecting salvation.
Jesus tells us that if we want to experience eternal life, we need to feed our souls on Jesus. Just as our bodies are transformed by what we feed them, so our souls will be transformed by what we feed them. We need to take Jesus into ourselves so that we can become like Him. We do not each get to decide what it means to be good, although we each need to decide that we desire to be good. There is an absolute standard as to what is good and if we wish to be good we must follow that standard. Many of Jesus’ disciples could not understand His teaching here, or were unwilling to accept His absolute standard as to what is good so they left Him. When Jesus asked the Twelve if they also would leave, Peter spoke for all of them by asking what choice did they have? Who else could they follow who spoke God’s Truth? Am I willing to accept that Jesus is the only place where I can find God’s truth?
As I read this passage I see both Saul’s potential and the roots of his failure as king of Israel. When he met the group of prophets he allowed God’s Spirit to take him over so that he began to prophesy (in this context it seems to mean something more like what happens at Pentecostal Church worship services than what we usually mean by “prophesying”). Then, after his first victory, when his followers wanted to execute those who had initially would not accept his kingship, Saul rejected such a course of action. Instead, Saul gave credit to God and invited those who had not wanted to recognize his authority to see and accept that God had chosen him. However, we see the first sign of the insecurity which Saul felt that eventually led him to be fail to follow Samuel’s instructions and later be jealous of David. Saul’s later sins grew out of the sense of inadequacy he demonstrated by hiding among the baggage train. We need to recognize our own sense of inadequacy and turn to God to overcome it. We need to realize that we are not able to do all that God calls us to do on our own ability and that God does not expect us to do so. We must turn to God when the task is more than we can do on our own and accept the help which he sends us, sometimes by divine intervention within us, sometimes by sending others to our aid, and sometimes by some other means.
Today, I struggled with the message God had for me and for those who read this blog. The story in Samuel has so much in it, but not of it truly touched my heart today. The passage in John is a hard passage and while the Spirit gave me a message for my life from it, it also did not truly touch my heart. Then I read the psalm. “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.” That lifted my soul and made me rejoice. “His faithful love endures forever.” Yes! My heart leapt for joy. Let me read on, “Has the Lord redeemed you?” He certainly has. “Then speak out!” Now that is a challenge. Am I willing to speak out to tell others how the Lord has redeemed me? But they might laugh at me!
Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out!
But they might think I’m a hypocrite!
Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out!
Oh Lord, put your Spirit in my heart and on my tongue so that I will indeed speak out. Give me the words to tell others of your great love and power.
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 started writing this blog because the only way I can get myself to read the Bible everyday is to pretend that I am teaching someone about what it says to me. 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.
Samuel anointed Saul and told him that God has appointed him ruler over Israel. Samuel then told Saul that a specific series of events would happen to him on his journey home. Finally Samuel told Saul to meet him at Gilgal, where Saul was to wait until Samuel arrived to offer sacrifices and give Saul further instruction. Saul left Samuel and things transpired exactly as Samuel had foretold.
After Saul had left him, Samuel called the people together at Mizpah. Once the people had gathered, Samuel recounted how God had saved the people in the past, but now they were rejecting God and demanding a king. Since they were demanding a king, God would give them a king. Samuel had the tribes present themselves before the Lord and the tribe of Benjamin was selected. Then each family of Benjamin was presented and the family of the Matrites was chosen. Finally, Saul was selected but when they looked for him, he could not be found. They inquired of God as to whether Saul had arrived and God revealed to them that he was hiding among the supplies.
Saul was brought forth before the people. He stood a head taller than everyone else and the people declared, “Long live the king.” Samuel explained to the people the rights and duties of the king and wrote them on a scroll. Samuel then dismissed the people to return to their homes. Saul returned to his home as well. A group of valiant warriors accompanied Saul, but another group rejected him as king and grumbled about him. Every time I read this passage I am struck by how the first king of Israel was chosen because of his physical attributes. Yes, God appointed Saul king over Israel, but God knows peoples’ hearts. God knew that the Israelites would desire a king who was physically impressive, so He gave them Saul, who was handsome and tall, but lacked certain leadership skills. Although, as we see in the next portion of the passage, he had many of the qualities that one would desire in a leader.
Shortly after Saul was appointed king, Nahash king of the Ammonites attacked Jabesh Gilead. The people of Jabesh Gilead asked for terms of surrender. Nahash replied that he would accept their surrender on the condition that they allowed him to gouge out the right eye of each of them. They requested seven days to consider his terms and send to the rest of Israel for support. If at the end of seven days, no one had come to their aid, they agreed that they would surrender to his terms.
When the messengers from Jabesh Gilead arrived in Saul’s town, he was out in the fields. The people of the town wept when they heard the terms which Nahash was offering. When Saul returned from the fields, he asked why people were weeping. When they told him, he became furious and cut a pair of oxen in pieces. He sent the pieces throughout the land of Israel and summoned the people to rally to follow Saul and Samuel. Saul declared that he would cut up the oxen of any Israelite that did not join his campaign. Fear of the Lord came upon the people and they joined Saul’s campaign en mass. Saul mustered an army of 330,000 men. He sent word to the people of Jabesh Gilead that by the time the sun was hot the following day, his army would strike. When the people of Jabesh Gilead got this word, they sent word to Nahash that they would surrender the following day. That night, just before dawn, Saul attacked the forces of the Ammonites and slaughtered them.
After the battle was over, the people wanted to execute those who had initially rejected Saul as king. However, Saul refused to do so, saying that God had just given the people of Israel a great victory and it was a time for celebration, not reprisal. Instead, Saul called an assembly at Gilgal for sacrifices and for the people to reaffirm his kingship.
Saul did not seek power and was reluctant to exercise it until it was thrust upon him by circumstances. Yet later in life he became jealous of those he perceived as a threat to his power. He eventually became incapable of distinguishing between his personal interest and that of the kingdom. He should serve as a warning to those who become leaders among men. Power can be corrupting. I will touch on this theme as I read more about Saul’s kingship. But even in this passage we can see Saul’s use of others to further his power. When he called the people to battle, he did not call them just in his own name. He tied his name to that of Samuel. He did not summon the people of Israel to follow himself into battle, but to follow “Saul and Samuel into battle.” He used the name recognition and respect that Samuel had gained over a lifetime of serving God and the people of Israel to bolster his claim to authority. Saul had not spoken with Samuel before he sent out this message. He was using Samuel’s name for his own purposes.
Jesus responds to the grumbling by the people from yesterday, grumbling that amounted to, “Who does he think he is? He’s just Joseph and Mary’s son. What makes him so special.” Jesus tells them (and us) that no one can come to Him unless they are drawn to Him by the Heavenly Father who sent Him. On the last day Jesus will lift up those whom the Father has called to Him. Jesus told them (and tells us) that those who are called to Him will be taught by God. Everyone who actually listens to the Father and is willing to learn from Him will come to Jesus. Those who believe what He teaches will have eternal life. Jesus is the bread of life. If we take what He taught, both with what He said and what He did, and make it our essence, we will have never die. We need to take everything about Him into ourselves much like we take food and drink into ourselves. Jesus lives because of the Father and we live because of Jesus.
There were many among His disciples who grumbled that Jesus’ teaching about eating His flesh and drinking His blood was hard to understand (and it most certainly is, I struggled with finding meaning in this passage today) and expressed an unwillingness to accept it. Jesus did not pamper them and soften His teachings rather He emphasized them more. He went on to say that it is only through the Spirit of God that we can have eternal life. Our efforts accomplish nothing. We cannot be righteous by our own efforts (I was going to put “in God’s eyes” there, but the truth of the matter is that we cannot even be righteous in our own eyes if we are honest with ourselves). Jesus then told His disciples that some of them did not believe Him.
Many of Jesus’ followers gave up following Him at that point because they could not accept His teachings. Jesus then turned to the Twelve and asked them if they were going to leave as well. Peter responded for them by asking Jesus who they could turn to? This passage causes me to ask, which are we? Those who find His teachings too hard? Or those who ask, where else would we turn? I put myself in the latter class. I know that it is hard to follow Jesus’ teachings, and I often fail to live like Him as He calls me too, but too what other teachings can I turn? Every other teaching about how to live my life falls short of bringing me eternal life.
There is one more point I want to make here. When many of His followers turned away Jesus did not change His teachings and start to pander to them, or to His remaining followers. He continued to preach His message. We should not change our message just because people find Jesus teachings too hard. If we are faithful to God’s word His Spirit will guide us to where we can serve Him best. We may not see the results but God will.
What a psalm to sing! It should be in our heart every day.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out!
As you read through this psalm can you identify with those the psalmist speaks of:
“Some wandered…lost and homeless.”
“Some sat…imprisoned in iron chains of misery.”
“Some were fools…and suffered for their sins.”
But of these the psalmist says they had one thing in common, they cried out, “Lord, help.” Then God led them to safety, snapped their chains and healed them. The land of the wicked will be turned to wasteland, but God will turn what is now wasteland into fertile land for those who love Him. To paraphrase the psalm, those who are wise will see in history the faithful love of the Lord.
Tulips ip close
The first of today’s proverbs tells us how we should behave when those around us (and perhaps ourselves) are under stress, we should work at giving a gentle answer. If we follow our all too natural reaction, we will only make matters worse and cause tempers to flare. Let us rather strive to give a gentle answer and help calm everyone down (even ourselves).
The second proverb tells us that the wise are able to speak in such a manner that others find learning entertaining, but fools spout nonsense and everyone knows it.
The final proverb tells us that God is watching everywhere all the time, both the good and the evil. God is not like those authority figures you remember from childhood who were only watching when you did something wrong. Nor is He like those authority figures who were never watching when the “good” kid who was really a bully was instigating trouble and always blamed others for that child’s misbehavior. No, God is always watching everywhere and He sees when you do wrong, but He also sees when you do right.
Samuel anoints Saul and tells him that he will be king over Israel. Samuel further tells Saul that his father’s donkeys have been found (the reason that Saul went to speak with Samuel in the first place) and that he will meet a group of prophets, who he will join in prophesying for a period of time. Saul departs Samuel and what Samuel predicted does take place. After this Samuel gathered the people of Israel at Mizpah and tells them that God will now select their king. Using the lot, Samuel gradually narrows it down (first selecting a tribe, then a family and finally an individual) until it falls on Saul. Sometime during this process, Saul had gotten cold feet and hid himself, but with God’s guidance Samuel finds him and brings him before the people. A group of men attach themselves to Saul as his supporters, but some other men refuse to accept Saul as king. Saul ignores those who reject his anointment.
The king of Ammon was oppressing the Israelites who lived east of the Jordan by gouging out the right eyes of the men. A group of those Israelites had taken a stand in Jabesh-gilead. When the king of Ammon laid siege to Jabesh-gilead he offered them the option of surrendering to him and having their right eyes gouged out, they asked permission to send messengers asking for help (and were apparently granted it). The elders of Jabesh agreed that if no one came to help them they would accept his terms. When word comes to the town Saul lives in, Saul is out plowing his fields. When Saul hears what the king of Ammon intends to do, he is furious and summons the fighting men of Israel in the name of himself and Samuel. The story tells us that the people were afraid of Saul’s anger and came together as one.
There is an important lesson about good leadership here. Even though Saul was king, he was still plowing his own fields. He was not living off of the production of others. Second, after his victory, when the people wanted to round up those who had rejected Saul as king and execute them, Saul refuses to allow them to do so. Saul recognized that after a victory was a time to allow the people to come together. It was a time for healing, not a time to settle old scores.
Jesus continues His teaching that He is the bread of life. He tells His followers that in order to have eternal life they must eat His flesh and drink His blood. Many of His followers understand Him to mean this literally and physically. As a result they are disgusted and/or confused and leave off following Him. Jesus turns to the twelve and asks them if they are going to leave as well. Peter, demonstrating the insight that led him to be a leader of the Church later, replied asking where they would go since Jesus has the words the give eternal life.
Many societies have believed that you take into yourself the essence of the things you eat, some of them extend that to their human enemies and thus become cannibalistic. They eat the flesh of their enemies in order to take the essence of their enemies (their strength, their bravery, whatever other virtues they are thought to have) into themselves. I believe that Jesus was talking about something like that when He said that we must eat of His flesh and drink of His blood. He was telling us that we must take into ourselves His essence, his righteousness. We must feed on those things that make Jesus who He is. He was talking about us making ourselves like Him. We must desire to be transformed into His likeness as a starving man desires bread. I believe there are two facets as to why people left off following Him over this teaching. The first is that some of them just could not get past the metaphor of eating human flesh. The second was that some of them were unwilling to accept the absolute and total reordering of their lives that Jesus was asking them to undertake.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out!
We are called to tell everyone what God has done for us. How He has saved us from whatever plight we may have stumbled into before we cried out to God and surrendered ourselves to Him. The psalmist discusses different troubles that people may end up in because of their rebellion against God, but all of those have one common thread. When they cry out to God for help, He delivers them. The psalmist tells us that those who are wise look at history and see God’s faithful love revealed time and again. God has redeemed me from trials and difficulties and I will praise His name. I ask God that you give me the strength, wisdom and courage to tell everyone what you have done for me.
The first two of today’s three proverbs are related. When we speak angrily, we tend to get angry answers in response. On the other hand, when we speak calmly those we are talking with often calm down (if they were angry or agitated). The second proverb discusses informing people. If you inform people in a way that makes them think that you think them foolish or stupid for not knowing what you are trying to tell them, they are unlikely to listen to the knowledge you are trying to impart. On the other hand, if you present your information in a way that lifts them up and makes them feel good about themselves, they are more likely to listen and learn. The third proverb tells us that we should always behave as if God is in the room with us watching what we are doing, because He is. It also tells us that those who do evil are being watched by God and will be held accountable for their actions and those who do good will be rewarded.
