I am not sure what the writer intended but the middle verse reminds us of the danger in an economy where bargaining over the price of everything is common. In such a situation we are rewarded for being dishonest. Buyers are encouraged to deceitfully downplay their interest; sellers are encouraged to deceitfully say that something is better than it is. It is better for society that things be sold at the same fair price to all who wish to buy.
The third verse reminds us that finding someone who will give us wise advice is more valuable than any treasure we can find. A short study of the professional athletes who are bankrupt a few short years after their careers ends, despite the many millions they earned over that career, shows us the truth of this.
I found my prayer for today, and one which would be good to pray each day:
Show me the right path, O Lord;
point out the road for me to follow.
Lead me by your truth and teach me,
Actually, this whole psalm is one which it would be good for me to meditate on. The Psalm begins by reminding us why we give our lives to God, why we trust in Him. No one who trusts in God will be disgraced. Instead it is those who rely on deceit who will be disgraced (note: this means that if you trust in God you need to avoid deceit).
God will show us the path we should follow. He will teach us the truth which He will use to lead us in the way we need to go. God will mercifully forget out youthful, and not so youthful, sins because He is merciful. If we keep our eyes on God we will avoid the traps which our enemies have set for us.
If we are strong in our faith we should be sensitive to those who think things we find acceptable are sins. We should strive to please our neighbors so as to build their faith. Since Christ accepted us in our sins we should strive to accept others in their sins. Of course, when Christ accepted us He also began transforming us so that we would no longer sin.
Hezekiah called for the people of Judah to celebrate the Passover, which had not been done in many years. However, not enough Levites and priests could be purified in time to hold it when the law declared that it should be held, so Hezekiah and his advisers decided to hold it a month later. In addition, Hezekiah sent messengers throughout the territories which had been the Northern Kingdom inviting the people to come celebrate the Passover.
Most of the remaining northern Israelites laughed at the messengers, but a number chose to come. As a result of the spiritual revival which occurred as a result of this celebration the people went out and destroyed the idols and pagan shrines, not only in the areas of Judah, but throughout the land which had been Israel.
So, let’s recap. Hezekiah called on the Levites and priests to purify themselves. They responded to his call and rededicated themselves to serving God. Once they had purified themselves they reached out to the people and led them back to God. All together the people, the Levites, and the priests held a celebration of God which resulted in spiritual renewal through the entire land. This is a model which we should seek to follow.
If we spend too much time sleeping, or in other leisure activities, we will end in poverty. Work when the opportunity presents itself and you will have plenty.
When people are haggling over the price, they will tell the seller that the goods are worthless. Once they have bought them, they will tell everyone how good they are.
We are better off receiving wise advice than money or precious metals.
Those who trust in God will not be disgraced. If they follow the path which God lays out for them, their enemies will not triumph over them. God will lead us by His truth down the road which leads us to eternal life and success (as defined by God). God will forgive our sins if we turn to Him and follow His paths. Let me keep my eyes upon the Lord, then I will not fall into the traps laid out for me.
Paul follows up his injunction (from yesterday’s passage) that we must not be a stumbling block for our fellow believers, by telling us that if we perceive ourselves as strong in the faith we should bear with the failings of those whose faith is weak. Let us not live our lives to please ourselves, but rather to please our fellow believers in order to build them up in their faith.
Let us ask God to give us unity with our fellow believers and let us live in harmony with them to the degree with which it is in our control. Let us accept our fellow believers, even with their failings, to the same degree which Christ accepted us with our failings. Paul finishes up by writing that he believes those he is writing to already know most, if not all, of what he is writing, but that these were points he thought were worth reminding them about. This is why it is valuable to us to read our Bibles regularly. We may know what is in the Bible well enough to teach others, but we need reminders about some of the things it says.
Hezekiah decided to celebrate Passover (the passage implies that it had not been celebrated for some time). However, he, his officials, and the community leaders of Jerusalem did not believe that they could be properly purified to celebrate it when it was supposed to be celebrated. So they decided to celebrate it one month later than called for in the Law. Hezekiah sent runners throughout the land inviting the Israelites to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. He sent the runners not just throughout Judah, the land he controlled, but through all of the lands of Israel. Most of the people outside of Judah ridiculed and laughed at Hezekiah’s messengers, but some humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem for the Passover.
Many of those who came had not properly purified themselves, but Hezekiah recognized that the desire to worship God and return to following Him was more important than getting the forms right. We can learn a lot from what Hezekiah did here. First, he chose to schedule the Passover when they could get ready for it, rather than either do it poorly, or put it off another year. Second, he invited all of those who wanted to come to worship God, not just those who were “the right sort.”
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.
Hezekiah decided to invite all of the people of Israel to celebrate the Passover at the restored Temple. They were unable to celebrate the Passover at the time set forth in the Law of Moses because not enough priests were able to get purified in time. So, Hezekiah, his officials and the entire community of Jerusalem decided to celebrate the Passover a month late. Hezekiah sent messengers throughout land of Israel, both the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel, asking the people to return to the Lord and come celebrate the Passover. Most of the people of the Northern Kingdom made fun of Hezekiah’s messengers. However, there were a few who responded to the message and went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.
The people of the Kingdom of Judah, on the other hand, responded enthusiastically. As a result, when they celebrated the Passover a large crowd had gathered in Jerusalem. Many of the people had not purified themselves properly, so the Levites sacrificed their Passover lambs for them. In particular, most of those from the Northern Kingdom had not purified themselves. Hezekiah prayed to God asking that He pardon those who had come to resume following Him without properly purifying themselves. The decision was made to allow those who were not properly purified to eat the Passover lamb anyway. The passage tells us that God honored Hezekiah’s prayer and the desire of the people to worship Him and blessed the people who came to partake in the Passover.
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This passage shows us that even here, under the Law, God honored those who sought Him and desired to be made right with Him. God invites us to come as we are, with our sins and imperfections. If we truly strive to follow and obey Him, He will bless us and purify us by His wondrous power. We do not need to purify ourselves before we come to God. Which is a good thing because we are not truly capable of doing so. It is only by the action of God’s Spirit and through the blood of Christ that we are able to be purified enough to approach God.
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When the people returned to their homes after the Passover, they destroyed the Asherah poles and removed the shrines and altars to pagan gods. Even the people from the Northern Kingdom did this upon their return home (although the passage suggests that many of them remained in the Kingdom of Judah). The people responded enthusiastically to Hezekiah’s religious reforms.
Hezekiah assigned the priests to work full-time offering sacrifices and leading worship in the Temple. He sent out word that the people of Jerusalem were to bring a portion of their goods to the priests and Levites so that they would not need to stop caring for the Temple to care for themselves. When the people of Israel heard of this proclamation, they began to enthusiastically bring goods for the Temple workers even though Hezekiah’s edict only extended to the people of Jerusalem.
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I am praying for a revival today like the one experienced under Hezekiah, but not only in Judah, or Israel, but throughout the entire planet. I am striving to pray every day for the Holy Spirit to rain down on the earth and open the flood gates into people’s hearts.
Another shot of the butterfly bush earning its name
Continuing on his theme from yesterday, Paul tells those of us who are strong in faith that we should bear with those who have weaker faith. In the context of yesterday’s passage, I would interpret this to mean that if we believe that some behavior is OK, but our fellow believer believes it to be a sin, we should not try to convince them to do that behavior, nor should we practice that behavior in front of them. Of course, the way Paul phrases his instruction raises the question as to who has the stronger faith? Well, the answer should be, since we should defer to those whose faith is stronger than our own on matters of faith, that if we think that someone else is mistaken in a matter of faith we must be the one whose faith is stronger and we are the one under obligation to bear with their failings of faith (of course, the same logic applies to the other party as well). Paul concludes this teaching by telling us that as followers of Christ we should live in harmony with our fellow believers. Our goal as Christians is to join together with one voice to praise God and bring glory to His name.
Paul concludes the teaching part of his letter by saying that he is confident that the readers of his letter are filled with knowledge and perfectly capable of teaching one another the Truths of God. He is merely writing to cover a few points which he considers worthy of special emphasis. He notes that his authority to make this emphasis is because God has appointed him as an apostle to the Gentiles. Paul tells us that while he is enthusiastic about what God has done through him, he does not want any special praise himself. Rather, we should praise God for what He has done.
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As I write these blogs, I try very hard to remember to give all credit to God. If by some chance, someone reading this is blessed by what I have written, then praise God. That is not of any credit to me. While I believe myself to be a moderately good writer, even that skill is merely a gift which God has given me. Indeed, I have found that when I make an effort to do something to make my blog something special are the days when I get the fewest hits. Instead, it is the days when I struggle with getting my thoughts to be coherent that are the days when God brings more people to read what I have written (not that even on the best days is my audience size anything to brag about). I would love to have a large audience for my writings, but I know full well that if that were to happen it would be because God has chosen to work through my writings in that manner, not because I am such a gifted writer.
I am tempted to take that last paragraph out because as I re-read it it sounds like I am denigrating my ability as a writer and that would be incorrect. I think that I am a talented writer (please do not tell me if you disagree…or even if you agree). My point is that no matter how talented a writer I may be, that talent itself comes from God AND I will only gather a large following for my writing if God chooses to guide people to them. All-in-all my goal with this writing is to bring glory to God and gain a more in depth understanding of the Bible by attempting to share what God reveals to me in my writing.
Another view of the butterfly on the butterfly bush
Once again the psalm starts with a statement I want to live my life by (NIV):
In you, Lord my God,
I put my trust.
I fully believe that no one who trusts in God will ever be put to shame. He will show me the path I should follow. God is a friend to those who fear Him and will guide them in the path that leads to life. He will guide me to do right as long as I remain humble and contrite, for whenever I lose my humility I sin. If I can keep my eyes on the Lord, I will not go wrong again (keeping my eyes on the Lord is a challenge for me).
Tiger Swallowtail butterfly
Those who sleep when there is work to be done will find themselves in poverty, but if we spend our time looking for the things that need to be done, we will have plenty. Someone haggling over price will talk down what they are buying, then brag about how great it is once they have bought it. Wealth is more readily found and obtained than knowledge and wisdom.
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.
After completing the re-dedication of the Temple, Hezekiah sent out couriers to all of Judah and Israel, inviting the people to a Passover celebration. In addition to the lands that he controlled, he sent the couriers into the lands of the Northern Tribes to those who remained after the Assyrians took many of them into captivity. This was not the correct time for the Passover, but Hezekiah and his advisers decided to hold it at this time because it had not been celebrated in a long time, except by a few individuals. Hezekiah gave the couriers a message that emphasized the importance and benefits of returning to following God’s commands. For the most part the people of the towns and villages of the Northern Tribes ridiculed the couriers. Nevertheless, some men from those territories came to the Passover celebration. On the other hand, the people of the lands of Judah were unified in their positive response to Hezekiah’s messengers.
When the crowds started arriving in Jerusalem, they cleared away the pagan altars that Hezekiah’s father had constructed in Jerusalem. After the Passover celebration, the people went throughout the land and destroyed the pagan altars and objects of pagan worship. In many ways this reminds me of a modern revival meeting. The people gathered for a multiple day event of worship and praise. When the event was over, they were galvanized to a new commitment to faithfully following God. They went out and destroyed those things in their daily lives that tempted them to sin. In addition, the people began giving free will offerings to the service of God. Hezekiah strove to follow God’s laws and commands and the people followed his lead. We should be praying today that leaders such as Hezekiah rise up within the Church and lead a similar revival among us.
In yesterday’s passage, Paul told us not to argue about “disputable matters”, such as what it is appropriate to eat, or what days we should worship on. Today he begins by telling us that those of us who are strong in our faith must be considerate of those who are weak in their faith. This means whichever side of the debate you are on, he is talking to you, because obviously, at least on the point of debate, you will think your faith stronger than that of the person whom you are disagreeing with. Therefore, Paul is putting the obligation on you to build the other person up. We should strive to live in harmony with one another in order to give glory to God.
Paul tells his audience that he is confident that for the most part they already know what he is writing. He tells them that he knows full well that most of what he is writing is just a reminder for them. Paul concludes this section by telling them that he has striven to preach the Gospel to those who have never heard it before, rather than preach where someone has already started a church. This is the reason he has not yet been to Rome. First, because he had been busy preaching in towns closer to him that had not yet heard the Gospel. Second, because someone else had already preached the Gospel in Rome.
If we trust in God, we will not be disgraced. We will not be disgraced because we will look to God to discern what path we should follow. If we look to God with humility, He will lead us down the path we should follow. Even when we go astray, if we turn back to Him, He will show us the path we should choose. We do not need to be constantly looking around for traps and pitfalls, because God will rescue us from them. If we keep our eyes on God, then just like Peter, we will be able to walk over top of danger/water without fear, but if we take our eyes off of Him to look at the dangers, we will sink beneath the waves. Although even then, when we cry out to God, He will save us.
If you work hard and take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves, you will have enough to eat. Wisdom is more valuable than wealth. If we strive after wisdom, we will have sufficient resources to live comfortably. If we strive after wealth and miss wisdom, wealth is liable to slip away as well.
