Tag Archives: Psalm 1

Daily Bible Study

July 3, 2015 Bible Study — Delight In the Law of the Lord

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 18:11-12

    The rich think that their wealth will protect them from troubled times. They believe that they will be able to depend on it, even when civilization collapses around them. As a result, they are often arrogant and haughty. Such arrogance keeps them from recognizing the dangers which threaten them until it is too late. Arrogance leads people to make mistakes which bring about their downfall. It is those who humbly acknowledge their vulnerability who are prepared to act when disaster strikes. They will be honoured for their foresight.

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Psalm 1:1-6

    The book of Psalms begins with a wonderful statement of how to live a faithful life. First we have the things we should not do:

  1. Do not follow the advice of the wicked
  2. Do not spend all of your time with sinners
  3. Do not join in mocking others

Then we have the the things we should do:

  1. Delight in God’s law
  2. Meditate on that law day and night

I would like to say that the latter is more important than the former, but the fact of the matter is that if we do the latter we will find we do not have time to do the former. Of course, the inverse of that is also true, actually the inverse is more than true; if we do the former we will have neither the time, nor the desire, to do the latter.

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Acts 21:37-22:16

    After he had been arrested, Paul addressed the commander of the Roman soldiers in Greek. By doing so, he revealed to the officer that he was not who the officer thought he was. There is an important lesson for us here. Paul knew that the officer arresting him did not share the biases of the mob, so he politely addressed the officer in order to make it clear that he was not the one making trouble. Paul then convinced the officer to allow him to address the crowd.
    It immediately became apparent that most of those in the crowd which had just rioted had no idea who Paul was. They were surprised into silence when he began speaking to them in Aramaic. Paul used this opportunity to tell the people in the crowd who he was, and his background. He started by giving his credentials as a good Jew, pointing out that he even went so far as to persecute the Church. He goes on to explain how and why he changed. This is also an important lesson for us. When we preach the Gospel we need to tell people about our sinful past. Then we tell them what God did to make us receptive to change and how He transformed us.

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2 Kings 22:3-23:30

    In today’s passage, Judah once more has a leader, a king, who serves God. When Josiah reached his majority, his first act was to order the Temple to be cleaned and repaired. In the process of cleaning the Temple, the high priest, Hilkiah found a copy of the Book of the Law (I believe it was the first five books of the Bible, but the passage does not say that). When it was read to Josiah, he was mortified at how badly the people of Judah had failed to keep God’s law. Josiah immediately sought God’s forgiveness and guidance. Josiah was not satisfied with living a personally holy life, he led the people of Judah in a revival. He used his position to get rid of the idols, pagan shrines, and evil worship practices throughout the land. I believe that in many ways Josiah’s revival prepared the Israelites to survive the coming Exile.

Daily Bible Study

January 1, 2015 Bible Study — Happy New Year

For today, One Year Bible Online links here. This is the first day of a New Year. Let us dedicate ourselves to serving God each and every day in everything we do. I will ask His Holy Spirit to make me more faithful in service to God this year than I was last year.

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Proverbs 1:1-6

    As we start a new year, it is worth considering how reading the Book of Proverbs can help us live better lives. The Book of Proverbs was written in order to teach people wisdom and discipline. It even answers the question: why do we need wisdom and discipline?
    The answer to that question is: so that we may do what is right, and just, and fair. So, join me in this new year in finding guidance for our lives by exploring the sayings recorded in this book. May God grant us understanding so that we may receive guidance for living our lives.

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Psalm 1:1-6

    Speaking of receiving guidance, this psalm gives us some good guidance about living our lives. If you want true joy in your life, this psalm gives you a couple of things not to do and a couple of things to do. Things not to do:

  1. Follow the advice of the wicked
  2. Hang out with sinners
  3. Join in with those who mock others

It is not enough to know what not to do, we must also know what to do:

  1. Delight in the law of the Lord
  2. Meditate on that law day and night

    3. That sounds fairly simple. Why do I have so much trouble doing it?

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    Matthew 1-2:12

        When Joseph discovered that his arranged bride was pregnant, he did not become vindictive and demand she be publicly shamed. Instead, he planned to quietly step aside, perhaps to allow her the opportunity to marry the father of her child. However, God sent a messenger to Joseph in a dream. Joseph listened to the messenger and married Mary. There is a lesson there for us. Joseph did not seek to assuage the hurt he must have felt by shaming Mary. As a result he was receptive to hear God’s guidance when it was given to him. Joseph suffered a lot for Jesus to come into this world and apparently did not live to see Jesus begin his ministry.
        The other part of this story is the wise men. Actually what I notice here is that when someone asked Herod where the Messiah (because that is the only “king” that he would have expected to be heralded by a star) was to be born, he knew just who to ask. And when he asked them, they knew the answer off of top of their head. Yet out of all of the political and religious leaders not a single one of them chose to go and see this long awaited Messiah. They knew the answers, but when it came time to do something, they did nothing.

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    Genesis 1-2:25

        It is appropriate to study the creation story on the first day of the year. This story tells us the power of the Word of God. Time and again we are told, “Then God said…” and what He said came to pass. Not only did it come to pass as God said, but it was good.
        To cap it all off, God created mankind. God placed man in the Garden, where He decided that man needed a companion. First God showed all of the animals to the man and the man named them. However, none of the animals were found to be suitable companions for the man. When I was growing up, I was under the impression that God brought each of the animals to the man in order to see if they might do. But now when I read it I realize that God brought all of the animals to the man to show him that none of them would do. God already knew that none of the animals was a suitable companion for the man. Having shown the man that none of the other animals would do, God created woman. After having seen all of the animals, the man knew that the woman was meant for him. He realized it at once that she was to be his wife. I wish I could say that the same was true for me. It took God a lot longer to convince me that the woman He had brought into my life to be my wife was the right one, but I am glad He finally convinced me (her persistence had more than a little to do with that as well)

Daily Bible Study

July 3, 2014 Bible Study — Thoroughly Dedicate Ourselves to God

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 18:11-12

    The wealthy believe that their riches will protect them. While there is some truth to that, riches provide less protection than they imagine. The only true security is trusting in God.
    Haughtiness and arrogance will lead to destruction. Those who are arrogant will, sooner or later, overlook a threat because they believe they are too important, or special, to be threatened by it. On the other hand people will be eager to honour those who are humble in their actions and do not seek to be seen as better than others.

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Psalm 1:1-6

    This psalm tells us how to live prosperous and happy lives. The first part of tells us what not to do. Do not follow the advice of the wicked. Do not spend all of your time hanging out with sinners. Do not join in mocking the righteous. The corollary to these is that we should seek the advice of the righteous, we should hang out with the godly (this means those who seek to do God’s will, not those who just attempt to appear godly), we should seek to learn the true facts about those being mocked.
    Then the psalmist tells us what to do. If we wish to live prosperous, happy lives we should delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on His words. Let us seek to be guided in all of our actions, even the most minor, by God’s word. Study scripture and make it an integral part of how we see the world.

Day lily (32)

Acts 21:37-22:16

    This passage shows us something that is often the case when a mob is roused against someone. Paul had been arrested by the Roman soldiers as the cause of the riot they had deployed to quell. The Roman commander was surprised when Paul spoke to him in Greek because he had thought Paul was an Egyptian revolutionary (based on what he had understood the people in the crowd say about Paul). Then when Paul began speaking to the crowd in the local language (the Greek is ambiguous as to whether he was speaking Hebrew or Aramaic), the members of the crowd were surprised. In both cases, people had formed a false impression about who Paul was and what he stood for. Paul realized this and made the effort to correct the misunderstandings.
    We will often run into similar situations in our lives, where the few people who are angry with us for what we have actually done have distorted our actions so as to cause others to be angry with us. We should seek out opportunities to correct the understanding of those who view us negatively on the basis of a false understanding of what we believe.

Day lily (33)

2 Kings 22:3-23:30

    I think that this account is among my favorites. Josiah began by working to restore the Temple. When the workmen found a copy of the Law of Moses as they were repairing the Temple, the priests brought it to Josiah. When Josiah heard what it contained, he was mortified by how badly the people of Judah had failed to keep God’s commands. When God responded to his inquiry about what the scroll said, he did not become complacent. Even though God told him that the disaster was unavoidable but that it would not come in his lifetime Josiah did not become complacent. Instead Josiah became even more determined to follow God’s commands. He led the people to renew their covenant with God. He actively sought out all of the ways in which the people of Judah had incorporated pagan practices into their worship. He sought out the shrines in the high places and destroyed them. He brought the priests who had sacrificed to God at those shrines to Jerusalem. Josiah was systematic and thorough in wiping out pagan practices among the people of Judah.
    Josiah thoroughly destroyed everything that might distract the people from worshiping God and following His commands. Then he called on all of the people to celebrate the Passover in the manner prescribed by the Law. Josiah turned to the Lord with all of his heart, soul, and strength. Let us dedicate ourselves to serving God with a similar effort, destroying anything in our lives that may distract us from God and turning to God with all of our heart, soul, and strength.

Daily Bible Study

January 1, 2014 Bible Study — Am I Joseph…Or Herod?

     Happy New Year one and all. I hope that you are looking forward to this New Year as much as I am and that you will experience God’s blessings on your life as we travel through yet another year in which we may serve the Lord. I want to praise the Lord for all He has done for me in the previous year and dedicate myself to seeking how I may serve Him in the coming year. I ask God to place His Spirit upon me to direct me in the path He has chosen for me.
     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 in advance. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

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Genesis 1-2:25

     I start the year with the Genesis account of creation. Actually we have two separate accounts here. However, they are not contradictory accounts, they merely have different foci. The first is about the creation of the universe and the creatures which live within it. The focus of this story is that God created the universe and all of the beings within it. It has as a secondary point establishing the position of mankind in relation to God and to all other living creatures. Mankind was created in God’s image to be God’s friend, although subordinate to God. However, mankind was placed in charge of all other living creatures so that he could manage them for God’s glory. God looked at all He had created and it was very good.
     The second creation story focuses on how mankind relates to one another, in particular how men relate to women. When God placed man in the Garden of Eden to tend it and watch over it, He gave man a helper. So God took a rib from man and created woman to be similar to man, but not the same. Woman was created to complete man. While this story could be interpreted that woman is secondary to man, I do not believe that is what is meant at all. Woman complements man and makes him complete, just as man complements woman and makes her complete. The two are united into one and are made complete by this union. Men and women are designed to be partners who work together to serve God and tend to this world which He created.

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Matthew 1-2:12

     Matthew here gives his account of Jesus’ birth. He tells us that Mary and Joseph were pledged to be married, something that was in that day more binding than engagements are today. Before they came together to consummate the marriage, Mary became pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit, while still a virgin. Joseph initially assumed that some other man was the father, but did not desire to publicly shame Mary. As a result, he decided to quietly divorce her. The implication is that he wished to leave her free to marry the man he believed she must prefer to himself (this is my understanding of Joseph’s thinking and is not supported by anything in either the Bible or other literature, nor is it contradicted, as far as I am aware). We are told that Joseph was a good man.
     Having made his decision, Joseph fell asleep. In a dream an angel appeared to him and told him that he should not fear that Mary desired another man. Rather she had become pregnant at the working of the Holy Spirit. Joseph was to marry her and name the son she would bear, Jesus (which means “the Lord saves”). Joseph did as the angel instructed him, but did not consummate the marriage until after the child was born. Matthew tells us that this occurred to fulfill the prophecy given in Isaiah 7:14.
     Matthew tells us that shortly after Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem some dignitaries, or wise men, from the east arrived in Jerusalem. They began asking after the newborn king of the Jews, telling people that they had seen his star rise in the east. Matthew tells us that their questions disturbed King Herod, and consequently disturbed everyone in Jerusalem. Herod recognized that such a star could indicate the birth of no one other than the expected Anointed One (Messiah) of God. So he gathered the chief priests and religious leaders to ask them where the prophets said that the Messiah would be born. They informed him that it would be in Bethlehem of Judea. Herod called the wise men to him and told them to go to Bethlehem and search for the child. He requested that when they had found the child they return and tell him where it was, so that he could go and worship it as well.
     As we read this, we realize that there were many in Jerusalem who understood that the portents pointed to the long promised Messiah being born in Bethlehem and that the appearance of the star in the east could only mean one thing. Yet, here we have Herod planning, not to accede to God’s will and acknowledge the One whom He had sent, but rather attempting to prevent it from coming to pass. We have in this passage a contrast between two men: Joseph, who did as God desired, and Herod, who attempted to circumvent God’s will. I pray to God the His Spirit rest upon me so that I may follow Joseph’s example and not that of Herod. The latter can only lead to heartache and pain.

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Psalm 1:1-6

     If we delight in God’s commands and meditate on His word, we will prosper and bear fruit like a tree planted on a river bank. We will neither take advice from the wicked, nor hang out with sinners, nor join in mocking others. Those who follow those latter practices will be scattered by the wind and never amount to anything of worth. God will watch over our path if we strive to be godly, but the path followed by the wicked leads to destruction.

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Proverbs 1:1-6

     Studying the proverbs will teach us wisdom and discipline. Listening to the wisdom they contain and following the discipline they advise will help us to do what is right, just, and fair. Listening to proverbs will help the wise become wiser and give guidance to those who possess understanding. I will explore the meanings of the proverbs throughout the year so that I may better serve God.