Let all that I am praise the Lord, not just part of me. I will not forget the good things which God has done for me. He has forgiven my sins and removed them for from me. He knows our weakness and takes it into account. His love will never fail for those who fear Him. Yes, all that I am will praise the Lord.
The key take away from this passage is that Jesus was made fully human in order that He might die to break the power of death. There have been those who have claimed that Jesus was some sort of spirit being and not truly human. This passage clearly refutes that idea. It is only possible to hold to that by rejecting the Book of Hebrews as Scripture. In addition, this passage makes it clear that Jesus has accepted those who receive salvation through Him as His brothers and sisters. Jesus was tempted in the same ways in which we are tempted. As a result, He is able to help us when we are tempted.
The prophet continues his lament over the fall of Jerusalem and the suffering of the Jewish people. Reading this, in some ways it seems to predict the the future of the Jewish people up through today.
So they fled to distant lands
and wandered among foreign nations,
but none would let them stay.
and this regarding the modern state of Israel:
We looked in vain for our allies
to come and save us,
but we were looking to nations
that could not help us.
All of this occurred/occurs because of the sins of the leaders of the people who were complicit in the shedding of innocent blood. The people were also complicit for continuing to follow such leaders. A similar fate awaits the people of other nations who are likewise complicit in the shedding of innocent blood.
If you allow your temper to control you easily (that is, if you are short-tempered) you will do foolish things. You will get angry and lash out at people who have done nothing wrong because you reacted in anger before you thought things through. There is a reason the proverb writer lumps schemers in here. Schemers will manipulate those who are short-tempered to get their way, but when tempers cool everyone, both the short-tempered and those unjustly lashed out at, will hate the schemer who brought it about.
I love this psalm. It starts out with a great statement we should all take to heart.
Let all that I am praise the Lord;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
I desire to make this my focus today. I will strive to focus on praising the Lord with all that I am. This psalm reminds me how good God has been to me. Not only has He not punishedme as harshly for my sins as I deserve, He has forgiven my sins. I do not deserve God’s love, yet He loves me beyond my ability to imagine. I will praise the Lord.
I get a kick out of the story about the Wedding at Cana. I grew up in a Church which taught complete abstinence from alcohol. The typical explanation for this passage was that the wine at the time was little more than grape juice. However, as I have gotten older I learned that the wine of the New Testament was indeed significantly alcoholic. This is clear from the statement by the master of ceremonies(MC) about how people usually serve the best wine first, bringing out the cheaper stuff once people’s taste buds are deadened. The other part is that part of what the MC meant is that the “best” wine would have higher alcohol content. was a drunkard, but He enjoyed drinking alcohol. He spent time with those who ate and drank to excess. I believe that by doing so He gave them an example to follow which they might actually consider following. Jesus had fun and was fun to be around. Are we fun to be around?
Samson was a powerful warrior who served as a check on the Philistines’ power over the Israelites. However, he repeatedly exhibited poor judgment. In this passage he once again he showed how he was attracted to the wrong kind of woman. He became involved with Delilah, even though she was a Philistine. He continued to see her, even after she demonstrated that she would use what he told her against him. Every time he gave her a different answer to her question about where his strength came from, she used what he told her and set a trap for him. Despite this, he continued to spend time with her and eventually told her the truth. This is a warning to all men that getting involved with the wrong woman will lead to trouble. I will add that while this story does not point this out, getting involved with the right woman can lead to great heights.
For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have been convicted over the last few weeks to seek to develop a disciplined prayer life. It is still a work in progress. Please pray for me, that the Holy Spirit may show me how to pray in a disciplined manner.
The translation notes say that the Hebrew word translated as “smooth” (based on the Greek in the Septuagint) is “burning”. The NIV translates that word as “fervent”. I think that being aware of these different possible translations helps us understand this proverb. Often times a person will fervently protest their innocence to cover up their guilt. Some of the most intense protestations for judgement against those who do wrong are brought by those who do the very wrong they demand be judged harshly.
The opening praise sums up this psalm and should be my prayer every day. “Let all that I am praise the Lord.” Yes, let all that I am and all that I do praise Him. May He receive glory and praise because of my thoughts, words, and actions. I desire that everything about me brings praise to God.
In yesterday’s passage the author of Hebrews made it clear that Jesus was God, that as God He created the Universe. He makes clear that Jesus is not just a superior angel, but is God Himself. In today’s passage the author presents the other part of orthodox Christology. Jesus was/is a man. He is fully and completely human. Jesus became fully human so that He could experience temptation just as we do. It is because He went through the temptations which we experience that He is able to help us deal with those temptations. He was faced all of the struggles we face in this life, and more. Only as someone who was fully and completely human could He experience everything that we experience. From time to time, someone will say, “You don’t understand. You have never gone through this.” Jesus does understand. He did go through this.
The land of Judah suffered terribly because those who should have pointed them towards God, the priests and the prophets, instead sinned. Those who the people looked on for guidance towards righteousness used their position to satisfy their own desires. They were defiled by sin and shed the blood of the innocents. If God would allow Jerusalem to be sacked for the sins of its people, how much more will He bring judgement against our country today? God’s judgement is coming. If people do not turn from their sins, turn towards God, and live upright lives, the devastation that is coming will be complete.
If you are easily angered, you will do foolish things. If you spend your time scheming, people will hate you. If you insist on taking a simplistic view of the world, your opinion on everything will be foolish. If you want to make prudent decisions you will take the time to gather knowledge before you form an opinion. ,br>
This psalm fills me with joy and challenges me to put more focus on praising the Lord. Let all that I am praise the Lord! The Lord is compassionate and merciful. I cannot improve on the words of the psalmist. The love of the Lord remains forever. Let all that I am praise the Lord.
I love the story of Jesus turning water into wine for the wedding in Cana. It completely subverts the idea that Christians are all supposed to be teetotalers. Another interesting thing about the first miracle which Jesus performed is that only the servants, his disciples, and his mother knew what He had done. None of the “important” people at the wedding were aware of what Jesus did. Something else that I wonder about is, how did Mary know that Jesus could do something about the wine running our?
Unlike the other Gospels, John tells the story about clearing the Temple at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry (the others tell such a story in the week before His crucifixion). Some have suggested that Jesus performed this act twice. That is certainly possible, but I do not hold an opinion one way or the other. The element of this passage which sticks with me today is Jesus’ emphatic statement that we should not turn our places of worship into marketplaces. When we come together for worship we should focus on worship. We need to be very careful about any economic exchanges we conduct there.
Samson continued to show poor judgement in the women he chose to associate with. He continued to spend time with Delilah, even after she had twice attempted to take advantage of what he told her was the secret of his strength. However, the story of Samson’s death is a reminder of what happens to those who believe that they have achieved success through a god other than the true God. The Philistines brought Samson out as part of their celebration of the greatness of their god Dagon. They praised Dagon for giving them victory over Samson. So, when Samson called on God, God answered. God demonstrated that He has the final say.
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.
After a couple of months, Samson went to return to his wife. However, when he got there her father told him that he thought Samson hated her and had given her in marriage to the best man. In anger, Samson went out and captured 300 foxes. He tied their tails together in pairs and attached a torch to the tails of each pair. He then lit the torches and released the foxes in the Philistine grain fields. In addition, he destroyed vineyards and olive fields. When the Philistines learned that he had done this because the father of the woman he had married had given her in marriage to the best man, they took the woman and her father and burned them to death. In retaliation for this Samson went a killed a large number of Philistines. He then went and lived in a cave.
The Philistines then sent a force into Judah looking for Samson. The Philistines made a nuisance of themselves looking for Samson. The men of Judah went to capture Samson. When they found Samson, he made them promise that they would not kill him themselves. Then he let them tie him up and take him to turn him over to the Philistines. When the Philistines saw the men of Judah bringing Samson bound, they rushed them shouting in joy. Samson snapped the ropes, found the jawbone of a recently killed donkey and began killing the Philistines. He struck down a thousand men before the Philistines retreated. Samson led the Israelites for twenty years.
On day, Samson went down to Gaza to a prostitute to spend the night. When the Philistines heard he was there, they gathered and laid in wait for him, planning to take him when he came out in the morning. However, Samson got up at midnight to leave. When he got to the city gates, they were closed. So, he took the door of the town gate and the posts on either side of them and lifted them up and carried them to the top of the hill.
Some time later, Samson once again showed poor judgment in his love life and fell in love with Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines went to Delilah and asked her to entice Samson to tell her the secret of his great strength and how it could be neutralized so that they could capture him. They promised her a large sum of money if she was successful. She asked him the secret and he told her that if he was tied up with fresh bowstrings, strength would be gone. She hid Philistines in the room and when he fell asleep she tied him up with fresh bowstrings. Once he was tied she called out that the Philistines had arrived. Samson awoke and snapped the bowstrings. She begged him again to tell her the secret and once again when he gave her an answer, she used it to bind him. She did this third time as well. Finally he told her that the secret was to cut his hair. This time when she woke him, his strength was gone and the Philistines captured him. Notice that despite the fact that Delilah had demonstrated on three occasions that she was going to use his secret against him if he told her, he eventually told her.
The Philistines gouged out his eyes and put him to work grinding grain. Over time his hair began to grow back in. After some time the rulers of the Philistines assembled and brought forth Samson to celebrate their victory over him. They began to praise their god for giving them victory over Samson. As Samson stood in their temple, he asked the servant who had led him in to put his hands against the pillars so that he could rest against it. Samson then called on God to give him strength one last time. He then cried out, “Let me die with the Philistines.” As soon as he said that he pushed against the pillars and collapsed the roof of the temple, killing a large number of Philistines.
Samson was a man of great might and a great warrior, but he repeatedly showed poor judgment when it came to the women he chose to associate with.
After returning to Galilee Jesus went to a wedding in Cana. The wedding hosts ran out of wine and Jesus’ mother came to Him and told Him they were out of wine. Jesus asked His mother in terms that sound to me like a son whose mother frustrates him and is struggling to remain respectful why she was involving Him. He further told her that His time had not yet come. Jesus’ mother then told the servants to do whatever He told them. Jesus told the servants to fill six jugs, which each held 20-30 gallons, with water. Once they had done so, He told them to draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. After tasting the wine the master of the banquet commented that this was the best wine at the wedding. It is interesting that according to the writer, this was the first miracle that Jesus performed. Not only did He make wine out of water, but it was better than the other wine at the wedding (in my understanding of the way people of the period thought of wine, better would have primarily meant stronger, although I believe it probably also tasted better). This passage (combined with others that speak of Him being invited to numerous parties) tells us that Jesus was a lot of fun to be around.
As Passover approached, Jesus returned to Judea and went to Jerusalem. When He entered the Temple, He became furious at all of the merchants and money changers doing business there. Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased the merchants and money changers out of the Temple. He drove off the sheep and cattle and overturned the money changers’ tables. He went to those selling doves and demanded that they leave. He condemned them for making God’s House a market.
The religious leaders demanded that He show them a sign that He had the authority to do what He had just done. Jesus responded by telling them that if they tore down the Temple, He would raise it back up in three days. The Jewish leaders belittled His claim by saying that it had taken 46 years to build the Temple in the first place. After Jesus was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered what He had said and realized that the Temple He was talking about was His body.
Let all that I am praise the Lord;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
Let all that I am praise the Lord;
may I never forget the good things he does for me.
All too often I forget the things this psalm reminds me of. The best way to say what this psalm means to me is to quote it. So, rather than try to find another way to phrase it, I will just ask that you read it.
Magrat comes across the lawn
If you allow your temper to gain control, you will do foolish things. Those who are constantly scheming are hated. I am not quite sure that I understand the point of the rest of today’s proverb. However, I will take a stab at it based on my experience. Evil-doers recognize the goodness of those who are godly and respect them for it.
