Using our skills and resources to help the poor is lending to God. God will repay all of His debts in full…of course, I already owe God more than I can possibly pay. God will more than repay any effort we expend in helping the poor and He will more than compensate for any resources we give them.
Reading this psalm today reinforces the lessons from the last few days in Romans. First, it tells us that one must be a fool to believe that there is no God. The psalmist goes on to tell us that when God looks down on the earth He sees that everyone has done wrong. Not one of us has a basis to brag about our good works.
Abraham had faith in God’s promise, even when it seemed impossible. Abraham reached 100 years of age before Isaac was conceived. Nevertheless, he was willing to sacrifice Isaac to God, believing that God was able to provide him with a son even so. When things seem hopeless for us, let us remember what God has already done. Is our situation really any more hopeless than the idea that Abraham and Sara would have a son when Abraham was already 100 and Sara was 90?
God’s promise was not given to Abraham on the basis of Abraham obeying the law, and it was not fulfilled because Abraham did so. Rather God’s promise and its fulfillment were given on the basis of Abraham’s faith. Abraham is the father of all who believe. We are not capable of following God’s law closely enough to earn God’s promise. As a matter of fact, we have already failed to do so. Let us have faith in God and trust Him to transform us into someone worthy of receiving the gift He is freely offering us.
The passage today continues to discuss the assignment of Levites to tasks relating to the Temple. Once more it makes a point about avoiding favoritism in who got assigned to which task and location. In addition, this passage points out how the David’s standing army served on a rotating basis.
It was with and by wisdom and understanding that God created the universe. It is for this reason that we can hope to comprehend how and why the world works the way it does.
I am glad that my preparation of this blog leads me to read this psalm at least once a year. It starts off by telling us that those who think there is no God are fools. It goes on to tell us that people are such fools because they are corrupt and their actions are vile. The most important point in this psalm is that we are all such fools. There is however a chance that we may learn and turn to God.
In this passage we have another hint that Jesus and John (and their followers) thought of themselves as part of the same movement. Jesus compares the way John and He chose to minister, and people’s reactions to that choice. John was an ascetic who avoided alcohol and fine foods, calling people away from the pleasures of this world to focus on God and righteousness. People accused him of being demon possessed. Jesus, on the other hand, joined people in their pleasures and showed people that they could serve God and have a good time. People accused Him of being a drunkard and a glutton, condemning Him for associating with sinners. This passage is a reminder that the people of this world will find something to accuse us of, no matter how we live our lives.
The night before Jacob met Esau again for the first time in many years, he was alone in his camp having sent his family and possessions across the river. A man came and the two of them wrestled throughout the entire night. As the sun began to rise, the man struck Jacob on the hip so that Jacob’s hip was dislocated. Jacob demanded the man bless him before he would let him go. The man told Jacob that his name would no longer be Jacob, which means “heel” or “deceiver”. Instead, his name would be Israel, which means “God fights”.
We do not know who the man was, but Jacob appears to have thought he was God Himself. What is interesting is that Jacob was given the name Israel because he wrestled with both God and with man. There is an implication here that it is not only OK to struggle with God’s will for us, but that it is to be admired that we do not just mindlessly submit. I see this as in contrast with Islam, which says we should just submit to God’s will. I am not quite sure I can state this well, but I will try. We are to do God’s will and serve Him. We understand that all things work according to God’s plan. However, when things seem unjust, or unfair, we should struggle to change them so that justice will be restored. We are not to just fatalistically submit to how things are, we are to struggle to make them better.
This proverb reminds us of the true value of helping the poor, those who will never be able to repay us for our efforts. Doing such things is like loaning money to God. He will repay us with interest. Even if such were not the case, do we not owe God more than we can conceivably repay?
Only fools say in their hearts,
“There is no God.”
It is so definitely true and all forms of folly follow from this starting point. The psalmist goes on to remind us that we have all turned away from God at one point or another. It is only through God’s grace that He has called some of us back to Him.
We cannot hope to receive what God promises us on the basis of being “good enough”, no one is “good enough”. Not even Abraham was “good enough”. Abraham never wavered in his faith in God, even when it seemed impossible that God’s promise would be fulfilled. God considered Abraham righteous, not because of what he did, but because he believed that God would fulfill His promises, even when there was no reason to hope. God will do the same for us if we exhibit the same faith which Abraham did.
Our faith will bring us joy, even in the face of suffering. Paul does a great job of explaining why we should be happy when we face suffering. The suffering and difficulties we face will teach us to persevere. Learning to persevere builds character. Those who have character have learned to hope. If our hope is in God it will not lead to disappointment. Therefore let us rejoice when we experience suffering.
The account continues to list the tasks assigned to various groups of Levites, leaders of the tribes, army commanders, and various other government officials. In the middle of this we learn that these lists were derived from the census David ordered, which was never completed because of the plague which broke out. Despite ordering an ill-thought census, David had a carefully organized government which allowed him to rule over the land of Israel.
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, or more. in advance. My work schedule has recently changed, meaning that I may not have time every day to complete these. As a result, I am trying to get several days ahead. I hope this does not negatively impact the quality of these posts (if that is possible). If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
In this passage we are told that Jacob wrestled with God. Jacob was not passive in his relationship with God. He struggled against God, but trusted God and did God’s will. God does not ask us to put aside our intellect or our understanding. It is OK to question God. It is even OK to sometimes doubt God. Our walk with God will not always be easy, sometimes we will have to fight with God and with ourselves in order to understand what God’s will for our lives is.
Jesus asked the crowd a rhetorical question. He asked them what sort of man they went out into the wilderness to see when they went out to see John. Then He answered His question. People do not go to gain spiritual guidance from someone who spouts what is popular this week, nor from those whose credentials derive from their economic success. Rather people seek out prophets for spiritual advice. Jesus then points out that the opinion leaders of the day are quick to find fault with those who challenge their lifestyles. If the challenger is frugal and lives an ascetic lifestyle they will condemn him as being too severe. If, on the other hand, the challenger enjoys life’s pleasures they will accuse him of being a hedonist.
We need to remember both of these messages. If we want to reach people for Jesus we need to stand for something and not bend in every wind of popular culture. In addition, if we call people to live according to God’s will, others are going to condemn us for not living the way they think a religious person should…even if that means condemning one person for doing what they condemned another person for not doing.
The psalmist tells us that only fools are able to convince themselves that there is no God. He goes on to tell us that such people are corrupt and evil, even when they are not obviously so. He goes on to tell us that to a degree we have all made the mistake, at some point, of thinking that God will not judge our actions. There is no one who truly does good, which is why we need God’s saving grace. Those who are willing to learn see that the path of wickedness leads to terror. While those who trust God need not fear because God will protect them.
God designed the world with wisdom and understanding. He does not call on us to put our minds in park. He built the world so that it can be understood by those who are willing to think and reason and gave us those abilities so that we can learn to know and love Him.
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.
Today’s passage discusses how the Levites were assigned as gatekeepers and to oversee the various Temple treasuries. It also describes how they were assigned roles as kingdom officials over various parts of David’s kingdom. The passage then goes on to describe how David organized his army and the various individuals he put in charge of managing the kingdom.
Paul tells us that it was not by the law that Abraham received the promise that he would be heir to the world. Rather it was by faith. If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, it is pointless. Paul points out two reasons the promise would be pointless. The first is that if we received the promise because of obeying the law, there would be no need for the promise because we would be earning the reward. Second, no one can successfully keep the law. All the law does is show us where we fall short of God’s standard. God’s promise is given on the basis of faith and it is a promise of giving us a free gift.
Abraham continued to have faith that God would keep His promise long after a logical analysis would have said there was no hope of such a thing happening. Even when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah beyond child-bearing years, Abraham believed God when God said that through Sarah he would become father to many nations. Abraham continued to believe that God had the power to do what He said that He would do. This faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness. This was recorded so that we would know that it was by faith that righteousness is received.
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Paul concludes this section by advising us to boast about our hope in the glory of God. This is not a boast about something we have done, rather it is a boast about something God has done. It is similar to boasting about a sports team we root for, not boasting to the fans of other teams, but to those who we believe are, or should be, fans of our team. In the same way we should boast to those around us about what God has done, in order to convince them that they should be rooting for God’s team. To continue the sports metaphor, there are times when we look at a successful team that we say that a particular player “put the team on his back and carried them to victory.” One of the things that is meant by that statement is that the star player played so well and so hard that it did not matter that the other players on the team were not really good enough to deserve being in the championship game, let alone win it. This is sort of what it’s like to be on God’s team. We do not have what it takes to win righteousness, but, unlike in the sports metaphor, God does. God is able to carry us over the line to victory and give us righteousness despite our utter inability to even play the game, let alone being able to win.
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I could stop right there, because that is the main message for me today. However, Paul says something else that I think we need to pay attention to in today’s passage. Paul says that we should not just endure suffering, but glory in it. We should embrace suffering. Why should we embrace suffering? Because suffering teaches us both how to persevere and to actually do so. But perseverance is not the product we are after. Perseverance develops character. When we persevere, we learn to behave in ways that make our character better. But even yet we are not at the goal. The goal is not to have good character (although that is a good thing). No, the goal is to have hope. As we develop character, we learn to have hope. And not just any hope, but hope in God. Our hope in God will not be disappointed. We know this is the case because we know that God loves us. We know that God loves us because God fills us with His Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with God’s love (both for us and for others).
Ripe wine berries close up
This psalm starts off with a beginning statement that is one of my favorites.
Only fools say in their hearts,
“There is no God.”
The NIV translation contains a note which says that the Hebrew word translated as “fool’ denotes someone who is morally deficient. People choose to deny that there is a God because they wish to do things for which they know God would hold them accountable. The thing that makes them fools is that these actions cause as much harm to those who do them as they do to others. The psalmist goes on to ask if the wicked will ever learn? People suffer the consequences of doing evil and fail to recognize that it was their own actions which caused their troubles. Rather than change their ways, they continue to do things which will cause them pain. Those who continue to do evil will find themselves gripped by terror, but God will be with the righteous (and we learned in the passage from Romans, that those are those who have faith in Jesus).
The psalmist tells us:
All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.
This reinforces the message which I have seen in the passages from Romans over the last few days. We do not earn our salvation by doing good, because none of us is capable of doing good.
Ripe strawberries late in the season
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. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
Zechariah says to watch for the day of the Lord is coming. When it does, the nations will gather to attack Jerusalem and the city will be sacked. After Jerusalem is sacked, God Himself will do battle against the nations on behalf of Jerusalem and His people. Once again I find this passage reminding me of passages in Revelation, yet when I read closer I see differences which suggest that this prophecy refers to something different than the similar passage in Revelation (although I am less convinced of that here than in the other passages). Zechariah tells us that on that day, God will strike down those who oppose His people and His power and show the entire world that He is the only one to worship.
Zechariah describes a plague which will strike all of the nations which go to war against Jerusalem. The description sounds much like the Zombie Apocalypse image from many horror movies. Those who survive the plague will go up to Jerusalem each year to worship God. Any nation which refuses to worship God will suffer drought and a resurgence of the plague. I had never realized that the first description of the “zombie apocalypse” was in the Bible. This passage paints a scary image, but it also paints a picture of hope. It describes a day when all of the world will worship God, when people will no longer doubt the existence, might and goodness of God. In that day the effects of fighting against God will be quickly and clearly evident to anyone. Yet even today, the negative consequences of opposing God can be seen by anyone willing to look. Unfortunately very few are willing to look. All too many seem to think that there is no connection between sin and the negative consequences of sin, that if science advances just a little further no one will ever again need to suffer the consequences of their sins. Rather than learning that the way to avoid the consequences of sin is to avoid the sin, they seek a way to “cure” the consequences of the sin. Such an attitude turns us into walking corpses (figuratively even if not necessarily literally).
Following the battle between the Rider who is the King of all Kings and the armies of the beast, the writer tells us that an angel came down from heaven and bound the dragon who is the devil. Once he had bound the devil the angel threw him into the bottomless pit for one thousand years. After the devil has been cast into the bottomless pit, those who have been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and the word of God will be resurrected. They will reign with Christ for a thousand years. At the end of the thousand years, Satan will be released from the bottomless pit. When he is released from the bottomless pit, Satan will gather the armies of the world on a broad plain surrounding God’s people and the “beloved city” (which is generally another term for Jerusalem). Fire will come down from heaven and destroy them. The devil will then be cast into the lake of fiery sulphur along with the beast and the false prophet. This passage certainly bears resemblance to the passage we read from Zechariah today. The armies of the world gather against Jerusalem, which is now in the middle of a great plain. God uses His mighty power to strike down the armies and defend Jerusalem. Yet there are differences. In Zechariah, the attacking armies are struck by a plague that causes them to re-enact a zombie apocalypse scene. In Revelation, God strikes down the attacking armies with fire from heaven.
Once Satan has been cast into the lake of fire, God will raise the dead for a final judgment. The books will be opened, including the Book of Life. All who had ever lived will stand before God and be judged according to what they had done. When this judgment is complete, death and the grave will be cast into the lake of fire. The writer tells us that the lake of fire is the second death. After all of humanity has been judged according to their deeds, those whose names are not written in the Book of Life will also be cast into the lake of fire. Perhaps I am reading too much into this, but I noticed that the judgment for our deeds is one step. We will all be judged according to our deeds. But after the judgment, those whose names are recorded in the Book of Life will be spared from the second death. We will all have to account for our actions before God. I can and will make no defense of my sins. All I can do is throw myself on God’s mercy in Jesus’ name.
Today’s psalm is a psalm of praise. It calls on all created beings and things to praise God. When I read this psalm I think of the wonder of God. It reminds me of the beauty and awe I feel when I spend time in nature. Whether it is locally or when I visited the Grand Canyon, the grandeur of looking at nature puts me in awe of how great our God is. This psalm evokes those same feelings of awe and wonder.
Today’s proverb calls on us to speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves. It calls on us to seek justice to those who are powerless to mount their own defense. We should use what power we have to ensure that those who have less power than us receive justice. This is not just a matter of seeing to it that those who are accused of a crime have an opportunity to defend themselves against the accusations. It is also a matter of seeing that victims of oppression and injustice receive a voice. We are to call for judgment against the powerful when they use their power to victimize the weak.
