No one has an excuse for not knowing about God. The stars and moon at night and the sun during the day declare His glory for all to see. So do the clouds in the sky. They do not make a sound, but they stand as a silent testament to God’s greatness and glory. The psalmist goes on to remind us that we will lie to ourselves about our sins, it is only when we allow the Holy Spirit to control our lives that we learn of the sins hiding in our heart.
This psalm ends with what I wish to be my prayer motto:
May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you, O Lord,…
I struggle with this passage. Paul tells us that God chooses to show mercy to some and not to others. As I look at this passage longer I think the key take away is that we should not think of ourselves as better than those who do not follow God. We neither chose to receive God’s mercy, nor were/are we able to work so as to obtain it. We have received God’s mercy because He chose to show it to us, not because of any merit which we have.
The first application of this passage is that the fact that we have received God’s mercy through faith in Christ is not an indication that we are somehow superior to those who have not. We need to recognize that we are no better than anyone else. The Holy Spirit chose to work in our lives in such a manner that we would come to have faith in Christ. It is not my place to debate why He has not done so in another’s. However, I am called to pray that the Holy Spirit will do such work in the lives of those He has not yet done so. This passage convicts me to pray harder for my unsaved friends.
When Rehoboam’s grandson, Asa, took the throne he served God faithfully. Early in his reign Judah was attacked by an overwhelming army. Asa recognized that his army was inadequate to meet the threat so he called out to God for aid. God aided him and he was able to defeat the invading army. Upon returning to Jerusalem, Asa instituted religious reforms. He destroyed idols throughout the land and called the people to worship God. However, late in his reign when he was attacked by the king of Israel, he turned to the king of Aram for aid rather than relying on God.
Do not follow the example of the wicked. They are constantly seeking new ways to do evil. As a result, their path is in complete darkness so that they do not know what they are tripping over. The righteous on the other hand can easily see the obstacles in their way and go around them.
Every time I look up at the stars at night, or at a beautiful sunrise/sunset, I am reminded of the glory of God. I feel sorry for those who think those things came about by happenstance for no particular reason.
Further into the psalm the psalmist reminds us of the value of God’s commands. His instructions will refresh our souls when we feel parched and depressed. Even those who are simple minded and slow can learn wisdom by following God’s laws.
When the Pharisees and teachers of the law confronted Jesus because He did not teach His disciples to keep their traditions, He responded by pointing out that they used their traditions to teach their disciples to not keep God’s law. I started to write my thoughts four times before I was satisfied with where I was going. It is more important to please God than it is to keep traditions. We should review traditions on a regular basis in order to be sure that they are consistent with God’s commands. It is too easy for us to warp a tradition to serve our own selfish purposes rather than helping people to keep God’s commands.
Most traditions start out as a way to help people keep God’s commands, but over time people tend to forget the reasons why a tradition was started. When that happens one of two things results. Some people keep the tradition in a way which violates its original purpose. Other people stop doing the good thing the tradition was intended to encourage as well as the tradition itself. In both cases they are the blind leading the blind. They do not know why something was done and as result they either blindly follow it without accomplishing the purpose for which it was designed, or blindly dismiss it without replacing it with another method of accomplishing the purpose for which it was designed. If we wish to avoid being blind guides, we need to make sure that we do not follow man-made ideas as if they were commands from God, much less teach them.
There is a lesson in this passage that we often overlook. Because the people of Egypt had not themselves prepared for the coming famine during the times of plenty, they became dependent on the government (Pharaoh). As a result of this dependency, the government became the owner of all of the land and means of production. Once the people lost their land and other means of production, they lost their freedom. When times are good, we must save and store so that when times are bad we do not become dependent on others.
For today, One Year Bible Online links here. It has been uncomfortably warm here the last few days, I hope no one minds that I posted a few pictures to remind us of cooler weather.
If we consume alcoholic beverages in excess we will behave foolishly and we will get into fights we should have avoided. Those who need a drink will find it impossible to act wisely.
This psalm tells us something similar to what Paul says at the beginning of Romans. The universe itself testifies to the glory of God. The skies do not make a sound, yet everyone on the earth has received their message about the glory of God. God’s decrees, laws, and commands are more desirable than anything we can imagine. They are more valuable than gold and sweeter than honey. If we listen to God’s words they will keep us from being controlled by sin. It is only by submission to God’s Spirit that we can be cleansed from all sins. If we do not submit to His control, we will convince ourselves that wrong is right; we will commit sins that we do not even know are sins (or that we convince ourselves are not sins).
This psalm concludes with a prayer I pray regularly:
May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Paul tells us that he would be willing to be cut off from God, if that would cause the rest of the Jewish people to embrace the Gospel of Christ. He felt a deep compassion for those who had not yet accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, in particular for the Jews. He points out that God had made promises to Abraham about his descendants. However, Paul also points out that not all descendants of Abraham are truly Abraham’s children. Only those who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior are Abraham’s children.
Paul points out that their are some people throughout history who have been chosen by God in order to display His power. He gives as an example of this the Pharaoh who opposed Moses. Paul tells us that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. One thing I think is worth noting is that according to Exodus, Pharaoh hardened his own heart after the first several plagues. It was only after Pharaoh had repeatedly hardened his own heart that God took away from him the ability to soften his heart. I believe that this is the perfect example of how God works in our lives. He gives us the opportunity to respond to His word, but if we harden our hearts and do not listen the time will come when we will no longer be able to respond to God’s call.
Rehoboam had been defeated by Pharaoh Shishak and humbled himself before God. This seems to have had a salutary effect on his son and his grandson, because the Bible tells us that both of them did what was pleasing in the sight of God. Rehoboam’s grandson, Asa, removed pagan altars and destroyed the high places of worship (where worship of God mixed with worship of pagan idols). He was attacked by an overwhelming army from Ethiopia, but he cried out to God and it was defeated. In response to God’s rescue in that battle, Asa instituted many religious reforms, deposing his own grandmother from the position of queen mother because of he idolatry.
However, there is a warning in this story for all of us. As a young ruler, Asa’s faith in God was strong and he depended on God. However, later in life he came to trust more in his own strength and wisdom. He chose to solve his problems by his own cunning rather than trusting God to resolve his problems. This is a problem that it is easy for any of us to fall into, we begin to think that we have acquired the wisdom to solve our problems on our own and no longer turn to God for an answer. I pray that I not allow this to happen in my life.
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 have an example of what happens when people become dependent on the government for getting through the difficult times. During the years of plenty the government collected food from the people and stored it against the times of famine. Then during the times of famine the government (Pharaoh, through Joseph) sold the food back to the people. When the people ran out of money, they gave up all of their possessions until they were basically slaves of the government. In time of plenty the people did not prepare themselves for the coming time of famine. The government in the person of Joseph did not do anything wrong here. The error was on the part of the people. Let us remember to gather resources in times of plenty so that we have enough for ourselves and to help those in need in times of hardship.
Some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus. They asked Him why His disciples did not follow the traditions handed down, and embellished, by generations of teachers of the law. The implication being that if Jesus was a true teacher of the law He would teach His disciples to follow the same traditions they taught. Jesus replied by confronting them with the fact that their traditions allowed for someone to be counted as “righteous” because they followed the tradition in a way that broke God’s actual commandments. He then turned to the crowd and taught them that one’s righteousness is not determined by what one eats or drinks, but rather by what one says and does.
Jesus does not reject the idea of tradition here. What He is saying is that it is important to judge tradition against what God commands us to do. Jesus is telling us to focus on what is important and everything else will follow. I think this fits in well with what Paul says in1 Corinthians 13. There Paul points out that no matter what great feats of faith we exhibit, if we do not love our fellow man, we have done nothing of value. Elsewhere Jesus tells us that all of God’s commands are merely ways of carrying out the two most important commands: love God with all that we have, and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Let us examine every tradition to see how it can help us to carry out those two commands and if a particular tradition gets in the way of doing so, discard it. On the other hand, if we cannot see any way those following a tradition fail to carry out those two commands, let us not condemn them, nor the traditions which they value.
The psalmist points out that the skies proclaim the glory of God without ever speaking a word. We should live our lives in such a manner that those who observe us have no choice but to recognize our message and glorify God. This does not mean that we should not speak, because words are necessary. But we should live our lives so that even those who cannot hear, or understand, our words will glorify God. Yes, I will make the final verse of this psalm my prayer:
May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
I will strive to make my life the opposite of what the writer says is that of the wicked. I dedicate myself to finding some good deed to do each day, so that I may say that I cannot sleep until I have done something good for someone. that I cannot rest until I have removed a stumbling block from someone’s path.
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.
The next king in Jerusalem was Asa, who took the throne when his father, Abijah, died. We are told that Asa did what was pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord. Asa commanded the people of Judah to seek God and obey His commands. Asa removed the pagan shrines from all of the towns of Judah. He had peace for the first ten years of his reign.
Asa had an army of just shy of 600,000 men. At one point, Judah was invaded by an army from Cush (more or less modern Ethiopia) of over 1,000,000 men. Asa deployed his army against them, but realized that he was badly outnumbered and called on the Lord. The passage says the the Lord defeated the Cushites (Ethiopians) and caused them to flee. The wording suggests that the defeat occurred before Asa’s army engaged them in battle, but could just indicate that the Ethiopians were defeated by Asa’s army more readily than one would have expected considering the relative sizes of the armies. Whatever happened, Asa’s success was such that he conquered some of the cities in the area where he met the Cushites while he had his army in the field and returned to Jerusalem with a large amount of plunder.
When Asa returned from battle the prophet Azariah met him, and his army, and shouted out a prophecy from the Lord. He told them that as long as they sought the Lord they would find Him. As long as they stayed faithful to the Lord, He would stay faithful to them. Asa responded to this message by having all of the idols removed from the lands he controlled. He repaired the altar in the Temple of the Lord and called the people to come together for a festival to the Lord. The passage tells us that many people from the Northern Kingdom had moved into the lands controlled by Asa because of his faithfulness to the Lord. The people entered into a covenant to seek the Lord and obey His commands. As a result, there was peace in the land until the 35th year of Asa’s reign.
In the 36th year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) invaded Judah and started to fortify the city of Ramah to control the border. Asa responded by sending a bribe to the king of Aram, asking him to make war against Baasha. The king of Aram did so, forcing Baasha to abandon his efforts on the border with Judah. Asa took the materials that Baasha had been using to fortify Ramah and used them to fortify cities which more strategically defended Judah. A prophet came to Asa and told him that God was unhappy that he had put his trust in the king of Aram rather than in God, by doing so he had missed an opportunity to expand his power. The prophet reminded Asa of how God had helped them against the Cushites. Asa responded by having the prophet jailed. The passage continues by telling us that Asa began oppressing some of his people at this time. Further the passage tells us that in the 39th year of his reign, Asa developed a serious foot disease, but rather than seek the help of the Lord he relied solely on his doctors and as a result he died from this problem.
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I want to point out that the passage does not condemn Asa for using his doctors. It condemns him for not, also, turning to God for healing. This is an important lesson for us. When we face illness, we should certainly follow the advice of medical doctors, but we should turn to God and ask for His healing and remember that it is God who can bring us healing no matter what the doctors have to say.
Magrat debates climbing the tree
Paul expresses great grief over the failure of many Jews to accept Jesus as their Savior. He tells us that he would be willing to accept eternal damnation if that was what it took for them to be saved. He then makes an important point for all Christians to take note of: Christ Himself was an Israelite, a Jew. This means that there is no room for Christians to have a hatred or dislike for Jews. Instead, we should have a special place in our hearts for the Jews, since it was through Judaism and the Jewish people that God brought our Salvation into the world.
***
Do I have the same passion for bringing salvation to my friends and those around me that Paul has? Would I be willing to accept eternal damnation if that was what it took for those I love to come to know the Lord? I would like to think that the answer is yes. But, is it? When sometimes I am not even willing to risk ridicule in order to share the Gospel? I pray to God that He give me that passion, first for my friends and loved ones, then for all of those I meet and interact with.
Hydrangeas and hostas
I love this psalm. It starts by saying something that was echoed by Paul in his letter to the Romans.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.[a]
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world.
There is no excuse. God has made Himself known to anyone who chooses to look. All we have to do is look at the sky above us to see His glory and His craftsmanship. Then the psalmist goes on to tell us that once looked and found God He will give us commands and instructions. These commands and instructions are more desirable than gold and sweeter than honey.
They revive the soul.
They make the simple wise.
They bring joy to the heart.
They give insight for living.
The psalmist asks God to cleanse him of sins hidden in his heart and to keep him from deliberate sin. I will echo the psalmist and ask God to keep sin from controlling me. And finally I pray:
May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Today’s proverb warns us not to let alcohol lead us astray. That if we consume too much alcohol we may become someone who mocks others to no good effect. Or even worse, we may get into fights for no good reason. We should not allow anything other than the Holy Spirit to control our actions.
