The first five verses of this psalm make a wonderful blessing to say over those we love. It would make a good benediction to a meeting. And then in verse 7 it makes a point which we should always remember. The citizens of many nations boast of their military might, but let us boast of the name of God.
In this passage Paul refers to Jews and Gentiles. As a Gentile, I praise God that He offered me the opportunity to become one of His people through Christ. However, as we read this we should also see how it applies to those of us raised in Christian homes. We cannot get right with God by our own efforts. The only way to get right with God is to trust Him. There are many who have been raised in the Church, and even some who have joined the Church as adults, who strive to get right with God by doing the right things. In order to get right with God by doing right, we must never fail to do the right thing. That is not possible for a human being.
No, the way to be right with God is by believing in the depths of your heart, and publicly declaring to all who care to listen, that Jesus died, God raised Him from the dead, and now He is Lord (one who has the right to command our actions, even when following the command will lead to our death). If we truly believe this to be true, we will act accordingly. There may be times when we are weak and we do not follow His will, but we will regret our failure and seek His forgiveness. By publicly stating our belief, others will hold us accountable for our actions and help us see how our actions are inconsistent with our beliefs (even when that help is intended as hurt).
When Jehoshaphat became king he did many good things. He was king over the entire land he controlled and did not restrict his reforms to Jerusalem. He sent his officials out to teach in the towns and cities of Judah. From the context, it appears to me that while they taught the Law of Moses they also taught more general knowledge as well. He not only refused to worship the idols of Baal, he sent men throughout Judah destroying idols and pagan shrines. The only failure I see in Jehoshaphat as a ruler was his close friendship with Ahab.
This section of Proverbs reminds us of what Jesus said in yesterday’s passage. The starting place for living a good life is to keep your heart pure. In order to keep your heart pure be careful about what you say. Stay away from perverse and corrupt talk. What you say reflects what is in your heart. Yet it also has the power to corrupt your heart. Let us focus our thoughts on doing what God wants in our own lives and not worry about what others are doing which may be contrary to God’s will (or not). There are times when we are called to speak to others about the sin in their lives, but let us remember that we are not called to speak to third parties about it.
Every year when I read this psalm I think, “What a wonderful blessing, or toast, the first five verses make.” I am determined to remember this and bring it out when I am called upon to offer up such at an event of various kinds. I make this my prayer for those of you reading this today:
May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
May he remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings. May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
May we shout for joy over your victory
and lift up our banners in the name of our God.
It was not long before the events which took place in today’s passage that Jesus fed the 5,000 and walked on water. Yet when Jesus says that He does not want to send the crowd away hungry, the disciples ask, “Where would we get enough food for such a large crowd?” Once more Jesus showed them that God can provide. He took the small amount of food which they had and divided it up among all the people present. There was enough for everyone and more leftover than they had begun with. This has the same important lesson as the feeding of the 5,000. We should not be afraid to do God’s will even if we think we have insufficient resources. If we stretch our resources as far as they will go helping others, God will supply sufficient to meet the need, with plenty leftover.
Then one day a group of religious leaders came to Jesus and demanded that He perform a miraculous sign to prove His authority. This comes after He has healed numerous people and fed two large crowds. I am convinced that they were like those who demand proof of God’s existence and then dismiss every thing presented as coincidence. If Jesus had performed a miracle for them, they would have explained it away. Jesus confronts them with their unwillingness to see what the events going on around them mean. The Pharisees were unable (or unwilling) to read the signs of the times. Are we willing to see what God is showing us?
Jacob blessed his grandsons by Joseph, giving priority to the younger. A short while later he blessed all of his sons. His blessing on his sons reflects with fair accuracy the behaviors and actions of their descendants.
We are not made righteous by inheritance. It does not matter how righteous our ancestors were, no matter how many generations of righteous ancestors we have. We cannot become righteous by following a set of rules, or laws. The only way in which we can become righteous is by trusting in God. It is those who believe in Jesus’ saving sacrifice who are made right with God. We do not need to seek someone to intervene with God for us. As a matter of fact, we should not seek someone to intervene. There is no special class of priest who have been empowered by God to bring us to Him. God’s message comes to each and everyone of us. It is up to us to accept it in our hearts and place it upon our lips. We do not need to go on pilgrimages to some far away land. God will meet us where we are. He will send His word to us, no matter where we may be.
“Everyone who calls on the Lord will be saved.” That is God’s promise to us. There is no complicated formula needed in order to receive salvation from God. If we truly believe in our hearts, and openly profess with our lips that Jesus is our Lord, we will be saved. This is true for everyone, whether their ancestors were Jew or Gentile, saint or sinner–it is the same God who is Lord of all.
Jehoshaphat ruled Israel well. He followed the example set by the early years of his father’s reign and did not make the mistakes which Asa made later in life. One of the things which he did which I find interesting is that he sent out officials from his court to teach people all around his kingdom. They took with them the Book of the Law and used it as a teaching tool. As a result of this and his other actions to be faithful to God, the surrounding peoples were afraid to make war against him.
For all of his wisdom and trust in God, Jehoshaphat made one clear error. He made an alliance with Ahab by having his son marry Ahab’s daughter. Perhaps he was hoping to influence Ahab to abandon Baal worship and turn to God, but it did not work out that way. However, he did not fall for the “We all worship the same God, just in different ways” line. When Ahab asked Jehoshaphat to join him in going to war, Jehoshaphat agreed, but requested they consult a prophet of God first. Ahab summoned his prophets. The passage tells us that they numbered 400, which matches the number of prophets of Baal Ahab summoned to Elijah’s challenge on Mt Carmel. When they had testified that Ahab should go to war, Jehoshaphat, rather than being satisfied, asked if there was not a prophet of the Lord they could consult.
It is worth noting that Ahab had summoned the 400 prophets in response to Jehoshaphat saying that they should consult the Lord. Yet, when the 400 prophets had been summoned, Jehoshaphat still asked after a prophet of the Lord that they could consult. This supports the idea presented by historians that many of the followers of Baal considered Baal to be the same god as the God of Israel. However, the followers of the God of Israel did not consider Him to be the same god as Baal.
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.
Once Jacob was settled in Egypt his health began to fail. So Joseph brought his sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to see their grandfather before he died. Jacob praised God that he had gotten to see Joseph’s sons since at one point he thought he would never see Joseph again. Overall as I read this passage it reminds me of Jacob’s great faith in God. God had made promises to him regarding the land of Canaan and now he was living in Egypt, about to die in Egypt. Yet Jacob still believed that his descendants would someday return to the land of Canaan and take control of it. He held true to that promise despite the apparent improbability of it coming true. He had before him Joseph’s two sons as evidence of God’s faithfulness. Only a few years earlier he had thought he would never see Joseph again. Now, not only had he been reunited with Joseph, but he was introduced to Joseph’s sons. I will remember the things which God has done for me that seemed like they could never happen and have faith that all of His other promises will also come true, no matter how unlikely they seem.
After a short trip to the region around Sidon Jesus returned to Galilee. Once again a crowd gathered and Jesus healed the sick among them. The crowd stayed and listened to Jesus preach for three days, by which point they had eaten all of the food they had brought with them. Jesus turned to His disciples and said that He did not want to send them away hungry. Despite having witnessed Jesus feed the 5,000 a short time before, His disciples responded by asking Him where they could get enough food to feed that many people out in the wilderness where they were. Jesus asked them how much food they had. When they told Him they had seven loaves and few fish, He told the people to sit down. Then He took the loaves and fishes, thanked God for them, broke them into pieces, and gave them to His disciples to distribute. On this occasion, 4,000 men, not counting women and children, were fed.
Later, when the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread, Jesus warned them to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The disciples thought this was because they had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus then reminded them of the two crowds He had fed and wondered why they could not understand that He was not talking about bread. It is interesting that Jesus uses yeast as a metaphor for both the Kingdom of Heaven and for false teaching. I think Jesus is telling us that ideas can change us without our realizing it and we have to be careful that the ideas we let effect our lives.
I need to remember this psalm for the next time I need a toast or short speech of blessing. The first five verses are something I wish for all of my friends. Then in verse seven there is the “money” quote from this psalm (from the NIV):
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
What do you trust in? Do you trust in armies and weapons? Or do you have faith that God will protect you?
It is amazing how often the Bible warns us to be careful in what we say. Again and again we are told that what we say can corrupt our spirit and turn us on to paths of evil. I will fix my eyes on the Lord and dedicate my tongue to only speaking words which will glorify 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.
When Asa died his son Jehoshaphat took the throne. Jehoshaphat followed the example of his father’s early years and did not worship the Baal’s. Jehoshaphat was deeply committed to following the Lord. He removed all of the pagan shrines and Asherah poles in all of Judah. He sent kingdom officials throughout the land to teach the people from the Book of the Law. Jehoshaphat became more powerful and began receiving tribute from the surrounding peoples.
***
The mention of sending officials out to teach the people from the Book of the Law reminds me of one of the reasons that the first schools were set up for the common people in Europe and in the U.S.. Many early schools were set up to teach people to read so that they could read the Bible. It looks to me that that is what was happening here. Jehoshaphat sent his officials out to teach the people so that they could read and know God’s law for themselves.
***
The passage recounts one thing that Jehoshaphat did that I will find fault with. He arranged for his son to marry the daughter of Ahab, king of Israel. In addition, Jehoshaphat allied with Ahab to go to war. Jehoshaphat was visiting Ahab when Ahab enticed him to join him in an attempt to recover the city of Ramoth-gilead. Jehoshaphat agrees, but requests that they first seek the counsel of the Lord. Ahab consents and summons 400 prophets who tell them that they will be victorious. Jehoshaphat is not satisfied and asks if there is not a prophet of the Lord there that they can ask the same question. Ahab says that there is one more man they can ask, but he hates him because he always prophecies trouble for him. Jehoshaphat tells Ahab that that is no way for a king to talk.
They summon Micaiah who comes and answers their question. The officials who went to fetch Micaiah warn him that all of the other prophets have told Ahab that he would be victorious and that he should as well. Initially, Micaiah tells Ahab to go into battle, that he will be victorious, but Ahab challenges him to tell them what God had actually said. It is not clear to me how Ahab knew that Micaiah was not giving him a true prophecy. The New Living Translation suggests that Micaiah spoke sarcastically, but no other translations echo that. Nevertheless, after being challenged by Ahab, Micaiah tells the two kings that, if they go into battle, Ahab will be killed. Despite Micaiah’s prophecy, the two kings went into battle, but Ahab disguised himself in an attempt to avoid the fate prophesied for him by Micaiah. This deception fails to save Ahab’s life and he is killed by a random arrow.
***
One thing I find interesting about this passage is that Jehoshaphat recognized that the 400 prophets summoned by Ahab were not prophets of God. The passage does not tell us that they were not, yet after they had prophesied, Jehoshaphat requested that they ask for a prophet of the Lord. I think that the reason that the passage does not clearly say the 400 prophets were not prophets of the Lord has to do with the way that Baal worshipers viewed Baal. Looking at the information on Baal worship, it appears to me that Baal worshipers thought that Baal was the same god as the one worshiped by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They claimed that they were worshiping the same god, just as Muslims claim to be worshiping the God that Jews and Christians worship.
Magrat stalks her prey
Paul continues his discussion of salvation by talking about how God has now made those who were not His people (Gentiles, non-Jews) into His people. He shows us that God had declared that He was going to do this through His prophets. Paul then discusses how Isaiah had prophesied that only a portion of the large numbers of the Israelites would be saved.
What conclusion can we reach from this? Those who did not try to be righteous gained it through faith. While those who tried everything in their power to be righteous failed to obtain it. Why did it happen this way? Because those who were seeking righteousness were continuing to follow in the original sin, they were trying to get right with God by their own efforts, rather than trusting in God. They were trying to be equal with God. They sought to come to God with their own righteousness and Paul tells us that the only way to be able to do that is to never do anything wrong…and only God is capable of that.
Paul tells us that the only way to be made right with God is to accept the righteousness that God is offering to us. Here Paul tells us the key to being saved. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” The NIV uses the word “declare” rather than the word “confess”. In both cases there is the implication of both being willing to publicly acknowledge that you believe that Jesus is Lord and that you are willing to actually obey Him as Lord. That conclusion also follows from the second part of Paul’s formula for determining salvation, “believe in your heart…”. If you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead it means that you will realize that He is the one with the ultimate power of life and death over you and act accordingly.
This psalm is a great blessing to say for those on whom we wish good things. I will wish this on all of those reading this.
May he grant your heart’s desires
and make all your plans succeed.
I will further tell you that the way to make this blessing come true for you is to seek to do God’s will with all of your strength, all of your heart, and all of your mind.
Magrat attempts to look dignified
