Tag Archives: Psalm 31

Daily Bible Study

August 11, 2013 Bible Study — Be Content With Where the Lord Has Placed You

     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.

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Nehemiah 1-3:14

     Nehemiah was serving in the court of Artaxerxes as the king’s cup-bearer when his brother and several other men visited him after taking a trip to Jerusalem. Nehemiah asked how things were going in Jerusalem and his visitors told him that it was not going well, the wall was torn down and the gates destroyed. Nehemiah was heartbroken at this news, so he began to fast and pray. He admitted his sins, and the sins of his family and his people. He asked God to remember His promise to restore His people when they turned back to Him. Finally, he asked God to make the king favorable to him and grant him his request.
     At some point during his fast Nehemiah appeared before the king looking sad. Nehemiah had never before appeared sad before the king and the king asked him about this change in demeanor. Nehemiah was terrified, but nevertheless summoned the courage to tell the king that he was sad because of the state of Jerusalem. The king asked Nehemiah how he could help him. Nehemiah replied by requesting that the king send him to Judah to rebuild Jerusalem. The king asked him how long he would be gone and, when Nehemiah answered, granted his request. Nehemiah followed that up by requesting letters to the governors of the province west of the Euphrates allowing him to travel through their territory unmolested to Jerusalem and a letter to the overseer of the king’s foresters instructing him to provide Nehemiah with timber for the work. The king granted this request and sent a military escort with Nehemiah. Despite the letters from the king, two of the officials in the areas around Judah were upset that Nehemiah had arrived to work on rebuilding Jerusalem.

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     I never noticed this before, but during the time when Nehemiah was fasting and praying before he appeared before the king he was doing more than fasting and praying. He was making plans. When he appeared before the king he had his plans all made, so that when the king asked him how long he would be gone on this project, he knew the answer. This is an important lesson for us. While we are praying and seeking God’s support for our course of action, we should be planning what we will do if and when God grants us that support. It would not have been enough for Nehemiah to have spent that time down on his knees praying to God, “Please cause the king to approve my going to Jerusalem to rebuild it.” He wisely spent some of that time planning what he would do if the king granted his request.
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     When Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, he spent several days settling in before telling anyone why he had come. He then slipped out of the city at night and made a survey of Jerusalem’s defenses. In the morning Nehemiah addressed the various leaders of Jerusalem. He summarized the results of his survey, acknowledging that the leaders were well aware of what he had found, and proposed that they begin rebuilding the wall. He told them about his conversation with the king and the support the king had given him for the project. The leaders were enthusiastic about the project.
     When several of the officials of surrounding areas(Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem) heard what the Jews were doing they suggested that rebuilding the walls was rebellion. Nehemiah replied that God was with them and that these men (Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem) had no share or claim (legal or historical) on Jerusalem. Various family groups began working on sections of the walls and gates of Jerusalem.

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1 Corinthians 7:1-24

     In today’s passage Paul addresses an issue that was apparently raised in a letter the Corinthians had sent to him. He begins by saying that it is good to abstain from sexual relations. However, because society puts such an emphasis on sexual activity and assumes sexual immorality as the norm, it is good for most people to be married. Those who are married should meet the sexual needs of their spouse (husbands filling the sexual needs of their wives and wives filling the sexual needs of their husbands). Married couples should strive to regularly be sexually intimate, only occasionally abstaining when they have agreed to do so as part of a specified period of praying and fasting.
     Paul says that he wishes everyone was single, as he was, but that not everyone is given the gift to be able to live like that. He recommends that those who are not married, or are widowed remain single. However, he encourages those who feel they cannot control their sexual urges to get married. He then gives a command from God. Those who are married are to stay married with their current spouse. If they do separate, they should remain single, or get back together. He continues by saying that in the case where a Christian is married to an unbeliever the Christian should stay with their unbelieving spouse because perhaps the spouse will come to know the Lord through the Christian’s witness. However, if the unbelieving spouse leaves the Christian, the Christian is no longer bound to the unbelieving spouse (Paul seems to be teaching that if someone who is married becomes a Christian and their spouse does not and that unbelieving spouse divorces them, it is OK for this new Christian to remarry).

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     I would like to add to this that when Paul discusses a believer staying with an unbelieving spouse, I concluded that he was talking about someone who became a Christian after being married. I reached this conclusion because elsewhere Paul tells us that we should not be unequally bound.

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Psalm 31:19-24

     Today’s psalm is summed up by the first verse.

How great is the goodness
you have stored up for those who fear you.
You lavish it on those who come to you for protection,
blessing them before the watching world.

The psalmist tells us that even when it appears that we are cut off from God, He hears our cries for help and will come to our aid. If we put our hope in God, we will not be disappointed.

Butterfly on the butterfly bush
Butterfly on the butterfly bush

Proverbs 21:4

     I read this proverb in the New Living Translation (NLT) and thought, “This is interesting.” The NLT translation says that being proud and arrogant is as much sin as taking evil actions and therefore just as bad. That certainly is consistent with what I read elsewhere in the Bible.
     However, when I looked at the NIV, this proverb reads to say that being proud and arrogant leads one to commit sins. There is certainly truth to that as well.

Daily Bible Study

August 10, 2013 Bible Study — Let Yourselves Be Cheated

     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.

This water is much better than the clean stuff in my bowl
This water is much better than the clean stuff in my bowl

Ezra 10:1-44

     When Ezra had finished confronting the people of Israel over marrying pagan wives and following their idolatrous practices he laid face down in front of the Temple, weeping and praying. A large crowd of Israelites joined him in this activity. One of the leaders of Israel came to Ezra and declared that the people were prepared to confess their sin and send their pagan wives away. He told Ezra to get up and direct them in how to proceed.
     A proclamation was sent out demanding that all of the returned exiles gather in Jerusalem on pain of forfeiture of their property, unless they had special dispensation from the leaders and elders of the people. When the people had gathered, Ezra stood up and confronted them over the sin of marrying pagan women and following their practices. Ezra told them to separate themselves from the people of the land and these pagan women. The people responded that Ezra was right and that they needed to do as he said. However, they said that since so many had done this it would take time to address the issue. They requested that delegates be selected to act on behalf of the people because it was the rainy season and they could not remain gathered in the open long enough to go through each case.
     It was proposed that each person with a foreign wife come before the assembled leaders at a scheduled time. This proposal was adopted with only four of the leaders disagreeing with this plan of action. The chosen leaders spent the next three months talking to the men who had married pagan wives and addressing the appropriate action for those men to take.

Magrat cleans herself
Magrat cleans herself

1 Corinthians 6:1-20

     In today’s passage Paul addresses the issue of lawsuits between believers. He tells us that we should not go to secular courts if we have a dispute with fellow believers. Rather we should select someone from within the church to arbitrate between us. Paul asks how we can possibly expect to get a good ruling from judges who do not share our values, nor understand our priorities. Wouldn’t it be better to be cheated than to ask outsiders to judge between believers?
     Paul goes on to say that the actual situation is even worse than that. In a situation where, as believers, we should be willing to be cheated, some of us are cheating others, and not just outsiders (which is bad enough), but our fellow believers. Paul points out that cheaters, along with those who practice many other types of wrongdoing, will never inherit the Kingdom of God. Paul goes on to list a series of types of people who will not inherit the Kingdom of God. That list includes the sexually immoral, men who have sex with other men (both actively and passively), idolaters, adulterers, the greedy, thieves, drunkards, slanderers, and swindlers. Paul lists three types of sexual sin (possibly four, since some idol worship involved sexual behaviors) in this passage, but he does not limit it to sexual sins.
     Paul goes on to speak about our freedom in Christ. He tells us that we have the right to do anything, but that some things are not good for us and we should not let anything gain mastery over us. He points out that our bodies were not made for sexual immorality. Rather we were made to be joined with one other person and one other person only. We have been made part of the body of Christ, how can we then join the body of Christ with that of a prostitute? When we have sex with another person, our bodies become one.

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     There are some very basic teachings here for us to pay attention to. The first is that while Paul clearly states that homosexual behavior is unacceptable for those who claim to be followers of Christ, so is any other form of sexual immorality. In addition, Paul lists some other sins which he says also disqualify us from heaven if we practice them as a matter of course.
     There is one other point that Paul makes here that I want to pick up for closer examination. He tells us that our bodies were not made for sexual immorality. I believe that he was addressing a cultural attitude that is prevalent in our society today. The attitude that sex is something that people are going to do, that it is unrealistic to expect people who are not in a committed, lifelong relationship with someone of the opposite sex to abstain from sexual acts. Paul is telling us that it is not unrealistic. I will say from my experience that it is possible, not easy, but possible. Through the grace of God I was able to remain celibate for ten years before I met my wife. There were times when I resisted temptation and there were times when I went seeking to break that celibacy but by God’s grace did not find an opportunity to do so. It was not by my righteousness that I was able to remain celibate for that ten year period of time. Rather I was able to do so purely on the power of the Holy Spirit intervening in my life.

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Psalm 31:9-18

     Today’s psalm is a difficult one for me, because the psalmist spends most of the psalm describing his troubles. However, I take two things away from it. The first is where the psalmist says, “Sin has drained my strength;”. He is admitting that his own sin is the origin of his troubles. When I face troubles in this world, they are, more often than not, a result of my own sins (I will not speak for others here, only for myself). The second one is cause for joy. Even though his troubles are the result of his own sins, the psalmist is confident that now that he has repented of his sin and turned back to God, God will hear him and rescue him. If we repent and turn back to God, He will rescue us from the troubles that our own sin got us into.

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Proverbs 21:3

     It is more important to God that we do the right thing than that we perform the rituals correctly.

Daily Bible Study

August 9, 2013 Bible Study — Sin Is Self-destructive Behavior

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     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.

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Ezra 8:21-9:15

     As Ezra prepared to lead his group on their journey to return to Jerusalem he was concerned about opposition they might face on the journey; in particular bandits, since they were transporting so much wealth. However, Ezra was embarrassed to ask the king for a military escort because he had told the king that God was a mighty defender of those who worshiped Him. So, Ezra had all of those who were going to accompany him on the journey fast and pray before they set out. They asked God to give them a safe journey and to protect them, their children and the goods they were transporting. After doing this, Ezra and those accompanying him set forth. They traveled to Jerusalem without incident. Upon arrival they took an accounting for the goods that they had been given and they were all accounted for, none were lost on the journey. The travelers then offered sacrifices to God, thanking Him for their safe journey.
     When Ezra was settled in, some of the leaders of the Jews who had previously settled in Jerusalem and surrounding areas came to Ezra. They told him that many among them had married foreign women and had arranged for their sons to marry from among the foreigners living around them. As a result, they had begun practicing some of the detestable practices of these other peoples. After hearing this, Ezra tore his clothes and sat down in mourning until the time of the evening sacrifice. At the time of the evening sacrifice, Ezra got up and preached a sermon publicly calling out those who had chosen to marry foreign women and follow their religious practices while they at the same time pretended to continue to worship the Lord.

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     If you read this passage casually, it appears to be a condemnation of marrying those from a different ethnic background than oneself, in particular of Jews marrying those not of Jewish ancestry. However, if one reads a little closer, one discovers that this is a condemnation of marrying those who have not fully embraced faith in God. The condemnation is for those who married a woman who practiced another religion and then joined her in her religious practices (the same condemnation would apply to women marrying a man of another religion).

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1 Corinthians 5:1-13

     Today’s passage is Paul’s message on the limits of tolerance and not judging others. Paul addresses an issue that has been reported to him. Paul tells them that he has heard that there is a man among them who is having sexual relations with his father’s wife. Not only is the church in Corinth tolerating this man’s behavior, it is proud of it. Paul tells them that they should be mourning that one among them is doing such things. They must gather as a congregation and as a body remove this man as a member of their body. They are to do this so that he may repent of his sin and become one with Christ once more.
     Paul goes on to tell the Corinthians that they should not associate with those who indulge in sexual sins, because such sins will spread through the whole body of believers the way that yeast spreads through dough. He makes clear that when he says not to associate with those who indulge in sexual sins he is not referring to unbelievers. What he meant was that we should not associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sins, or is greedy, or cheats people, or worships idols. He tells them to not even eat with such people.
     Paul tells us that it is not our responsibility to judge those outside of the Body of believers, but it is our responsibility to judge those within the Church who are sinning. We are to remove the evil person from among us.

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     There are traditions which have abused this teaching, but all too many Christians focus on the teaching “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” This passage reads to me like Paul is saying that the teaching against judging applies primarily to our approach to non-believers. In addition, I believe that Paul’s teaching suggests that we should embrace being judged. That is, we should wish for our brothers and sisters in Christ to confront us when they see us sinning. Certainly, if we are going to confront our brothers when we perceive them to be sinning, we should expect them to confront us when they perceive us to be sinning.
     I believe that we should follow the instruction which Jesus gave in Matthew 18:15-20. I believe that what Paul said in this passage is a special case of applying that instruction. Jesus tells us to go privately to the brother who has sinned and point out their failing. There are two reasons for going privately. The first is that we should not “air the dirty laundry” unnecessarily. If the person acknowledges their sin and repents, there is no reason to make it public. The second, however, is because we are fallible human beings, perhaps we are mistaken and the person is not actually sinning. By going to them privately, we give them the opportunity to defend their actions and show us how we misunderstood the situation. Each of the steps have the same element of allowing the person to defend their actions to those who we bring to confront them about their sin.
     In all of these cases, our goal is to restore our brother (or sister) to a right relationship with God. One of my basic understandings of Christianity is that sin is self-destructive behavior. When we confront others about sin, we are pointing out ways in which they are hurting themselves (and possibly others as well). If we truly love someone, we will want to discourage them from continuing to undertake activities that are hurting them. OF course, we should also desire that those who love us gently correct us when we hurt ourselves by the things we do.

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Psalm 31:1-8

     If we trust God, He will be our refuge and protection. If we allow Him to guide us, He will lead us down the path to avoid the traps and pitfalls that our enemies have laid for us. The wisdom of this world tells us that if we follow its rules and abandon the integrity and righteousness which God commands we will be victorious. However, God promises us that despite any appearance to the contrary, if we follow His commands and live with honesty and integrity, He will protect us from all danger.

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Proverbs 21:1-2

     Rulers may think that they are serving their own agenda, but in the end they will follow the path which God has laid out for them.
     As human beings we often convince ourselves that we are doing something for the best, when in fact we are doing it for selfish reasons. No matter how thoroughly we may have convinced ourselves that our motives are pure, God knows the truth of the matter and will hold us accountable. If we are willing to listen to Him, He will reveal to us when we have lied to ourselves to convince ourselves that we are not sinning.

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