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.
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. 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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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.
Jehoshaphat succeeded his father Asa on the throne of Judah. Jehoshaphat was deeply committed to following God’s commands and he became a strong and wealthy king. Jehoshaphat sent teachers to the various towns of Judah to teach the people. Along with the teachers, Jehoshaphat sent Levites with copies of the Book of the Law to teach the way of the Lord. Jehoshaphat formed an alliance with Ahab by marrying his son to Ahab’s daughter. Jehoshaphat went on a state visit to Ahab. Ahab threw him a great feast and during the feast requests that Jehoshaphat join him in retaking a city. Jehoshaphat agrees but says that they should find out what the Lord says first. Ahab summons 400 prophets who all testify that God will give them victory. Jehoshaphat responds by asking for a prophet of the Lord of whom to ask the same question. This always struck me as odd until I noticed that 400 was the same number as the number of prophets of Baal that Elijah confronted on Mt. Carmel. When I noticed that I realized that these were 400 prophets of Baal. The phrasing of this passage suggests that Ahab and others in the region considered Baal and Yahweh interchangeable. However, the passage also shows us that the followers of God did not and that people like Ahab knew this but would try to pass off Baal as the same as Yahweh anyway. This in my mind is similar to Muslims claiming that they worship the same God as Christians. I believe that Christians will recognize that the characteristics of Allah, as understood by Muslims, is significantly different from the characteristics of the God that Christians worship. Muslims proclaim that they worship the same god as Christians, but the god they worship has different characteristics than the God that Christians worship.
Ahab admitted that there is a prophet of God in the land, but said that he hated him because he always said things that Ahab didn’t like. Jehoshaphat tells Ahab that kings should not talk like that. So Ahab summons Micaiah, the prophet. When the officials summon Micaiah, they tell him that the other prophets are prophesying victory and he should do the same. When Micaiah comes before Ahab, he tells him that he will be victorious in a sarcastic voice, making it clear that he is only telling him what he has been told by court officials to say. Ahab insists that Micaiah tell him what God said. Micaiah then tells him that God told him that if Ahab goes to war, he will be killed. Ahab goes to war anyway and is killed.
Paul wrote that God had foretold salvation for the Gentiles when He spoke through the prophets that those who had been told they were not His people would be called the children of God. On the other hand, He had also foretold that many of the Jews would reject His offered salvation when He said through the prophets that only a remnant would be saved. Paul tells us that the Gentiles, who had not been trying to meet God’s standards, were made right with God because they accepted God’s gift by faith. On the other hand, the people of Israel, who attempted to get right with God by keeping the law, were not made right with God because they refused to accept God’s way and attempted to accomplish it on their own merits. Paul goes on to tell us that this is true of everyone. No one can become right with God on their own merits. The only way to become right with God is to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and God raised Him from the dead.
The psalmist tells us that some boast of military might and worldly power. He tells us that those fall down and collapse. But we should boast in the name of the Lord and rely on Him. If we do so, God will raise us up and help us to stand firm. We will raise a victory banner in the name of the Lord.
This proverb tells us that it is dangerous to arouse the anger of those with political power and that the honorable avoid a fight whenever they can. Only fools insist on quarreling.
