Tag Psalms

Bible in a Year: Week of January 22-28

Todd R Leave a comment

Fellow travelers:

Below are the chapters to read this week if you’re following along my Bible in a year schedule, divided into morning and evening readings.  This week, we’ll finish our first book – 1 Samuel – and start 2 Samuel.

Monday, January 22
Morning: Psalm 22, 1 Samuel 28
Evening: Genesis 22

Tuesday, January 23
Morning: Psalm 23, 1 Samuel 29
Evening: Genesis 23

Wednesday, January 24
Morning: Psalm 24, 1 Samuel 30
Evening: Genesis 24

Thursday, January 25
Morning: Psalm 25, 1 Samuel 31
Evening: Genesis 25

Friday, January 26
Morning: Psalm 26, 2 Samuel 1
Evening: Genesis 26

Saturday, January 27
Morning: Psalm 27, 2 Samuel 2-3
Evening: Genesis 27

Sunday, January 28
Morning: Psalm 28, 2 Samuel 4-5
Evening: Genesis 28

Swearing Should Be Hurtful (Sometimes)

Todd R 1 Comment

What does a Godly person act like?  In Psalm 15, David asks this same question:

“O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent?
            Who shall dwell on your holy hill?”

Then David lists a set of qualities that God requires for one to be righteous, and it includes how we swear.  At the end of verse 4, David writes that a Godly person is someone “who swears to his own hurt and does not change.”

Some of the qualities in the list are easy to understand, but what does it mean when someone “swears to his own hurt”?  David is not writing about swear or curse words.  He’s writing about vows or promises made, but not just any vows.

There are vows that are hurtful, but are not qualities of a Godly person, such as when Saul vowed in 1 Samuel 14:24 – “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies.”  This vow resulted in a death sentence for Saul’s son Jonathan, which was overruled by the people.  Another example is Jephthah, who vowed in Judges 11:30-31 – “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD’S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”  This resulted in a death sentence for his own daughter, who was the first to come out of the house when he returned in peace.  Saul and Jephthah swore to their own hurt, but this type of swearing is not a quality of a Godly person.

There are also vows that help us get ahead in this world.  An honest reputation is good for a career or in getting along with people and feeling successful.  But it’s easier to keep your word when there is a tangible benefit in this world.  Honesty in these situations is not necessarily bad, but it just doesn’t rise to the level of righteousness.  These vows are not what David is writing about either.

What David means by someone “who swears to his own hurt and does not change” is a person who is honest because it’s what God is and what God wants from us, no matter what it costs them.  Even if honesty brings no benefit to the honest person, they remain honest anyway.

Maybe you’ve promised a spouse or friend that you will help with a project this weekend, but then you get a call from another friend who has tickets to a big game.  Maybe you’ve promised to play with your children or help with their homework, but then remember you have a work project that requires after-hours time to get done.  Maybe vowing to be honest at work means you have to reveal something that could hurt your businesses’ reputation?  A person who “who swears to his own hurt and does not change” is not affected by changes in circumstances, whether they might miss out on something, or whether there is a personal cost.

Is this difficult?  Yes.  It’s so difficult that James wrote: “my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your ‘yes’ be yes and your ‘no’ be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.”[1]  To James, keeping vows was so hard that it was something to be avoided.  So…

“O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent?
            Who shall dwell on your holy hill?”

Who?  Jesus, the only one who ever kept all of their vows and promises, and offers His righteousness to us, both as a means for our salvation, but also as a model for us to follow.  He alone has fully done what is necessary for anyone to dwell in God’s presence.

Amen.

[1] James 5:12

Only God Has Tamed the Tongue

Todd R 1 Comment

In many Psalms, the authors complain about the evils in the world and compare them with God and His perfect attributes.  Psalm 12 is one of these, and begins with David lamenting the ungodliness he sees in the world in the first verse:

“Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone;
            for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.”

What is David so upset about?  James 3:7-8 tells us: “For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”  David is upset by people’s inability to “tame the tongue,” which he describes in verses 2 through 4:

“Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
            with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,
            the tongue that makes great boasts,
those who say, ‘With our tongue we will prevail,
            our lips are with us; who is master over us?’”

David says the words of the unfaithful are lies, flattering, duplicitous, boasting, proud, and rebellious.  These adjectives also describe much of what we see and hear today, and if we’re honest, much of what we say.  How often do we say things just because they came to mind?  And if they are bad things, but we get away with it or get something we want from it, are we emboldened to continue?  After all, “no human being can tame the tongue.”

There is One, however, who has tamed the tongue.  David contrasts His words with ours in verses 6 and 7:

“The words of the LORD are pure words,
            like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
            purified seven times.
You, O LORD, will keep them;
            you will guard us from this generation forever.”

These words are pure, refined, purified, kept, and preserved.  The number seven in the Bible is often used to indicate perfection, so if His words are “purified seven times”, they are perfectly considered and constructed before they are delivered to us.  God keeps all His promises, and His word never expires.

Even when the world is full of people who speak ungodly words, the Lord’s words are pure and can be trusted. Because of this we know He will “guard us from this generation forever.”  Someday our words will be like His words.

Amen

He Who Sits in the Heavens Laughs

Todd R 3 Comments

Are you frustrated with politics?  Maybe the politicians you prefer are not currently in power and you are disappointed or angry.  Maybe you are just tired of political divisiveness.  Maybe you are tired of the 24/7 barrage of bad news online and on TV.  There are many ways politics can be draining and rob us of peace and joy, and a lot of it seems very un-Christlike.

One of my favorite Bible passages to read when I feel this way is Psalm 2, which begins with these verses (1-3):

“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
            against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,
Let us burst their bonds apart
            and cast away their cords from us”

The Psalm refers to the rebellion of nations, peoples, kings, and rulers against the “bonds” and “cords” of “the Lord” and “his Anointed”, or God the Father and God the Son.  All nations have always been rivals, not just with each other, but also with the kingdom of God.  Within nations, political parties also have fierce rivalries.

The ultimate example of the nations’ rebellion is referenced when the first two verses from the Psalm are quoted in Acts 4:25-26, followed by: “for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and our plan had predestined to take place.”  The crucifixion of Jesus was the result of a massive conspiracy, including possibly six separate trials by both Jewish and Roman authorities.  The Jews hated Him because He was not the political messiah that would lead an insurrection against Rome.  The Romans, led by Pilate, answered the call to crucify Him, to avoid a Jewish riot that would result in their punishment or removal by higher Roman authorities.  So Jesus, who was not guilty of what He was charged with and also is the only human to never participate in insurrection against His Father, was crucified and died.

Jesus was a threat to Jewish and Roman authority and had to go, and they literally succeeded in killing God.  Brutally.  Imagine if you saw that on the news.  There’s nothing worse than this on today’s news or happening in the world today.  But then Psalm 2:4 tells us:

“He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.”

A Surprising Victory

Surprising even His followers, on the third day, Jesus was resurrected from the dead, and after a few weeks, was raised “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”  (Ephesians 1:21).  This Jesus is the one laughing in heaven, and He can laugh because He knows any and all nations are no threat to Him and His kingdom.

All rulers and nations opposed to God are doomed to fail, because even killing God was not good enough to keep Him down.  Jesus laughs because He knows His plan will work.  In Matthew 16:18, Jesus told Peter that “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

In Acts 4 above, Peter and John quote Psalm 2 after they were released by the religious rulers of Jerusalem, and they testify that Jesus’ enemies only do “whatever your hand and our plan had predestined to take place.”  Peter and John were eyewitnesses to the resurrected Jesus and knew that all the powers of the world could not keep Him down.  They knew that Jesus was exalted and laughing at any opposition to Him, and therefore, to them.  They rejoiced that the same God who had resurrected Jesus had freed them from prison!

Therefore, take comfort that Jesus, knowing all the evil and rebellion of the world that we may feel threatened by or anxious about, laughs.  All who challenge God are ultimately powerless even if they once “succeeded” in killing Him.

“He who sits in the heavens laughs” reminds us that Jesus is laughing with supreme confidence at whatever political mess we find ourselves in – He is not threatened, and He is in charge.  We can trust Jesus, our King laughing in heaven, who says: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” – John 10:28-29.

Amen

Participating in the Psalms: Thanksgiving Edition

Todd R 3 Comments

Often the writers of the Psalms aren’t just trying to teach us about God, but they are trying to share their experience of Him.  As in Psalm 96 and 100, included in earlier posts, Psalm 136 opens with encouragement, or even instructions, to join the Psalmist in thanksgiving:

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
     for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
     for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
     for his steadfast love endures forever” – Psalm 136:1-3

All 26 verses of this Psalm end with the phrase “for his steadfast love endures forever,” following something about God that is worthy of praise and thanksgiving.  This constant repetition is a reminder that it is “his steadfast love” for His people that drives His acts of creation, His works in history, and ultimately His death on the cross.  His works are all done by a person, for a people.  What God really desires is relationship with us. We are not alone in the universe.

Giving thanks only makes sense if someone exists to thank, who is good, and has the power to provide what we are thankful for.  If creation is a mere accident, if wicked acts are never corrected and righteous acts are never rewarded, and if mankind can only hope in themselves, there is no reason to give thanks to someone, or something, else.  Many religions seem to acknowledge this, giving personality and reverence to created things – trees, the sun, the harvest, and so on – but in Christ we can know the Person who is behind it all, and who actually is a Person that loves us.

Therefore, today give thanks to the Lord who is good, and is above any god or lord of this world.  As we celebrate Thanksgiving today in the United States, be thankful above all else that Someone exists to thank, that He is good, and that He has the power, and love, needed to care for His people.  Now and forever.

Amen.

Earlier posts on Participating in the Psalms are here, here, and here.