Through the Bible in one year - Day 54

Psalm 54

O God, save me by your name,

            and vindicate me by your might.

O God, hear my prayer;

            give ear to the words of my mouth.

For strangers have risen against me;

            ruthless men seek my life;

            they do not set God before themselves. Selah

Behold, God is my helper;

            the Lord is the upholder of my life.

He will return the evil to my enemies;

            in your faithfulness put an end to them.

With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;

            I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.

For he has delivered me from every trouble,

            and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

In looking at this Psalm, I see that it echoes back and forth as if talking to someone. You might have noticed other Psalms work this way but each echo underscores the plea and supports the prayer. O God, save me – and vindicate me
            O God, hear my prayer – and listen to me...

            The bad guys are after me – they are ruthless and don’t believe in God...

And so it goes. We have a good pattern here for ourselves, we see it is good to support our thoughts and keep our prayers and petitions coming, and in the end remember to thank the Lord for his saving help.

This prayer in Genesis is long and gives an insight into the relationships of the sons of Israel. Their father knew them and saw them, and it wasn’t pretty. Judah is the only one to have redeemed himself in his father’s eye, the rest, other than Joseph seem damned by faint praise – or outright displeasure. We do get a glimpse here of why we read of so much war and fighting among the tribes of Israel.

2 Chronicles 27:1

Jotham was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok.

Here is a king who didn’t do what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and when he dies he was buried with honor. His mother’s name is my own mother’s name – and in fact this is where she got her name. It was a family name in her father’s family, and in this case we see that its root is Jerusalem. I know of two places elsewhere where this name is mentioned, and in each case, it seems that she was a woman of honor, since she was the mother of a king and the daughter of a king – and one who did not do what was evil in the sight of the Lord. For all its unusualness, it is a fine namesake. (So, far though, no grandchildren have been named Jerusha, with or without that ‘h’.)

Paul comes toward the end of his ministry on earth and we see something that is familiar to us who do not wish to lose our loved ones – please don’t go where it is dangerous, please don’t stick your neck out – please don’t leave us. And yet, Paul says, why would you wish to stop me from doing what needs to be done – what is right for me to do? And his friends relent and say the Lord’s will be done. This is hard for us to do, and we see it many times when we read, and in our own lives. Sometimes we have to do things that are right, although not comfortable, and in the end we all die; we all leave our loved ones. The choice, I guess is whether or not we have lived well, and whether we have indeed done what the Lord asks of us.

Today’s readings: Psalm 54, Genesis 49, 2 Chronicles 27, Acts 20:17-21:16

Through the Bible in one year - Day 53

Psalm 53:1

The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."

This has been said before – and it has also been pegged as the Psalm for April Fool’s Day... but think about what we were saying yesterday with regard to getting the wrong kind of attention just to get noticed, and how that came from not trusting in the steadfast love of the Lord; well in this case I think there is a similar cause. When we don’t know or don’t trust God with our lives and our future we in effect, say “there is no God,” at least not one we have any value for or pay attention to. After all the reading we’ve been doing, I think this may indeed by foolish; this callous disregard for who God is and for his steadfast love for us.

In Genesis Jacob reaches the time of his death and calls Joseph to bring his sons near so he can bless them, and not unlike some of the earlier blessings that we have seen, the greater blessing is for the younger son; Joseph, thinking his father is old and can’t see or perhaps is senile, says no dad-that’s the wrong kid. But, Jacob says nope, I got it right and I know he is the younger, never the less he will be of greater import in the Kingdom. Jacob blesses Joseph, and extracts a promise – don’t leave me here after I die, please take me to the land where your mother is buried. This concept of final resting place is one we deal with still, and it can cause grief or provide comfort. I happen to know that eventually Jacob’s bones are removed – but it takes a while. (We’ll get to that much later.)

More mess in the lives of the Kings of Israel in our reading today in 2 Chronicles. Uzziah starts out well, and we see here that “and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.” (vs 26:5) But that is indeed the key – as long as he sought the Lord he prospered – and as soon as his power and position went to his head, and he thought he could do it on his own, he was soon floundering and out of power altogether. This is what it later says: “But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction.” (vs 26:16) If nothing else we learn from these readings it should be this; that unless we follow the Lord, we will not prosper-not for long.

And in Acts we have the classic money trap – Demetrius, the silversmith gets very upset because people will not need to buy his little graven images and tries to get everyone in an uproar, but in the end, he fails. Nest is one of the funniest things I have read recently, Paul is talking – at length – actually he must be droning on and on because around midnight one of the listeners is so board (or tired) he falls asleep and falls to his death three stories below where he had been sitting. Everyone rushes to him but he is already dead...well, like the Princess Bride he must only be ‘mostly dead’ since Paul says ‘oh, no, he isn’t dead here he is fine again,’ and up he gets and takes bread with them.

Today’s readings: Psalm 53, Genesis 47:27-48:22, 2 Chronicles 26, Acts 19:23-20:16

Through the Bible in one year - Day 52

Psalm 52:1

Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?

The steadfast love of God endures all the day.

At first glance this verse doesn’t seem to make sense, and yet upon further reflection we can see that there is a reason behind these words, at least I imagine there is. Why do we boast of evil? In some cases, it is all that we can do to get acclaim and or to get attention. Have you ever noticed that with children? There are times when it seems all they do is act out – and if we analyze their actions we come to recognize they are just looking for attention – and looking for love perhaps. In adults, the same may actually be true; this may be a way to be noticed-and in so doing maybe get the adulation of others – if not that at least there is fear-and if all else fails it is a relationship of some sorts – it is a connection, even if it is an unhappy one. So, that leads us to the second part of verse 1; God’s love endures, all day. No longer do we need to act out or get negative attention for a relationship; no. we have God’s attention already, and it is a loving one. We don’t have to prove anything, and we don’t have to get a bad reputation to be noticed. God loves us all day, every day. Pretty cool huh?

This section in Genesis today offers a look into what happens during extreme times. In this case we see a people who once were free, becoming essentially chattel or tenant farmers, and yet they are happy to escape with their lives. It is a hard position to be in – where you are willing to sell your worldly goods in exchange for your lives – for your food. We do see one thing though, and that is Joseph asks only 1/5 (20%) leaving 4/5^th for the farmers to use for themselves and their families. This wasn’t quite like living in company housing and buying your food at the company store; there was a way out, in this case you didn’t owe everything and then some.

In 2 Chronicles today we see the same pattern repeated in Amaziah, who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not with his whole heart (vs 25:2) I am sorry to say, I am a little confused by much of this reading today, since yesterday we read that Joash died, but then today it seems that Joash and Amaziah meet in war...I may have to read more of this to see if I can get the lineage and timelines correct. One this that did get my attention was this from verse 4: "Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin." This is not what we have seen happening, in fact it is not what we saw in Joash’s case, since he had to be secreted away in order to save him from being killed like his father before him.

These readings in Acts today made an impression on me – not necessarily because of their miraculous happenings, but rather for the grafting in of those who hadn’t started at the same place or time with other believers. People such as Apollos and those that Paul met in Ephesus – these people were fervent for the Lord and didn’t even have the whole picture; they just knew that they wanted to be a part of it – and were welcomed and instructed. This then is a model for the rest of us and our churches; welcome and teach. Don’t set a barrier for those who wish to know more and be a part of what is being revealed, but also, don’t leave them with only part of the story – give them more so that the name of the Lord is extolled. (Acts 19:17) There is a cautionary tale here as well; and that is when the men who wished to gain acclaim for themselves began trying to get attention by jumping on the bandwagon – without a real relationship or understanding they failed. They could not deceive the demons even if they could fool the people. The response that Jesus we know and Paul we recognize – but you nope never heard of you...we cannot pretend a relationship; we can’t do it with people and we can’t do it with God. Just because you’ve heard of someone, doesn’t mean that you know them or that you are their friend – or that they would recognize you. Just think of the TV personalities, we may see them but they certainly don’t see us. This is what it is like not to have a relationship with the living God; we must actually spend time getting to know him and to be known by him in order to truly be a disciple. Or we will end up like those fools in our Psalm today who boast of evil – just to get attention.

Today’s readings: Psalm 52, Genesis 47:13-26, 2 Chronicles 25, Acts 18:23-19:22

Through the Bible in one year - Day 51

Psalm 51:9-10

Hide your face from my sins,

and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

The psalmist here asks God to hide his face from our sins, and in so doing to create a clean heart, and a right spirit within [us]. This is a prayer, I expect, we could all pray each morning and again at the end of the day, as we are all probably in need of God's intervention on our behalf. Both the psalmist and the other writers today recognize God's saving intentions, and his desire for us to be in a right relationship with him. There are ample reasons to says thank you and to give God praise.

70 people went with Jacob to Egypt – this was the remnant that God saved from the famine. Joseph sets them apart in a land where they can flourish as shepherds, and this they did, in the best land Egypt had to offer. This rebuilding is echoed in 2 Chronicles when we see Joash rebuilds the temple – Josephs rebuilding is of God’s people, Joash rebuilds God’s house. BUT, Joash doesn’t keep the faith – and ends in disgrace and is assassinated. This is becoming a sad theme.

This building up of God’s people is what Paul is doing today in our Acts reading. Many were unhappy with this ‘new’ Gospel and tried to have him arrested, yet the Roman authority said matters of faith needed to be dealt with by the religious and not the courts. I could ponder that concept for a while, especially in our current environment. Too often we as the faithful do not resolve our differences among ourselves – we do not do the difficult task of struggling with the issues, rather we abdicate our responsibility and try, like these Israelites to have some outside arbiter. I think I have to agree with the judge in this case; it is for the faithful to reconcile; let us through God’s grace do that.

Today’s readings: Psalm 51, Genesis 46-47:12, 2 Chronicles 24, Acts 18:1-22

Through the Bible in one year - Day 50

Psalm 50:14-15

“Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,

and perform your vows to the Most High,

and call upon me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me."

This Psalm gives me a very clear understanding of what God desires from us; everything, beast, bird, and hill, all of it is already his; what he wants from us is a relationship. Who else do we thank, and offer our time and efforts for? Who else do we call to when we need something? Who else but a friend, someone we know and trust – this is the relationship God looks for with us; the relationship we saw with Abraham, when he took the time to reason with God and intercede for Lot and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah; the same relationship that Jacob had when he struggled to get a blessing. Yes, I can see this in this Psalm.

And the why is also clear:

“The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;

to one who orders his way rightly

I will show the salvation of God.” (Psalm 50:23)

What a fitting response from Jacob – who says “It is enough; Joseph my son is alive.” (Genesis 45:28) I can see how this reflects what the Psalmist is saying here – this too is about the relationship; this relationship among the brothers who had been estranged, and worse who had tried to kill their own kin, and yet out of that they recognize the Lord’s hand and his provision. How right that they might give praise to God for all that he has done.

I am wondering though, about what comes out of this – if the beginning of this provision is derived out of the treachery of the brothers, what might have happened had they not turned against their brother? Here they are being welcomed into Egypt, but later I know that the Egyptians turn against the Israelites and they are enslaved. Do they too soon forget God’s provision and stop thanking him, is this what happens, and is it because of their dysfunctional beginnings? This isn’t answered here in these readings but I begin to wonder.

There are a couple of similarities I noticed in reading the 2 Chronicles passage and the passage from Acts; and that is the discussion of idol worship. Paul cleverly remarks to the people of Athens I see you are spiritual people for I see you have many idols; and when Joash was crowned King after having been saved from execution as a baby, what they do is tear down the idols so that there are no distractions between them and the worship of God who saves them. This is what Paul said to the people of Athens:

“Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." (Acts 17:29-31)

Today’s readings: Psalm 50, Genesis 45, 2 Chronicles 23, Acts 17:16-34