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 4/5th 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
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