Through the Bible in one year - Day 57

Psalm 57:1

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,

for in you my soul takes refuge;

in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,

till the storms of destruction pass by.

This is fitting after our Psalm yesterday, where we hoped in the Lord; here today we cry out for help. When I read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the Hobbit before it, there were a few crucial moments when all seemed lost and the Eagles came. These were not ordinary eagles nor were they of a size we would recognize; these were great eagles – and in the shadow of their wings one was completely safe. How much more so would we be safe in the shadow of God? When Moses is on the mountain top and the shadow of God passes him by, he is transformed, and changed; that indeed is an awesome shadow!

Now we leave Genesis and come to Exodus. This begins with the death of Joseph and his entire generation – and the people of Israel multiply so that the Egyptians fear them. First off they try to kill their first-born sons, but the midwives fear God more than Pharaoh – which is good for the Israelites, and they prosper. Memory is a funny thing, and so many times we see that when a generation passes the next forgets all that they have brought about and accomplished and in the end we fall into the trap of disregard. Sometimes it might be very good indeed to stop and ask, why they were venerated and perhaps take a chance to change our own minds and enlighten ourselves before it is too late and we repeat mistakes we could have prevented had we paid attention to history. This, I fear is exactly where the Egyptians are heading, by forgetting what Joseph did to save the land and the people through his wise council.

In 2 Chronicles today we read more of Hezekiah and his bringing the people back to God. In today’s reading we see the celebration of the Passover (which we will read about soon in our Exodus passages), and this is what verse 26 says:

So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.

All the people from all the land come together in joy to thank the Lord for his saving actions – and it takes days to do it. This would be a wonderful time to be in Jerusalem.

More today in the story of Paul in prison: In our reading this day we have the king Agrippa and his wife wondering to the judge Festus why Paul is imprisoned, and Festus saying, good maybe you can help me, since he has asked to be brought before Caesar, and I have no charge to show against him worthy of this imprisonment. Toward the end of our reading today we read this:

And Agrippa said to Paul, "In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?" And Paul said, "Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains." (Acts 26:28-29)

Don’t you love this answer? It shows a certain self-deprecating humor that we all could aspire to especially in the circumstances. – Yes everyone should be like me- well except for this whole being thrown in prison and in chains bit...

King Agrippa says it’s too bad he has appealed to Caesar since he could be free as there seems to be no reason at all to hold him. What will tomorrow bring?

Today’s readings: Psalm 57, Exodus 1:1-21, 2 Chronicles 30, Acts 25-26