Isaiah 23-28

I wish I had a lot more insight into these chapters. If anything, this passage shows me how little I've paid attention to these prophecies. I was reading on another blog about many pastor's refusal to preach on OT texts. My response was that I believe most pastors don't know the OT texts as they do NT texts. I'm afraid I'm probably accurate on this count. These prophecies speak to the power of God and His foreknowledge, yet the specifics escape us. Are these prophecies fulfilled in Christ? in the end of the exile? yet to be fulfilled? How literal are the prophecies of Chapter 24 concerning the devastation of the earth? Is this the destruction of Jerusalem or a future event? Many questions begging my research.

Chapter 25 is a mighty psalm of praise... "let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."

Again I wonder when the prophecies of chapter 26-28 are fulfilled. I recognize the cornerstone prophecy of 28:16 which applies to Christ.

Psalm 26

Another of David's psalms with a similar these as the rest. Verses 3-5 remind us of Psalm 1, but this time David presents the positive side -- one who doesn't sit with deceitful men, etc.

What sets this psalm apart is verse 12 where David writes, "My feet stand on level ground..." A firm foundation for our faith is too often underestimated. David says that his blameless life and his trust in the Lord have set his feet strongly.

Job 9-10

Job's response to Bildad shows the effects of lengthy suffering. He speaks of himself both as innocent and blameless, then later in 10:15 as guilty. Certainly Job understands that he is not completely innocent, but not guilty of anything to cause such tremendous affliction.

Job's words to God are pained. He understands fully the dilemma: God is all-powerful -- He is strong enough to do as He wishes, and God is just -- issuing judgement upon them. Job is no match for God's power and is not innocent enough to claim complete blamelessness. He is at God's mercy, which is what Job is requesting. Mercy to explain. Mercy to finish Job off. Mercy to allow Job a little time of joy without worrying about all that afflicts him.

Job names the Bear, the Pleiades and Orion as constellations. I wonder how long Orion has been known as such. Also in 9:13 there is a reference to the cohorts of Rahab, which I assume to be the same Rahab mentioned later on in 26:12.

Joshua 21-24

Now that the other tribes have been allotted land, the tribe of Levi are designated towns to live in, as prescribed by God. The are given towns and surrounding lands for pasture. Of all the towns given to the Levites, five of the six cities of refuge are included (all but Bezer). Perhaps it was best for those with priestly functions to also serve as protectors of those falsely accused.
Eventually the eastern tribes get to go back across the Jordan to the lands they had been given previously. Their families were already settled. The men were bringing back a part of the spoils of war to share with those who were not able to join the fight. These two and a half tribes built an altar as a monument to the unity in God between the twelve tribes. Rumors start to fly and the other tribes are convinced that Gad and Reuben are trying to break away and worship some other God. The "rest of the story" is finally related when the other tribes come for a showdown. If anything the incident seems to further bond the tribes together.

Fast forward to years later. Twenty-five years later if Joshua and Caleb were the same age. Joshua gives his farewell to the leaders, reminding them to stay the course without turning aside. Then all of the tribes are assembled as Joshua ends his leadership by issuing an ultimatum: "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve." He speaks about getting rid of the idols now within the nation, although it seems that this is more a precautionary warning than a situation similar to the confrontation with Achan back in chapter 7. This was a renewal of the covenant. Joshua issued the vow that he and his house had made their choice already for the Lord.

It almost reads like he is trying to talk the Israelites out of committing to the Lord, offering them warning after warning. "You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God..." Indeed we cannot serve Him properly and Israel would prove Joshua right even though they promised they would not stray from the terms of the covenant.

Finally, Joshua goes home to die at the age of 110. Joseph's bones, brought from Egypt are finally buried. Then Eleazar the priest son of Aaron dies and the book of Joshua comes to a close. Then it all starts falling apart.

Genesis 19

What a strange chapter! On so many different levels this passage is disturbing. First we see the two angels headed to Sodom, only to be spotted by Lot at the city gate. Lot knew there was something special about these two -- just as Abraham sensed something about his visitors a chapter earlier. The angels said they were planning on spending the night in the town square -- what a scene that would have been! Odd enough the way it turned out. Lot strongly persuaded the two to spend the night at his house. He fed them, but before bedtime, a crowd gathers outside the house. I get weird flashbacks to watching "Night of the Living Dead" when I was younger from this passage. The text says that "All the men from every part of Sodom -- both young and old -- surrounded the house." They called on Lot to send the two men (angels) out to be raped -- technically sodomized.

Lot knew there was something about these two, as I doubt he would have gone to such lengths to protect two ordinary visitors. Still it's surprising what he offered the mob outside. Two virgin daughters were not a good enough trade for the crowd. 1) What an offer! and 2) How disturbed were these Sodomites, anyway?

It was the angels who pull Lot to safety in the house, then they struck the mob blind. When the mob broke up (apparently) Lot went to recruit his "sons-in-law" to flee with the family while the city would be destroyed. The two who laughed him off. So Lot, his wife and two daughters head for Zoar after convincing the angels that Lot couldn't handle the trip up to the mountains. The next morning the fire and brimstone fell, not only on Sodom, but on Gomorrah and in the entire plain region. A large meteor? Perhaps. Whatever it was, it did the job.

Job's wife looks back on the city as she runs and "she became a pillar of salt." Here's another place I'd love to study the Hebrew. Whatever the exact context, Lot's wife hesitated, looked back in identification with that city. When she did so, she disobeyed the instructions given by the angels in 19:17. Oddly, the instructions were given just after Lot hesitated to leave in 19:16. Now, with the plain charred and smoking, Lot and his two daughters are the only survivors. Lot's wife was dead, perhaps buried by falling debris and buried -- thus causing the pillar of salt reference.

Lot and his daughters left Zoar because Lot was afraid to live in that city. We're not told why. Perhaps he was identified as a Sodomite and the people of Zoar wanted to get rid of him. In any case, Lot takes his daughters and lives in a cave in the mountains -- hermit style. The daughters then devise a plan to keep the family line going. On sucessive nights, the girls get Dad drunk and each sleep with him, conceiving a son. It's hard to get past the "ick-factor" on this one. Comparisons to Abraham and Sarah's plan with Hagar spring to mind. Each plan worked. Ishmael became the father of the arabic peoples. Lot's new children were the fathers of the Moabites and the Ammonites.

Psalm 25

This psalm speaks of the perseverance of living the godly life. The guidance of God. He instructs, guides, teaches... David's message is clear. This is how to live a godly life - by learning from God Himself.

David is surrounded by his enemies, yet his confidence is unmistakeable. He remembers that he has been a sinner, yet he knows his sins have been washed away. He knows what his life has been like. Still he knows that God will not put him to shame; that is God will not disappoint him.

This psalm reads like an overview of God's character. He is both good and upright. He cannot abide sin, yet He provides a way for justice to be done. Yet as Chrsitians we need to be constantly learning from Him -- especially through His word.

Psalm 24

The Palm Sunday Psalm. Boice contemplates the idea that this psalm was used in worship on the first day of the week in temple worship. That means that these words were being read in worship as Jesus was riding the donkey's colt into Jerusalem. That this psalm is Messianic in nature is obvious. Certainly David could have been writing about bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, but the deeper meaning must be of the King of glory entering the gates and ancient doors of the Holy City.

The first two verses speak to the universality of God. He is not Israel's God alone. He is the God of the world. Everything in the earth and in fact, the very planet itself belongs to Him. After all, He made it.

Verses 3-6 echo Psalm 15, asking who is worthy to ascend the hill, or climb the hill toward the temple mount. That person must have clean hands and a pure heart -- signifying deeds AND intentions. That person is not idolatrous nor false. Admittedly, none of us measure up completely, but it is the person who seeks these things who is worthy to come.

Then the Messianic entrance of verses 7-10. Some think this was sung in parts by different voices -- an approaching group, a voice within the gates and the people in general. We can't be sure, but we can see the obvious respect and awe given the approaching King of glory.

Genesis 16-18

"OK. I get it, God. You need us to help You out in this whole "father of a great nation" business, eh? So let's get another woman involved in all this. What could go wrong?"

Hagar. A maidservant of Sarai who was thrust into a tough situation. She's not exactly blameless here though. By 16:4, she was getting nasty to her mistress -- apparently holding her pregnancy over Sarai's head, as it were. She probably didn't begin all the bitterness, but she gave it its first voice. From there, the roof begins to cave in. Sarai complains to Abraham, Abe washes his hands of the whole problem and Sarai mistreats Hagar until she runs off. I found it interesting that in 18:3 it says that Sarai gave Hagar "to her husband to be his wife." Bigamy. Not just an out-of-wedlock birth. I'd like to look in the the translation of that verse.

What a comment to make about a person: "He will be a wild donkey of a man," said the angel of the Lord to Hagar about Ishmael. The Bible doesn't tell us a lot about Ishmael, but his story is probably very interesting. The Westerner in me wonders if the Middle Eastern trouble isn't rooted in a conflict between a stiff-necked people (Jews) and the descendants of a man whose "hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers." Doesn't sound like a promising situation, does it?

Chapter 17 screams one question: Why circumcision? Of all the signs God could have come up with, why would the removal of penile foreskin be the chosen sign? Does this speak to male pride and sexual dominance? Maybe God taking men down a peg? I get the image of a slave being purchased by Abraham, then being told what had to happen to him to be a part of Abraham's household!

Abraham laughed, Sarai laughed... names were changed. When God changes your name, watch out! Abraham had Ishmael at the age of 86, yet he thought that being 100 was over the hill? How long had it been since the days of Genesis 5, when people lived to be 900 and were having children into their 600s? The perspective on Sarai/Sarah I can understand though.

At chapter 18, the three visitors arrive. The text announces them as "the LORD" and Abraham hurredly is making preparations to feed them. Part of this could be the culture to take care of travelers, but somewhere early on Abraham realizes he is speaking with God. I'd be tempted to call the three "men" Father, Son and Holy Spirit except that chapter 19 begins by talking about "the two angels" who go to Sodom. The angel of the Lord is usually agreed to be a reference to the Second Person of the Trinity -- a pre-incarnate Jesus. I'm not sure exactly why the Second Person is singled out rather than the Third or First. In any case, Abraham addresses the angel of the Lord as deity.

The "bargaining session" looking for a few good men in Sodom is fascinating. Abraham realizes that there aren't many good folk in that town. The Lord knows it too. Abraham doesn't go down to four people which would have covered Lot, his wife and two daughters.

Psalm 23

The Psalm. Why does it touch so many hearts? We know precious little about sheep these days, or shepherds. But we do know about danger and the valley of the shadow of death. We know all about fearing evil. And somehow these words of the former shepherd boy, David, touch a chord, in spite of the fact that our dangers are so different from those David faced. Yet there is a victory evident in the six scant verses. My cup overflows.

In verse 4 we walk not through the valley of death but of its shadow. Death isn't an end. It is just a shadow to the faithful. Once again David expresses the confidence which is given by the Almighty.

Romans 7-8

Another important passage, but then there's not a lot of "dead wood" in Romans! Paul begins by explaining our freedom from the law by comparing us to a woman whose marriage vow lasts only until her husband passes away. So too, we are bound to the law only until we die to the law through the body of Christ. Those who claim the need for us to follow Hebrew law miss the point of this passage. The law makes us aware of our sin and drives us to a Savior.

Paul draws a line between slavery to sin and slavery to Christ. Slavery to sin a part of our sinful nature, yet spiritually we are slaves to Christ. Paul's wonderful discussion of "I don't do what I want..." in 7:14-28 gives hope to us! Well, to me anyway. This fight within continues although as Christians we are controlled by the Spirit. Yet the body still retains the sin nature. And we are obligated to the Spirit, not to sin. And although we deserve death, there is no condemnation for us if we are in Christ Jesus.

We are sons and daughters of God. Adoption. Heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. With the priviledges come the sufferings and we get to share it all. And as serious as the sufferings can be, all the greater are the rewards. One of the rewards is the intercession of the Spirit -- even when we cannot figure out how to pray.

Through it all, God works it all for our good. Somehow. Some way. We are called according to His purpose and we are to be like Him. Were we predestined individually or predestined because we were in Christ or both? Or neither. Who can know the mind of God? In any case, if God is for us, who can be against us? Can anything separate us from Christ's love? Not the physical troubles of 8:35, nor the spiritual of 8:38-39.

Psalm 22

As incredible as this psalm is, it reads much like some of the earlier psalmswhere David is in trouble, then prays to God and receives comfort. The Old Testament Jew would likely see the words as illustrating a feeling of abandonment. Imagine being surrounded by bulls and lions with your bones out of joint and dried up strength. Or hands and feet which have been pierced with people staring at your naked body while your enemies divide up your clothing and cast lots for the best piece.

Of course on this side of the cross we see Psalm 22 for what it is -- a Messianic psalm with incredible details forecast about the crucifixion. This psalm is tied closely to Calvary anyway because Jesus quotes the first line of verse one from the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" I have learned that starting to recite a psalm was equivalent to reciting the entire psalm. So Jesus' cry from the cross was not so much a cry of despair, but it was a reminder of what was happening here. Psalm 22 does not end with death. Psalm 22 ends with the proclamation of the greatness of God, told through all generations.

The cries of despair in the beginning do seem familiar though. Many times a feeling of divine abandonment call fill our hearts, wondering why God doesn't answer. David has voiced these feelings before in the psalter. This time the cries turn to prophecy of the death and resurrection of Messiah. And we await the time when "all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him."

Matthew 8-10

Familiar passages. A lot of healings, mostly with fewer details than Luke provides. Much of this is a way of Jesus getting to be more known by the disciples. After he calms the storm, the twelve turn to one another and ask, "Who is this?" Jesus seems to prefer a little mystery too, as he tells people not to spread the word about the healings. I've always thought that Jesus wanted people to come to Him for the message, not just for the freebies. Still word travels fast, and I'm sure that a good many missed the message in spite of faith in Jesus. Still we get to see some personality when Jesus tells the leper, "I am willing. Be clean."

The cost of following is highlighted in 8:18-22, but it really comes to light in chapter 10 as Jesus is sending out the twelve. This chapter shows the disciples being sent to the Jews -- explicitly not to the Samaritans or the Gentiles. The Jews get first shot. However Jesus is not the peacemaking, mild-mannered teacher. He brings a sword. Families will be split in two. Betrayal will be the rule. Jesus prepares the disciples as best He can for the persecution which will surely come. The world is very different than Jesus.

At verse 23, we see a time frame given. Obviously the coming of the Son of Man alludes to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Not that persecution stops then, but these disciples' mission to the Jews essentially is over by that time.

The familiar verse "Freely you have received, freely give," is sandwiched in the midst of the instructions. The things to be given are what has been received. It's the healing, raising, cleansing, etc. that immediately precedes the instructions to give.

Psalm 21

The other side of Psalm 20. This one was a psalm of thanksgiving to be sung at the return of the conquering heroes. So much confidence here. Of course after a victory one should be confident. But at verse 8 the celebrating of the past victory turns to thanksgiving for coming victories. Again the key is verse 7 which plainly states, "For the king trusts in the Lord; through the unfailing love of the Most High." That is where our trust belongs.

Giving thanks can be tough for me. When I'm lost in prayer, there is no problem acknowledging that I am nothing without Him... that all I have is from Him. Thanksgiving flows freely at that point. But you know, it's still hard sometimes to stop and say thank you. I have that problem when someone gives me a gift. As thankful as I am, it is hard for me to express that thought without sounding like I'm only saying "Thanks" because it is expected. Something about thanking God is a little easier because of the very nature of prayer. He knows I'm not just saying -- except when I am, which is embarrassing to admit and heartbreaking to discover.

"Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength, we will sing and praise your might."

Isaiah 18-22

Wow. Tough stuff to read without a complete commentary or two. Various prophecies against the nations. However the prophecy toward Cush of chapter 18 sounds like there will be conversions from among those people. Same with at least five cities of Egyptians in 19:18 and following. Yet those who trusted in their own nation would be put to shame and carried off.

Isaiah performed the task of living prophecy as well as living prophet. In 20:3 we learned that Isaiah walked around buck naked for three years to illustrate what would happen to these peoples. Tough work being a prophet...

Babylon's prophecy is written in an interesting way -- the surprising defeat of Babylon learned from the report of the lookout.

The Edom prophecy features a play on words -- Dumah means silence and the prophecy is about Edom being completely quiet, presumably because it has been destroyed.

The people of Jerusalem met with a fierce anger from the Lord. The final segment is about Isaiah's replacement, it appears, Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, and his eventual end as well.

Psalm 20

This psalm was written to be sung by the assembled people as the king and his army goes off to battle. (The homecoming is Psalm 21.) Again, note the confidence, this time expressed by the people, that the king will be upheld by the Almighty.

Verse 6 is the king or perhaps a priest articulating that confidence in the Lord before the psalm goes back to the people.

The memorable verse is verse 7 (and also 8):

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.

Where is my trust? It's so easy to trust in what I can put my hands on; the instruments of battle. But the only One worthy of my trust is God Himself.

Psalm 19

The opening lines of this psalm ring with familiarity. David's words recognizing the general revelation of God are not only well known, but obviously correct. Paul used many of the same ideas in Romans 1. Verses 1-6 tell of the greatness of God as revealed in nature. It is obvious that there is a God and that He has incredible power if one simply opens his eyes to creation. David shows that this revelation is obvious, continuous and never-ending. The comparison between the sun and the testimony of God is incredible. "Nothing is hidden from its heat." Such could be said of both the sun and its Creator.

David next moves to special revelation -- the law of the Lord. Six different terms for Scripture are used: law, statutes, precepts, commands, fear, and ordinances. Special revelation is perfect, trustworthy, right, radiant, pure and sure and altogether righteous. It revives the soul, makes the simple wise, gives joy to the heart, gives light to the eyes, and endures forever. As wonderful as general revelation is, so much more is special revelation. Yet too often we are content to let it lay on the table or sit upon the shelf.

Joshua 16-20

This passage reads a little like someone is describing a detailed wall map. Land for Judah has already been allotted, then in chapter 16, the half-tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh are assigned land. These are to be the first two tribes set up on this side of the Jordan. The rest are drawn by lot by Joshua back at Shiloh.

Interesting that the Canaanites living among the two half-tribes of Joseph were never fully exterminated, although they eventually became slaves. The two half-tribes came complaining about the size of their allotments, but were told to conquer the forested hill country. The tribesmen pled for a break since the Canaanites had iron chariots, which I assume means they would be tough to conquer militarily. Joshua simply sends them back, telling them that they will be able to do it -- although he doesn't mention that the Lord would be the one fighting for them at this point.

A female named Noah? See 17:3.

In chapter 18, Joshua seems a little disturbed that the tribes haven't taken possession of the land to this point. He organizes the surveying crew, then brings the tribal chiefs back to cast lots for the plots of land.

Joshua took the town of Timnath Serah (Timnath Heres - Judges 2:9) for his allotment. Cities of refuge were Kadesh, Shechem, Hebron, Bezer, Ramoth and Golan. An interesting concept which assumes that families will be out for avenging dead loved ones, vigilante style.

I wonder how long the whole process took for the Israelites to conquer the land, to subdue the land, to split up the land, and to settle the land.

Genesis 12-15

Abram is called from Haran where he, Sarai, Lot and his father Terah had been living. In chapter eleven they tried moving to Canaan, but stopped at Haran, coincidentally the name of Lot's father who had passed away in Ur. Abram receives God's call and must have wondered about becoming a great nation even at that point, having no children. Now at the age of 75, Abram is off to wherever the Lord is telling him to go. After a brief stop at Shechem, he moved on to somewhere between Bethel and Ai. He had built an altar at Shechem, then again at Bethel. Then he took off for Egypt. I wonder what was spurring him onward. The Lord had appeared to him already, but Abram keeps going.

The sister/wife lie in Egypt eventually catches up to Abram, although it doesn't turn out as poorly as it could have. Pharaoh could have easily just had Abram killed, but the diseases probably convinced Pharaoh to letAbram and Sarai live. Hard to believe that a pillar of faith like Abram could let his wife be taken and used by another just to ease his fears of being killed.

Lot takes the greener pastures in chpater 13. Greener pastures, but lousy neighbors! Abram goes to Hebron and builds yet another altar. Lot's neighbors get him into trouble, as Sodom is sacked by a bunch of kings under Kedorlaomer. Abram becomes a mighty warrior -- something that doesn't usually come to mind when thinking of Abram. In 14:14 we are given an exact count of Abram's make shift army -- 318. Odd bit of detail.

The mysterious Melchizedek, King of Salem/Jerusalem makes his quick apprearance at this point, blessing Abram and honoring God. Abram gives the priest a tithe -- the first tithe mentioned in Scripture. I wonder what possessed Abram to do this. The part where Abram refuses help from the king of Sodom seems logical though.

Chapter fifteen features a recounting of God's call upon Abram and this time it is in the form of a covenant. "Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness" at 15:6, which of course pops up again in Romans 4. The Lord confirmed the covenant with an elaborate scene of birds and carcasses cut in half. This was a normal setting for a human covenant with the two parties walking through together. This time the only one to pass through was God, indicating that God alone could keep such a covenant.

Psalm 18

The longest psalm so far, this one is again is filled with David's confidence in God. It is repeated almost exactly in 2 Samuel, just before David's death. Indeed it shows the life of a man who has made God his strength, but also someone who has stood firm on the Rock.

The Rock is not only a solid foundation, but also it is protection and shade in a dry and thirsty land.

David tells of his deliverances by God, first from God's point of view, complete with smoke and fire, then later from David's perspective. Again, David is pleading his righteousness, not as a perfect person but as one generally in line with God's will.

Landmarks on the Journey - 1/20/06

Well, I'm twenty days into this adventure and five days ahead in my reading as of now. I'm not doing a lot of other reading, but that's OK. Sometimes the Boice commentary gets a little too long and drawn out for a short psalm, but then again he's reprinting sermons!

It's frustrating sometimes the way the program is set up. I mentioned that I spent 8 months preaching the Sermon on the Mount yet it was a one-day reading -- the same as Job 7 and 8, which has far fewer points. It's sometimes a little frustrating jumping back and forth between books because I have to stop and find my context. Starting Romans 5, I had to re-read the last of Romans 4 to see exactly where I was. And this was with a familiar passage. It's going to be tougher when I get to Ezekiel, I'm sure!

This journal is an important step in the whole journey. Perhaps at the end of it all, I can rearrange everything to make a skeleton commentary and expand on selected sections from there. The entries here tend to slow down my progress (in spite of the fact that I'm five days ahead) and if my work situation changes soon, I'm not sure how I'm going to do it all. I'm sure God will show me something and will provide the way to do it, so long as I don't get lost in my selfishness and put lying around on the couch ahead of what I'm supposed to be doing.

Still two more weeks before I finish even one book...

Romans 5-6

Romans always "reads better" when you can take a little time and go straight through Paul's argument. One section leans so heavily upon another. His style is familiar. The use of the argument which goes, "If this is so, how much more will there be if this is true also," is extensive, especially in chapter five. "Since we have now been justified by his blook, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!" If something terrible happens because of man, how much better it can be made with a perfect God. Jesus used the same style in His teachings as well. Much of the Adam/Jesus - Death/Alive passages are based on that rhetorical style.

It's hard not to stop at my favorite passages like 5:3-5 where we learn that suffering produces perseverance, character and hope which does not disappoint.

At 6:19, Paul writes that he's putting "this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves". I assume that means the examples he's using are geared especially for his audience.

The slavery to sin/slavery to Christ concept is something I don't think most people (myself included) really gets. Maybe because the idea of slavery is so abhorrant to us. We value our "freedom" way too much.

Psalm 17

A prayer of David according to the title. And a prayer it is. A prayer that God will hear because David is the "apple of His eye" and because he has not sinned with his mouth and has stayed in God's paths without slipping. Of course we realize that David isn't claiming perfection any more than God was claiming Job to be perfect when He told the devil that Job was blameless. David is simply saying that he is innocent of the charges against him... that those who "have tracked me down..." are wrong in their accusations. I wonder when David wrote this -- likely when Saul's boys were chasing him.

David prays with confidence. He calls to the Lord to hear his cry in verse 1 and in verse 15 he is ready to bed down for the night knowing that he "will be satisfied with seeing Your likeness."

Boice titles this psalm, The Prayer of A Righteous Man, reckoning it to James words about such a prayer. Indeed this is a prayer of someone whose relationship with God is rock solid. We know that David's spiritual life wasn't always this rock solid, but it makes me long to be in a situation where mine is always this rock solid.

Matthew 5-7

Considering I preached for almost 8 months on this passage, this post could go long! However instead of dissecting it, I'll just present a few things which leapt off the page at me.

The location of the sermon is said to be a mountainside where Jesus sat down to teach, which is the typical posture for teaching. The sermon is addressed to "them" which should refer back to "the disciples" unless there is something funny about the Greek there. So Jesus was primarily speaking to the disciples (no word on if it was just the Twelve as the intended audience), but at the end of chapter 7 we see that "the crowds" had obviously been listening in. Unless "crowds" and "disciples" were the same people, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

The Beatitudes are an indication of the "upside-down" nature of Jesus' teachings. The poor in spirit, the meek, the persecuted for righteousness sake... these people aren't usually thought of as "blessed" or "happy" as Jesus claimed. But His emphasis was more eternal than temporal, although the benefits of living a life as Jesus instructs are certainly earthly as well.

The Law isn't being abolished but fulfilled. In 5:18 Jesus talks about the time when "everything is accomplished." Compare to the words of Jesus from the cross, "It is finished" or more accurately the idiom means "Paid in full." Jesus isn't downplaying the Law as much as He is demonstrating Paul's argument that we cannot fulfill it ourselves. If James, Son of Alphaeus thought he had to be more righteous than the Pharisees, he would have given up trying to reach heaven. Jesus put it more bluntly in 5:48 in the call to live a perfect life. Salvation isn't by our works.

The hypocrisy of works done for public consumption must have hit home for some listening to the sermon. Making a show out of giving and praying and fasting was how the Pharisees got their reputation.

At 5:8 Jesus points out that our Father knows our needs before we ask. It's a bit surprising that He doesn't also mention that the Father knows our wants as well. He knows those also! And He provides. But that doesn't mean we aren't to ask. That comes in 7:7-8. Ask, seek, knock. If dealing with salvation, this is a call for the sinner not to simply "be saved" but to ask, to seek, and to knock. Clearly man has a responsibility in the matter. Or at least a say-so.


In 6:24, the NIV translates the word Money with a capital M. I typically use the word "stuff" to signify the capital M Money.

The gate is narrow and the road is also. If we ever feel like most of the world doesn't believe as we do it's because they don't. Many have fooled themselves and will be among those calling "Lord, Lord..." (7:21). I wonder about those who were casting out demons in Jesus' name that the disciples were asking about. Were these people real followers or were they self-deceived?

I've known a few bad people who produce things looking like good fruit. We can't allow ourselves to do a poor job inspecting the fruit and seeing it for what it is.

The final instruction is to act upon what we've learned. Application. The missing step for many who call themselves Christians.

Psalm 16

Psalm 16 is categorized as a Messianic psalm because of one verse -- but oh, what a verse! In verse 10, David (probably unwittingly) prophesies that Messiah would not be abandoned to the grave nor would His body see decay. Certainly any believer can say that he will not be abandoned to the grave. That's what eternal life is all about. David could have written the same about himself. It is the "decay" reference which refers to Jesus. And from the looks of the psalm, it is the only prophetic or Messianic reference contained here.

It's striking just how satisfied David is with his portion, his cup, his lot, his boundary lines and his inheritance. Contentment is not something which comes naturally to us in our sinful condition. Coveting is in our blood -- or more rightly, our sin nature. And yet it is so accepted both in and out of the Church. Sad.

Apart from God (El), the LORD (yahweh), the Lord (adonai) we have no good thing either. Running after other gods, like materialism, only brings more sorrows.

The Lord counsels me. By speaking through my heart, He instructs me. Putting Him in front of us keeps us from being shaken. So much wisdom is such a short psalm.

Psalm 15

Who can come before God? Who is worthy? David lays out five verses about how we should live our lives. Boice lays them out as six parallel pairs of lines dealing with the same topic.

Character - a blameless walk and righteous acts.
Speech - speaking the truth without slander.
Conduct - combining the first two traits - does no wrong to his neighbor and doesn't speak badly of him.
Values - despises a vile man, but honors those who fear the Lord.
Integrity - keeps his word even when it hurts
Using money - lends freely and can't be bought to hurt others.

Most go without saying, but still it's the despising a vile man which bothers me. It's the vileness we should despise. Still I understand how David said it in that fashion.

Do I keep my word, even when it hurts? Often I do not keep it even if it doesn't hurt. I must work on my integrity.

Job 5-8

This is supposed to be just Job 5-6, but it's such an odd place to begin and end a reading, I'm continuing through chapter 8 and Bildad's speech.

Job 5 resumes Eliphaz's call to Job to examine his life for the sin which has caused all his troubles. Verse 5:13 I quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:19 in describing the foolishness of the world. Apparently the friends do manage to make some correct points. They just fail to apply their knowledge correctly.

Job answers in chapters 6 and 7. It is hard to tell if he is addressing Eliphaz or God Himself. Job wants to be put out of his misery. But he also is rebuking his friend for being so harsh with him. Job wants to get a direct answer from Eliphaz as to what he has done to deserve this. Then he asks the same of God, although without the same venom toward the Creator as he had with his friend.

In chapter 8 Bildad steps in to save God's dignity. He says that Job's children died because of their sins. He also points to the past generations as to what they learned about God. All seem to repeat the old saw that God will bless the blameless and punish the sinners. What they seemed to forget was the possibility that the rewards and the punishments were not restricted to this earth.

Isaiah 12-17

Chapter 12 is a song of praise, reading like it was taken straight from the Psalter. "The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation." This is the cry of Israel when the Lord shall reign.

The prophecy against Babylon predicts the entired kingdom being overthown "by God" and the city itself becoming desolate forever. Current scholarship places the city of Babylon somewhere in northern Iraq -- in a desolate area.

In the midst of the Babylonian prophecy, we see Lucifer's sin described in 14:12-17. Lucifer's sin and fate must be reminiscent of the Babylonian ruler. It would be easy to overlook that passage as simply part of the prophecy against Babylon. The phrases "fallen from heaven" and "cast down from the earth" are clues, as are the names "morning star, son of the dawn".

The shorter prophecies against Assyrian and the Philistines end chapter 14. Moab is mourned over in chapters 15 and 16 -- it will be gone in three years. Then Damascus' future is foretold in chapter 17. "You have forgotten God your Savior..."

Psalm 14

The foolishness of denying God. Boice points out that the fool is not the real atheist, but one who knows that God exists yet denies that He has any authority over him. Such people are corrupt, vile and no good. They not only don't understand God, but they refuse to even seek after Him. That's the crux of the matter right there. They are content in their ignorance.

These evildoers are overwhelmed with dread. What if they are wrong? Thus the hatred of the godly -- for believing in Him or seeking out more about Him. They seek selfishly to deny the poor of what they want. Yet God frustrates their plans because He is the refuge of the victims. The evil cannot completely terrorize those whose hope is in the Lord.

That salvation is promised and assured, as David tells us in verse seven.

Psalm 13

"How long, O Lord?" What a familiar question. David is experiencing a "dry" period spiritually. His belief in God has not been shaken, yet he is hard pressed to find any evidence that God has taken any notice of him. The first two verses see David crying out to God asking four times, "How long will it be this way?"

By verses 3 and 4, David is in prayer. "Give light to my eyes..." Help David to see the end of the affliction.

Then in verses 5 and 6, David's prayer is answered. David returns to trusting God. He has been reminded of God's love and His presence through prayer.

Joshua 11-15

Finally at chapter eleven, it seems that all the remaining nations team up to try to expel Israel from the land. The king of Hazor initiates the action as "head of all these kingdoms" according to 11:10. Joshua turned back to take out Hazor and kill the king. Again, the Israelites were used as the instruments of God's justice to exterminate the evil nations.

I wonder what the purpose of hamstringing horses would be. Would a hamstrung horse still be useful? For breeding perhaps, but beyond that it would seem easier to kill them along with everything else.

The land finally had peace at the end of chapter eleven, although it wasn't until Caleb did away with the people around Hebron that we see peace declared again at the end of chapter fourteen.

Caleb must have been quite the 85 year old! He asked for what he was promised. He seemed to even be asking for a challenge -- a place where the enemies were larger than normal. But conquer them, he did. The section of chapter 15 is odd in its inclusion. I suppose it is just a more detailed part of the land distribution.

The rest of this passage would be useful in making a map and is more understandable if you have a map sitting beside you. Even still, it's tough to get past all the names of towns which are long since gone or now carry different names.

Psalm 12

This psalm is about words -- the words of the lying evil man and the words of the living God. The evil man lies -- outright untruths. He flatters, kissing up to his victim while at the same time maneuvering to take advantage of him. He boasts, which is the outward sin resulting from pride. His bragging talks about how he attains victory by dishonest means, and his claim that he bears no responsibility to anyone, especially to God.

Then in verse 5, God speaks. He will stand up for the oppressed. "I will now arise" -- again the language of God going to war. The psalmist points out that God's words are flawless which is quite the opposite of the words of the liar. Silver refined seven times would be 100% pure.

The last two verses point out that even though the evil men of the world continue their arrogant strutting while the world honors them, the hope of the Christians (as well as the oppressed) is in the Lord who will protect His people.

Genesis 8-10

Noah and the family spent a whole lot of time on that ark. The boat hit Ararat on 7/17, but they didn't get out until 2/27. That's over 6 months just sitting there landed, most of that time with no waves or water even touching the ark. Understanding that they didn't get out until all areas of the earth were available to be inhabited.

The first animal sent out of the ark was a raven which kept flying back and forth. I assume it lit on top of the ark or something for a while and didn't remain flying for weeks. The dove which finally brought back an olive branch showed that not only was the earth drying, but vegetation had started growing once again.

Some of the clean animals who rode the ark for just over a year (The ark was closed on 2/17) were offered as a sacrifice after the landing. The springs of the deep were closed as were the floodgates of the heavens. And God's sign of the covenant, the rainbow, must have been a new sight for the humans -- again giving credence to the idea that rain hadn't happened before the flood.

Meat with blood is prohibited in chapter nine. No rare steak. Although everything is given to the hands of man.

The account of the drunken, naked, passed out Noah is odd. Had the boys really never seen Noah naked before? Shem and Japeth went through dramatic means to be sure they didn't see anything embarrassing. And Noah didn't curse Ham, but his son Canaan. Why? Was Canaan the only child at this point? Was he conceived on the ark or are we talking years later? Certainly Noah was around for 350 years, so there's no real timetable here.

The geneaologies of chapter ten seem rather edited for length. The Japheth line is remarkably short. Only two sets of grandkids are mentioned. The mention of "Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord" is quite odd. I wonder what the Hebrew looks like there at 10:9. The Canaanite clans were the people conquered later in Genesis.

In 10:25, we see mention of Peleg (meaning "division") so named because "in his time the earth was divided." I wonder what this refers to. Continental drift? Civil war?

A short mention in 10:31 that these are "the sons of Shem by their clans and languages..." -- this occurs right before the whole Babel narrative in chapter 11.

Psalm 11

Verse 3 is the linchpin: "When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

If we place our faith in rules and laws and in our country's government, we will eventually be disappointed. Rules are broken, laws are twisted and politicians and judges place their own thoughts above God's. This is happening today, and it seems like it's constant. So when our foundations are being destroyed, what are the righteous supposed to do? Protest? Take over the government? Sue the rule-breakers? What does David suggest?

Trust the Lord. He is in heaven watching what is going on. He sees and will be a just judge. This doesn't mean that we should ignore any earthly justice, but the Christian shouldn't be discouraged when the bad guys win and the good guys lose. God will make all things right in His time. Often that time is after the good and the bad have each left the earth.

"For the Lord is righteous, He loves justice; upright men will see His face."

Romans 3-4

Paul answers what is essetially a stupid question to head up chapter 3. "Should we sin more to show how much better God is than us?" No. We don't need to make God look good or faithful or sinless or forgiving or anything else we try to excuse our own behavior with. God is faithful. We are not. God is righteous. We are not. No one understands. No one seeks Him. And no one will be declared righteous by observing the law, as Paul points out. The law is there to show us that we are sinners in need of a Savior.

That's where Christ comes in. We all sin and fall short, but God presented Christ as our sacrifice of atonement, though faith. That fulfills justice. So we have nothing to brag about in salvation. Our justification has nothing to do with our observation of the law. Jew or Gentile.

Paul's discussion of Abraham being justified by faith is a beautiful description of how we are saved in the same manner as the father of the Israelites.

God calls things that are not as though they were. God's knowledge of the future is being discussed here, over the objection of the open theists.

Psalm 10

David is in trouble again, and here he describes the kind of people who are enemies of God -- the wicked man. He is arrogant and boastful. He is proud and rich. He considers himself to be invincible -- "Nothing will shake me." His speech is full of horrible utterances. And he prowls (as Satan is described later in Scripture) looking for his next victim. He is sure that his actions are not seen by God, or if they are, that God doesn't care.

David saw his share of these people. I see them too. Although not as sinister as David describes, the arrogant, invincible attitude is unmistakeable. Boice calls these people "practical atheists." Although they may claim to believe in God, they live like they don't believe He exists (or at least doesn't care and won't ever judge them). But David asks God to go after these pretenders. He knows that God sees and will judge. He calls for God to break the power (the arem) of the wicked and uphold the weak and victimized.

"The Lord is King forever and ever; the nations will perish from his land."

Matthew 3-4

I get the impression that John the Baptist and Jesus had quite different preaching styles. The Wild Man with the hairy outfit and locust juice in the corner of his mouth shouting, "Repent!" Although by the time we hit 4:17, Jesus' message was "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!" Still I think the delivery was different. But maybe that's just the image I've been brought up with. There was something about John that got to people's hearts. In 3:6, we see that John baptized only after the people confessed their sins. The Baptist's words must have cut deeply.

His response to the Pharisees probably gives many the whole Wild Man image. His message, "If you're so good, where is your fruit?" Clearly the Pharisees weren't coming out to confess and repent.

Jesus told John that he should baptize Him "to fulfill all righteousness." Isn't this the best way of telling us that it is right for us to be baptized as well? Baptism wasn't new with John. It had been practiced for years for people becoming Jews. John and Jesus both knew that this was different. Jesus wouldn't have been baptized as a baby because He was already Jewish. John's ministry gave the rite it's new meaning -- or rather it's clearer meaning.

The Father's testimony about the Son is given as Jesus comes out of the baptismal waters.

It was the Holy Spirit who led Jesus into the desert to be tempted. If God allowed Jesus to be tempted, why would we expect to get out of it? The devil, meanwhile, is testing to see what kind of Messiah this Jesus will be. Did he expect to succeed? Did he really expect Jesus to kneel and worship him? Is he really that stupid?

Jesus settled in Capernaum to begin His ministry, although He travelled extensively throughout Galillee. What an odd place to begin preaching -- like coming to Mississippi or Alabama instead of the large religious centers, mainly Jerusalem and the area.

The "fishers of men" segments show immediate responses from the four fishermen.

Isaiah 7-11

The prophets aren't always easy to understand at first read, and although it's not really my first read much of the detail here will take a lot more research. However, I'll toss out a few observations.

Isaiah's son is named for a warning for the nation. It's reminiscent of Hosea's children. Many of Israel's prophets were given the job of being living examples and living illustrations for the people of Israel to understand. I wonder how many of the people really "got it". The virgin with child of 7:14 is said to be Mary, according to Matthew, but a certain level of fulfillment takes place with Isaiah's child as well. It's a time frame for the coming destruction for Isaiah. Assyria destroys Israel and eventually Assyria is destroyed as well.

A great passage of warning at 8:19-21.

The prophecy of Messiah in chapter nine segues into a prophecy of warning for Israel. God judges, yet there is hope. One of Isaiah's son is named, "a remnant will return". The promise comes in 10:20. Many have taken this to be future as well.

The eleventh chapter of the Branch from Jesse. There is the fulfillment at the incarnation and also at the "end of the world". Sorting out the details is tough work and far too intricate to outline in this fashion, especially without a month of two of research.

Psalm 9

David praises God. And why not? God has judged David's enemies and destroyed them. His justice is heralded and held up as wonderful. David has been protected by God's great mercy. For all of these past victories, David gives thanks and praise.

Beginning in verse 13, David begins to ask God once again for victory. He is confident that God's justice is trustworthy and that He will protect David. David can trust God for the future in the same way he has trusted God in the past.

Joshua 6-10

A whole lot of bloodshed in these five chapters! We begin at Jericho with the march around the wall for seven straight days. I guess one of those days would have had to have been a Sabbath, right? I wonder if the Pharisees thought about all that "work" their ancestors performed.

Destoying cities everywhere. Jericho completely destroyed except for Rahab and her family, who were given a place to live outside the camp of Israel. Also Achan's stolen booty was from Jericho, although it was eventually found. Interesting detail that the silver was on the bottom and the gold and robe on top. I wonder what the significance of that was.

Ai wins one because of Israel's disobedience. Then Israel sets the ambush "behind" the city. Joshua's force came from the north, but the ambush force came from the west, not the south. I guess either Joshua didn't head for the front gates or there is something in the geography that would make west "behind" the city. Or possibly the ambush force went 90 degrees around the city to enter it. I doubt that one will ever be cleared up.

Joshua reinforces the Covenant after the victory at Ai. The people gathered before the two mountains and Joshua read every word of the Law. Repetition. Reminders.

The folks from Gibeon pull a fast one on Joshua and the elders. Still I wonder how they knew that Joshua would live up to his oath. Certainly someone who had apparently been so bloodthirsty wouldn't necessarily honor an oath made by deception. Probably the only chance they thought they had. The moldy bread was a nice touch.

Then comes bloody chapter ten. The five kings attack Gibeon and Israel comes to their aid. Probably a convenient reason to go off to take care of those nations. The armies are routed and only a few escape. The five kings who had been hiding in a cave were brought out to face Joshua. The Israelite army commanders were told to step on the necks of the kings in symbolic domination. Then Joshua repeats the instructions which he was given in chapter one. "Be strong and courageous." Joshua is passing along the wisdom. He has obviously found it useful.

The longest day passage reads like a heroic story with God as the mightiest warrior. As Joshua had summoned the sun to remain in the sky until the battle was over, I was reminded of Moses holding his arms aloft (and eventually held up by Joshua) as the Israelites were fighting before the crossing of the Jordan. Even the notation of Joshua's outstreached javelin in 8:26 runs this familiar theme.

Finally, the cities of the five kings are utterly destroyed as well as a few other nations before Joshua brings the troops home. Why would God want so many "innocent" people killed? Well, they were hardly innocent. This was God's judgment upon peoples who engaged in horrible practices like child sacrifice and other horrid things. These were not people who were essentially good. God used the armies of Israel in judgment just as He used foreign armies to bring judgment upon Israel and Judah years later.

Oh, and I'm guessing that Israelites didn't move a lot of rocks. How many notations of rocks "being there to this day" were in this passage. (Then add the rocks from the Jordan set up at Gilgal in the previous section. Ebenezers. Monuments. Remember. We cannot overlook the history of God's provision for Israel or for us.

Psalm 8

A great psalm. In the Top Ten, if you will. It strikes home for me just in considering the "Who am I?" question. David begins by addressing "O LORD, our Lord," which translates two different Hebrew words for God. The first, yahweh is often anglicized into Jehovah. This is more of a proper name. The second, adonai, has the meaning of "one who is positionally above". So in essence, David is calling out to God by calling Him "our Lord" or "the One we follow" -- the One whose name is so majestic in all the earth. He is the One who has set out His glory in the heavens. Boice speaks of a young David lying with the sheep in the pasture at night, gazing out at the starry sky and pondering the enormous greatness of God. Those of us blessed to live outside the range of city lights can testify to the awesomeness of seeing a purple background on a clear night with hundreds of thousands of tiny lights dotting the sky. It's a real reminder that God is here. "O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands hath made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder. Thy power throughout the universe displayed."

David goes on to say that when he thinks about a night like that it makes him wonder why He even cares about anyone on this earth. We are so small. I have that same feeling. Individually, especially we mean nothing. But to God, we are important.

In verse 5, the "heavenly beings" is generally considered to be angels at first glance, but the Hebrew word here is elohim, the same plural word for God used in Genesis 1. Still the writer of Hebrews uses this passage interpreted to mean angels. Either way, we are obviously below God and the angels, but above the animals which we have been given charge over. We are special among God's created beings -- our dominion over the rest of the earth being the evidence.

Angels - spirit, but no body
Man - spirit and body
Animals - body, but no spirit

Job 3-4

In chapter three, Job curses the day he was born. I have never been in this emotional state. Of course I've never experienced what Job did either. Still it's a heartwrenching display of anger, resentment, disappointment and despair. His worst fears have come true. "I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil."

Then Eliphaz starts to speak. He has to speak. He's heard Job going on and on about his plight and Eliphaz has to break the silence. After all Job has been an encourager up until this point -- perhaps had even helped Eliphaz during a tough time. And the friend tells Job that he should be strengthened by the good life he has led. Then his argument shows it's real direction. In 4:7, he says something which seems odd to me: "Consider now: Who being innocent has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed?" It's the old proverb, "You reap what you sew," reconstituted for the occasion. The groundwork for the premise that the three will try to convince Job is being laid -- if you do evil things, God will punish you and since you are obviously being punished, you must repent of what you did. This will be the theme of the next several chapters.

Psalm 7

Another of David's psalms, this one after he is accused of wronging someone. David is innocent and he knows that God knows it. Again, David takes refuge in the Almighty.

David proclaims his innocence and even says that if it is true, let him be ripped apart. But David knows that God is not fooled by the accusations of his enemy. We know nothing about Cush, a Benjamite, who is the subject of the psalm. We do know that King Saul was from the little tribe of Benjamin and that many of David's enemies were from that tribe. They supported their own and considered David an illegitimate king.

David asks that God's anger meet the anger of Cush. He cries out against the violence, although David's life was hardly marked by peace. But David rests again in the comfort of God, knowing that He will do what is right. He thanks God for His righteousness. Not David's righteousness, but God's.

Genesis 4-7

Another meaty section. We always assume Cain is the first baby ever born and Abel is the second, but nothing really suggests that except the absence of recording any other births. "With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a son," which is said to be the reason for the name "Cain" seems like it might be a new experience for Eve, but it really doesn't have to be. Of course we never get to read about the birth of any daughters, nor do we hear another female named until 4:19 when he read about Lamech's wives. Cain's wife would be his sister or niece -- one of the unmentioned children we see in 5:6 and 5:8.

Abel's sacrifice was the fat of some of the firstborn, while Cain's sacrifice was simply some of the fruits of the soil. It seems that Abel put God's portion first while Cain gave "leftovers". Abel put God first while Cain thought of himself and his interests first.

Seth is a "replacement" child to Eve. The genealogy of chapter five is interesting in the details given and the details omitted. The math tells you that Methuselah died the same year as the flood (although not necessarily IN the flood). Besides the long life spans of these people, it looks odd that these men were still producing children at age 90, 105, 162, etc. Not to say that these were their first children, but one wonders how many children these people had, how early they started having them and how long they continued conceiving children. All this and we're not even thinking about Noah being 500 when he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japeth. Were these the only three righteous sons or were they his only children?

The Nephilim, the heroes of old. Legends in their own time. I don't think they were angels because angels are not reproducing beings. Nowhere else is anyone thought to be the child of an angel. The NT tells us that angels don't marry, etc. The Nephilim must have been heroic people. They are not mentioned post-flood (that I'm aware of), so the thought of 9 foot, 9 inch Goliath being descended from Nephilim doesn't make sense.

Every inclination of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil all the time. That's evil, friends. Is that worse than today? Hard to say.

Noah builds the ark, but God brings the animals to him and it's God who shuts the door. Many claim it didn't rain at all before the Big One. It's possible, although what really makes the flood is not simply rain, but the springs of the great deep and the floodgates of heaven opening up.

Seven of every kind of clean animal, two of every unclean. Gotta have food on the voyage. Seven of every kind of bird also. No allowances for sea creatures. They are never mentioned. Some have argued with me that the sea creatures would have died in the polluted waters. I'm sure many did, but not all (obviously).

Forty days and nights of rain. 150 days of flood. Five months.

Psalm 6

Traditionally, this is categorized as a psalm of repentance, although there is no outright confession included here. David is obviously troubled through the first seven verses. He senses God's anger with him. He calls on God to return or turn back to him. It's a time of depression, of lonliness, of hopelessness. It seems that many people, perhaps most people, experience times like this. Nothing goes right. Disaster after disaster tries to stifle your faith, destroy your hope.

David's answer is to cry out to God, over and over again. Five times in the first four verses, David's plea is to the Almighty. "How long, O Lord?" Indeed, it is a familiar prayer. David is growing physically weak and mentally drained.

Then we hit verse eight. David's prayer is answered. He has cried out for mercy and the Lord has delivered. We are not told how he knows, but David knows.

In a spiritual dry spell or a time of sensing that God is far away, David's prescription is to continue to cry out to God. Only in leaning on Him will relief come.

Romans 1-2

Again, there is a whole host of things to deal with in this passage. However, I'm going to try to keep my observations limited to what really stood out for me this time through. Paul spends some time expressing his desire to visit Rome to preach the Gospel personally. It's amazing that a Christian community could grow and flourish in Rome with Ceasar claiming to be a god and everything. Just flying under the radar, I suppose.

Anyway we see God's wrath against the godlessness and wickedness -- not precisely against those who practice it. Of course it is because they have rejected God and God "let them go" (giving them over to a corrupt heart, a depraved mind and their sinful desires). I hadn't noticed before that there is no specific reference to atheism here. These people have "gods" of one sort of another. Images which look like people or birds or animals are mentioned specifically here, although at one point in Scripture Paul writes about the people whose "god is their stomach" so the idea of living like there is no God exists. Still it seemed that everyone had their own god. It could be argued that today's atheists have a god as well -- themselves.

Here also we have the condemnation of homosexuality which so many try to skip past or twist it's meaning. Perversion is how that "alternate lifestyle" is described. Any attempt to justify homosexuality must deal honestly with this passage.

Beginning with chapter two, Paul tears into people who are hypocritically judging others. They are not practicing what they preach. They overlook their own sins while denouncing the sins of others -- even when the sins are the same. Here we get the discussion of the Law written on our hearts. Conscience. That inner knowledge that what you're doing is wrong. This is where the Bible expressly talks about it, saying that even those who don't have the Law (or haven't heard about Jesus) still know right from wrong. How does this play out in terms of eternal judgment? Will a person who has never heard of Jesus go to heaven? Paul writes that they have a Law unto themselves, or that they are judged by a different standard. To those people who do not have the light of Christ is an inner leading which directs not only their morality, but also points them toward Christ. When a person truly seeks out more light than they have, more light will be given. I'm sure that the landing of missionaries all over the world has been physical answers to prayers of people seeking more light.

Finally Paul addresses the Jews who consider themselves special because of circumcision or their godly ancestor. Their hypocrisy, he writes, disgraces God. I think about all the people who run God's name through the mud because of the ridiculous public sins. Pat Robertson may be a committed Christian, but he really hurts the cause of Christ when he sticks his foot in his mouth
on a weekly basis!

But Paul says that circumcision is a sign that you accept the Law. Yet if you break the Law, cirucumcision means diddly-squat (loose translation). Faith is something inside which shows up on the outside. Thinking of faith as being an act of obedience, whethercircumcision or baptism or church attendance, is wrong. Christianity is based inside of us.

Psalm 5

One of the things which bugs me about Psalm 5 is at quick glance it seems to say that God always protects the good and destroys the bad. Obviously this cannot be the case. Even Job and his friends knew that godliness didn't necessarily come with material wealth and power. So we must look a bit deeper to see what's going on.

The crux of this piece is found in verse seven. After talking about how God and the wicked people are so different and that God won't have anything to do with the unrighteous, David doesn't do what you might expect. Instead of claiming to be righteous as the opposite of those the Lord abhors, David writes, "But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house..." (emphasis mine). David knows that he isn't a righteous man, but comes to God only by His mercy. Boice compares this to the parable told by Jesus of the Pharisee praying that he isn't a sinner "like that tax collector" and the tax collector humbly beating on his breast and praying "Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner."

Boice also points out that David's first verses show him to be praying urgently, persistently and expectantly. Probably, but that really doesn't strike me, even after repeated reading. He seems merely to be praying honestly, hoping for an answer.

Does God abhor the wicked or simply their deeds? Granted this psalm ranges a little into the impreccatory category, but I think David is talking about those people who have no inclination toward God whatsoever. If I were a Calvinist, I'd say they were "unelect"! Still the language causes me a little difficulty as God is a forgiving God. I simply think in this psalm, David opted not to unpack all the theological implications.

Isaiah 1-6

Wow! Blood and guts and destruction galore! Isaiah is a book I've been wanting to dig into deeply for about a year now. This reading is only going to open up more questions and desire for further study that I probably can't take on right now. I know that a cursory reading of the book will not do it justice. In this passage I found myself thinking, "Has this happened already or is it still to come?" Figuring that prophecy can be proleptic, I'll allow for the possibility of future fulfillment, but most seem to be focused on the coming fall of the nation of Israel.

The Lord begins with a statement of repulsion with the empty religion being practiced in Israel. Boy, some of these accusations sound applicable to many in the Church today! To wake them up, God even refers to His people as Sodom and as Gomorrah, which should have stirred at least some indignity among His people. His instructions are to

"Seek justice, encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow."

Social responsibility, put simply. Of course, Israel was essentially a theocracy, but still Christians today could learn something from what God wanted done.

The terrible judgment. Israel being laid low. In 3:8-9 the accusations again take a familiar turn:

Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the Lord, defying His glorious presence. The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.

And so the punishment will come. More woes in 5:20-24:

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent. Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Again, awfully familiar. How does God restrain Himself?

Finally chapter 6! An incredible vision of heaven itself. After seeing all that, how could Isaiah say anything but, "Here am I, send me!"? A touch of a coal to the lips has allowed guilt to be taken away and sin to be atoned for. At least in the same sense that any animal sacrifice atoned for sin. The real atonement came later.

Psalm 4

Another of David's psalms. Instead of physical danger, David seems to be concerned with important men who are disrespecting him. They turn his glory into shame. They love delusions. They seek false gods. Whatever the story, David goes from full of distress in verse to sleeping in peace in verse 8. Boice claims that as he prays, David is comforted while being reminded that God will hear him and answer his request. David is set apart by God. And while I disagree with Boice's interpretation of election in this case, it is clear that God has His eye on the king.

David's advice is to turn from those delusions and look to the true God. Be silent before Him. Offer Him right sacrifices and trust in Him.

David asserts that there is good, even when it seems to be hidden from everyone else. David apparently sees that good -- his heart is filled with great joy. Perhaps it comes from remembering that special relationship with God in this psalm. Something has certainly reassured David in Psalm 4.

Joshua 1-5

Themes I picked up in these chapters:

(1) The elevation of Joshua as leader. How odd it must have been for Israel to even think about going anywhere without Moses! But he was gone and the mantle fell on the shoulders of Joshua. The "pep talk" in chapter one where God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous repeatedly tells me that Joshua had a little struggle with doubt. The people wanted Moses, and Joshua probably wanted Moses as well, but there was no Moses. In 4:14 we finally see that Joshua was elevated to "Moses" status among the Israelites. In fact, Joshua probably had less open rebellion and grumbling to deal with than his predecessor.

(2) The careful leading by God of the Israelites. Everything was laid out, step by step. Each step was to be an obedient one. Everything was to be done a certain way so that all would benefit. It was and they did.

After staying 1000 yards away from the Ark at all times, I wonder how the people felt when they had to pass by it while walking across the dry bottom of the flood-stage Jordan.

(3) The establishment of an ebenezer. God wanted a memorial set up so that the people would never forget what had happened. Twelve stones, one for each tribe, were pulled from the dry river bed and were set up at Gilgal to serve as a reminder and a teaching tool.

What kind of ebenezers do we set up today? Are they remembrances of God or of man? Many churches have inscribed plaques honoring past members. What do we have to honor God in the same way?

Another reminder was the renewal of the call to circumcision in chapter 5. You wouldn't think that the best way to prepare for battle would be cutting in private areas, but God had a purpose. Over and over again we are reminded of God's love and His activity. God wanted to make sure we (they) didn't forget. Of course, they did forget...

And what about Rahab and those spies. Here is a woman who had her prayer for deliverance answered unexpectedly. I wonder how much of the Jericho wall was left standing for Rahab's "house in the wall" to remain intact with her whole family inside.

Psalm 3

Chronologically, this poem goes in somewhere around 2 Samuel 15 or 16. David is running for his life, but he is assured and confident in his God.

A lot of military terminology. To be expected of a man of war. David expresses himself well in both military and shepherding terms -- the strong protector and the gentle, loving caregiver.

How sad to be at the point where people will say that God won't even save you. Many had turned against the king at this point. Yet David sleeps like a baby. The worries of life -- EVEN DEATH AT THE HANDS OF TENS OF THOUSANDS -- do not get to him. He is confident that as he awakes, God will deliver him. Boice points out that "Arise, my Lord" was a war cry, spoken when the Ark was taken out to lead the Israelites into battle. An interesting use here.

"From the Lord comes deliverance." In one way or another. Yet too many times we want deliverance as David experienced. We want earthly victory... military victory. We want to see our enemies with their teeth broken out, but we don't always get that deliverance in that fashion. We get it on God's terms. Even in his deliverance, it is HE who is doing the delivering in our best interest, not according to our wildest dreams.

Genesis 1-3

Well, let's see... the creation of the universe and the fall of man all in one day's reading, eh? Just another bland day! I'll see if I can find something to write about!

It seems that the first thing God created out of nothing was water, as we see the Spirit of God hovering over the waters even before light hits the scene. And that light has no apparent source until Day 4. Yet there is day and night,evening and morning. On Day 2, God spearates the waters and inserts the sky in the midst of it. That means above the sky was a whole bunch of water. That will come into play when we hit the Great Flood. Plants and trees come in on Day 3 once dry land appears. Light, sky and sea, land and plants so far.

The sun and the moon show up in Day 4, although the moon isn't referred to by name. The purpose of these two are to separate day from night, to serve as markers for seasons, days and years and to give light. On Day 5 we get sea creatures and birds. The sea animals are instructed to be fruitful and multiply. Then on Day 6 the land animals appear just before man is made. Sun and moon, sea animals, land animals. A bit of symmetry between Days 1-3 and Days 4-6.

Man is created in God's image. Not a physical image, obviously as God is spirit. And both male and female are in His image. Man is also told to befruitful and multiply and all green plants are given as food to man and animals.

Day 7 is holy, not because God rested His tired bones, but because He stopped His creating.

Chapter 2 gives us more detail about man's creation and the Garden of Eden. It's rather amusing that we are told that God had planted a garden "in the east"like we would try to figure out where exactly east is. New York? Jerusalem? Tokyo? Obviously it's east of the setting for much of the Bible, and with the Tigris and Euphrates running out of it, Eden must have been somewhere around Northern Iraq.

The two trees mentioned in the garden are special trees. The tree of life gives some kind of life-sustaining fruit because the possibility of sinful man eating from this tree and never dying is the reasoning behind Adam and Eve's banishment and the guarded entrance to the garden mentioned at the end of chapter three. The tree of knowledge was the one with the tasty-looking fruit.

It is striking that Eve wasn't made like every other animal -- from dust. Perhaps she was taken from Adam's side (or rib) is so that Adam would seeher as an equal, not simply another animal, albeit a special one. It's pretty evident that God has a one woman - one man arrangement based on 2:24.

Chapter three reads like a bizarre story. Talking snakes will do that.

Eve exaggerates what God told them about the fruit of the tree of knowledge. God didn't ban them touching the fruit, although it would have been a good idea based on what happened. Satan's lie is a contemporary one. We all want to be like God. How different our life would be if we didn't have to worry about good vs. evil!

The first thing the couple realized when their eyes were opened was their nakedness. They felt shame, apparently about their differences physically? Why do we have an inherent shame over our bodies? For Adam and Eve it wouldn't have been lust, I wouldn't think. What is immediately shameful about a naked body in that context?

I wonder what the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day sounded like.

Adam, then Eve play the blame game.
Adam: Well it was that woman you put here with me.
Eve: Well, it was that serpent.
The serpent didn't have anyone to blame it on.

Man's punishment is the curse of the ground. Woman's punishment is the pain of childbirth and being "ruled over" by the husband. The snake's punishment is interesting. Did the snake have legs originally? Or just the talking ones?

The protoevangel in 3:15 is the reminder of Jesus' eventual victory. It was the scene in The Passion of the Christ preview where we see Jesus' foot crush the snake when I began to take that movie seriously. That's what it's all about and here we see just a whisper of the plot of salvation.

Adam and Eve's clothes were provided by God, assumedly from the skins of animals which gave their lives at this point. Death has entered the picture.

Landmarks on the Journey - 1/3/06

So far, I'm staying ahead of pace for this journey, even with the added time of keeping this journal. But I'm enjoying it more with Clearing My Head, as it helps me to really get into the passages and not just check them off the list. I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up with every individual reading here -- at least not in a timely manner. After all, the demand for computer time around my house is pretty high! What I may end up doing is writing some of these entries on my old (powered by squirrels on a treadmill) computer and copying them here at the earliest convenience. That's especially true since I tend to read more when my wife is on the computer.

If anyone is interested in the reading plan I'm using, it's a modified version of this plan. It's modified because I am going through Psalms as a devotional using J. M. Boice's commentary. That gets me through Psalms in 5 months instead of taking all year. Aside from that little detour, I plan to get a little closer to the original schedule soon.

Anyone is invited to comment on my posts. I don't have all the answers and that will become obvious as you read the posts. Some passages kick up questions that I likely won't get around to answering on this journal unless the topic resurfaces again. It's not that I don't think about them, but I'm not going to make a separate post to bring it up again.

The "Landmarks" series of posts will be my own comments about the journey in general -- how inspirational it is, how far behind I am on my reading, how family life is keeping me from my reading, how sick I am... etc.

Thanks for stopping by to read.

Psalm 2

If Boice is right that a) Psalm 2 was orginally part of Psalm 1 and b) that this is a Messianic psalm, then that puts a bit of a new light on Psalm 1 as well. In that psalm, the truly blessed one is, of course, Christ. Now in the second part we see the reaction of those who walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand with the sinners and sit to mock. These are those who openly rebel against God.

"Why do the nations rage?" (It still reminds me of the Rich Mullins tune, but that's another story.) The Psalmist points out the pointlessness of the rebellion. Even God is laughing at their pathetic shouts against Him. I get the visual image of a lopsided fistfight with the big kid holding a wildly swinging smaller kid at bay by simply placing his palm against the little boy's forehead and keeping him at arm's length. How pathetic we are to try to lash out against God! How foolish to try to get rid of the influence of His Son!

What are we to do? Be wise. Be warned. Serve the Lord with fear. Rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son. So many people have such a hard time with this teaching. The "It'll never happen to me" Syndrome never seems to be cured.

After a fiery speech about God's wrath, the psalm ends with a simple line, "Blessed are all who take refuge in him." Yes, His wrath is great against those who rebel, but for those who come to Him and allow Him to be their refuge (instead of proudly attempting to take care of themselves) we see fulfilling happiness -- blessedness.

Matthew 1 & 2

This was probably not the best time to read Matthew 1 & 2, with the echoes of Christmas still ringing in my ears. It read a little like remembered lines from a Christmas play. Perhaps it would have read that way in July as well. We'll see when I get to Luke!

The genealogy which heads up Matthew is interesting in the names which are brought up. Three sets of 14 generations are mentioned, but it seems like some editing has been done to make it come out in three even segments. No matter. Beget works for fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, etc.

Tamar is included in spite of that horrible story. I never realized that Boaz's mother was named Rahab. Interesting also that Bathsheba's name isn't mentioned -- only that she had been Uriah's wife, yet another note of scandal into Jesus' lineage. Joseph is never called Jesus' father. Abraham to David to Jesus. Those are the names to watch for from verse one, then again in verse 17. Clearly this is a Jewish genealogy!

If we all received as many angelic messages as Joseph did, would we be more obedient? It was like God had Joe on speed dial.

Matthew, ever the Jew, points out prophecy after prophecy fulfilled by Messiah. Even the last verse of chapter two features a prophecy which isn't included in the OT, from all I have read. Indeed there is no footnote. So many of these prophecies were declared as fulfilled by Matthew in spite of a seeming differing context in the OT. More evidence that the Holy Spirit was at work in Matthew.

The Slaughter of the Innocents by Herod was probably no big deal in the reign of terror under that feared ruler. For a man who was killing off his own kids, a few babies in Bethlehem probably wouldn't have made the evening news in Jerusalem, I'd bet.

The Holy Family returns to Nazareth. How odd it must have been to come back home for Mary and Joseph. Scandal. Rumors. Gossip. It's surprising that Joseph could have had a successful carpentry business if the whole town thought Jesus was illegitimate. Perhaps pity for the duped "father"?

No mention of shepherds or angelic songs in the mountains from Matthew. No talk of a stable or a No Vacancy sign at the inn. Just obedience from Joseph and the episode with the Magi. And oh yeah, that guiding star.

Job 1 and 2

One of my favorite books! Let's begin, shall we? I've always called this "Job's Ultimate Bad Day" as kind of a lighthearted way to look at things, but I can't really imagine the grief he must have experienced. I think we get a hint of it in Job's wife's reaction to him, but that's only a small indication of the rage inside her.

In the first five verses, we get a picture of an incredibly righteous person -- some surely thought he had gone off the deep end. Imagine making "just in case" sacrifices daily for all ten kids. Still we saw a deep concern for his children and the position of God in Job's life.

Then we get one of the passages of Satan showing up at an angel briefing. How are we to take this part of the story? It seems so odd that the Deceiver would be allowed into God's presence or even close enough for a conversation with Him. Sure, there's Jesus' temptation in the desert, but that's different somehow. Anyway it reads more like God is teaching Satan a lesson while Satan is trying to show up the Almighty. Eventually God gives Satan permission to do as he wishes with Job's belongings, but not to Job himself. Satan delivers with raiding parties from the Sabeans and Chaldeans, then we read that "the fire of God" destroyed the sheep and servants and a mighty wind knocked over the oldest son's home, killing the kids. It's not surprising that Satan could use other people, but it is interesting that Satan was able to use what appear to be natural disasters.

Back to Job, who gets the bad news then did the traditional acts of mourning -- ripping the robe and shaving his beard -- then falling down to the ground IN WORSHIP! What a testimony!

"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."

Wow.

The last verse of Job 1 tells us that charging God with wrongdoing would be sin, but Job didn't go that far. Even the anger of grief wouldn't go that far in most cases that I've experienced.

Job 2 starts another throneroom scene with Satan. Interesting wording (NIV) where God mentions that Job has kept his integrity, but Satan claims that personal affliction will cause Job to curse God. Later, Job's wife asks him,

"Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die."

God tells Satan that he had incited Him against Job without reason. So did God allow Satan to use the forces of nature against Job? Did God inflict Job's sufferings or merely allow Satan to do so? Can Satan still inflict our sufferings today or was this a special case?

Now the grieving Job has lost everything but his wife, and she's not exactly being a big help here. Enter the three friends who are shocked to see Job in such a horrible state. So great was Job's suffering that the three only sat with him for seven days and nights without so much as saying a word. Sometimes compassion requires nothing to be said. When the three started talking, THAT'S when the problems start!

Psalm 1

What a place to begin! Working through the Psalms will be my devotional habit, along with J. M. Boice's commentary on the book. Reading Psalm 1, I'm struck by the contrast of the two ways, or the two roads of life. One way is to surround yourself with the opinions and direction of other people. This man walks in the counsel of the wicked, stands with the sinners and sits with the mockers. Boice quotes Spurgeon who points out that the evil man's behavior gets progressively worse: walking, then standing, and finally sitting to become one of the mockers himself.

Yet the righteous man is different. He doesn't surround himself with people, but instead meditates on God's Law. I'll admit that the Law doesn't sound very palatable to me most days, but it's another way to truly get to know God better. God's Law is placed there to show His love for us, directing the way we should live our lives. It's the best way for us.

A bothersome aspect of Psalm 1 is the ease in which the prosperity teachers can twist the words -- or more rightly, take them out of context. The psalmist isn't telling us that the evil will go broke and the righteous will be rich. The "prosperity" is of an eternal nature. Chaff is blown away and burned. Not a fantastic alternative. Yet the righteous man is blessed -- truly happy, watered by God's thirst-quenching stream, and (note) yielding a great crop.

There's your prosperity right there.