July 7, 2017 Bible Study — Our Peace Comes From God

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Psalms 120-135.

    Once again I am unsure how I am going to bring my thoughts on all of these psalms into one coherent post. Perhaps I am putting too much effort into creating a post which ties my thoughts all together. I am not doing this blog to get credit for being a theologian, or student of the Bible. I am doing this blog in order to discipline myself to read the Bible daily and think about what I read. I certainly hope that what I write is of service to others, but that is not the purpose. Or, at least, that should not determine how and what I write.

    As Christians in this fallen world we find ourselves among those who will use our desire for peace as a means to lead us away from God. They do not seek the peace of God and their professions of desire for peace are lies designed to deceive us into compromising our integrity. However, if we lift up our eyes from the ground we will remember that our help comes from the Lord. His enemies may be lying in wait to ambush us, but He does not sleep, not even for short naps. He will watch our comings and goings. Our enemies may attempt to hide around the corner, in the glare of the sun, or in the shadows at night. It does not matter because those things provide no cover from God’s eyes. Whether it be noon day or night, God will be awake to watch over us.

    I love the symbolism given in Psalms 123 of a slave watching their master for the tiniest hint of approval or disapproval. That should be our attitude towards God. We should be constantly watching Him for signs that He approves of our actions, or that He disapproves of our actions. At the merest hint of His disapproval we should abandon our activity and the least sign that He approves of an action should motivate us to redouble our efforts. Psalms 127 tells us why such should be the case. No matter how noble our motivations, if our project does not have God’s full support we will waste whatever time and effort we spend on it. If it is not God’s project we will fail to accomplish the good we sought. We read a little further on in Psalms 131 about being neither haughty or proud, not concerning ourselves with great matters or things we do not understand. God will make clear to us what we need to understand.