For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
This proverb contains a truth which those who conduct foreign policy all too often fail to heed. Those who perform wicked deeds will never create stability. Stability is a byproduct of the godly people in a society. The roots referred to in this proverb provide stability not just for the godly but for the community around them, just as the roots of a tree growing on a hill reduce the chance of a mudslide by providing stability to the soil around them.
The psalmist continues to describe his depression. Despite his desperate depression he continues to call on God and to praise Him. As I read this psalm there was one phrase which makes me want to cry:
if only one would turn and comfort me.
Every time I read this I vow that I will be that one. I know that I fail, but nevertheless, God calls us to be that one. The one who makes the difference, who shows the person suffering depression that they are not alone and that God loves them.
Oh God, whoever it is who is crying out as the psalmist does her, if they are someone I know, make me be the one who turns and comforts them…or better yet, let me be just one of Your many servants who turns and comforts them.
I will repeat what I have said elsewhere where I have blogged about the parable of the sower. Every time I read this passage, I fear that I am the soil with the thorns. I know I am not the hard soil, because I have responded to God’s message. I know I am not the rocky soil because I do not wilt in the face of opposition. On the other hand, I have trouble seeing myself as producing a crop that is a hundred times what was planted.
That being said, I have been starting to get a different view of this parable recently. I noticed that the farmer spread the seed on all of the soil. Why would he waste seed on soil where it would not thrive? You could say, “Well, he did not know where it would thrive?” There is some truth to that, but surely he could tell where the soil was too packed down to thrive? The answer to that is that something might happen to change things. Perhaps the soil of the path would get broken up and the seed could settle in before the birds got to it. Perhaps the rocks would get dug out of the rocky soil, allowing the seeds to thrive (I know from a farming perspective that is silly, but bear with me). Perhaps someone would come and pull out the thistles and other weeds so that they could not strangle the good crop. The point is, we don’t know where the Gospel message will thrive so we should spread it to everyone we meet.
The Israelites went against God’s will again and again, yet God gave them new chances. After Moses gives an account of all of the times they had rebelled, he tells them what God requires of them now: “He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul.” This is what He requires of us today.
- Fear the Lord
- Live in a way that pleases Him
- Love Him and serve Him with all your heart and soul
The best example I can think of what this means is something I witnessed happen between a friend and his dog. He had raised the dog from a puppy. He loved that dog and treated it well, but he demanded that it obey him. One day, just as it became an adult dog, he gently smacked its nose away from a bit of food it was going for. It snapped at him and bit him. He went from stern to angry. The dog ran under the table and hid. That dog feared its master the way we should fear God.
Live with integrity and honour
Feed the hungry, clothe the poor, love your enemies, bless those that curse you, etc.