For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
It is to God’s glory that the way the world works is not always obvious or apparent. It is to a ruler’s glory to seek answers to how the world works. Just as a silver smith removes impurities from silver before trying to make something with it, so a ruler should eliminate the wicked from his administration before he tries to govern.
I love how the NLT translates this psalm. The psalmist asks God how long He will be angry with His people and why He is breaking down their protections? Yet it is clear he knows the answer to the second part. The psalmist again and again in this psalm asks God to turn us to Him again. It is such a great way to sum up the Gospel message. We will not be saved until God turns us to Him. It is by God’s power that we realize our sinfulness. It is by God’s power that we recognize our need for Him. And it is by God’s power, and His power alone, that we turn to Him and accept His salvation.
I do not get a theme out of today’s passage, rather I see a couple of points worth noting. Following up on yesterday’s theme about how to preach the Gospel, Paul tells us that he pleaded with, urged, and encouraged the Thessalonians to live lives worthy of God. We should take a similar approach with our friends. Let us plead with and urge those who have not yet accepted Christ to do so. Let us encourage those who have come to know the Lord to live ever more faithful lives.
Paul reminds us that there are those who will strive to keep us from preaching the Gospel to those who do not already believe. They will claim that we should do the good things we do because we follow Christ without mentioning the reasons we do them. They will tell us that we could help more people and better if we would just help them with their problems and not teach them to change their lives so as to avoid those problems in the first place. The final thing I see in this passage is a reminder about the importance of prayer. Let us follow Paul’s example and pray night and day.
Those who should have been warning the people of Judah about the coming troubles, their religious and secular leaders, were telling them that all was well: that their foreign policy was a success and peace had arrived; that their domestic policy was a success and prosperity was around the corner. God told Jeremiah that instead of these things, war and famine were coming to the land. God would no longer listen to prayers for the people of Judah. He was going to send destroyers against them, war, disease, and wild animals, to teach them the error of their ways. Have we reached that point today? The point where no intervention can deflect the coming judgement? I do not believe we are there yet, but we are getting close. We need to call the people to turn to God before it is too late to turn His judgement aside.
There is another theme in this passage. Jeremiah is being persecuted for his faithful relating of God’s message. God promises that He will protect Jeremiah from his enemies, from those who seek his death. Even in the face of the coming destruction, God tells Jeremiah that He will protect him. Further God promises to do the same for all who turn to Him and speak His words to those rushing to destruction.