For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
If you spend too much time around angry people, around people who cannot control their temper, you will start to behave the same way. Inability to control one’s temper puts one on the path to destruction.
This psalm contains the material of several great worship songs. There is a great old hymn, “Whiter Than Snow, and a great Contemporary Christian song, “Create In Me a Clean Heart” (sorry, no link, it is still under copyright). I know there is a third song using the lines from the psalm, “a broken and contrite heart You will not despise,” but I cannot remember the name of the song (and I do not think it uses that exact order). It is interesting to me how this psalm keeps coming back to the same point repeatedly without being redundant. Each time it repeats the point it lends greater clarity.
It is only God who can cleanse us from our sin. We cannot buy that cleansing by sacrifices or offerings. God can clean our hearts and restore us to joy, to the joy which comes from His salvation. We are broken. It is only when we acknowledge our brokenness and approach God with contrition that we can receive His healing. If we do so, He will restore our spirits to a willingness to do His will. Once we have accepted His healing we can, must, and will teach His ways to those rebelling against Him, who will respond to the prodding of His Spirit.
This passage is one of the core passages used by those who believe in “prosperity gospel” (the teaching that if you practice Christianity faithfully you will become wealthy). As I read this passage I see how people come to that conclusion. Perhaps the biggest problem with the prosperity gospel reading of this passage is that Paul himself was never a wealthy man (unlike many of those preaching prosperity gospel). Indeed, if one interprets this passage in light of what we know about Paul’s life one comes to a different understanding.
Paul tells us that if we sow only a few seeds, our harvest will be small, but if we sow generously our harvest will likewise be generous. He goes on to tell us that the same God who supplies seed for the sower and bread for food will increase our supply of seed and enlarge our harvest of righteousness. The key here is that our “harvest” is not wealth. Our harvest is righteousness. It is true that the more generous we are, the more generous we are able to be. However, that does not necessarily mean that our income increases. Sometimes it means that as we are more generous we realize that we can do without some things in order to give even more.
Much of the imagery and many of the metaphors of the Song of Solomon are foreign to me. However, there are lessons to be learned from reading this over and over. I mentioned yesterday the importance of the feelings between a man and a woman in a relationship being equal in both directions. Today, we see that there are dangers to playing hard to get. If you are interested in someone, when they express their interest in you, do not pretend that you are not interested. If you do so, there is likely to be trouble. There is a second point made here. Brothers should run interference for their sisters. They should prevent other young men from taking advantage of their sister.
On both of these points the sexes involved can be reversed. Young men sometimes play hard to get, and young women are sometime predatory toward young men. In the former case, it is just as much a mistake as when women do it. In the latter case, sisters should protect their brothers from such predators just as much as brothers should protect their sisters.