Monthly Archives: June 2018

Daily Bible Study

June 21, 2018 Bible Study — God Will Guide Us to the Path of Honesty and Integrity

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 23-31.

    Psalm 23 is well known and as a result is often discussed. So, I am only going to make a few comments about it, mostly in context with the rest of today’s Psalms. God will provide us with all of our needs and we need never fear, not even death itself, because God is with us. God is able to provide our needs because, not only is the earth and everything in it His, but He made everything that is in the first place.

    If we seek the Lord He will show us the path to follow and the decisions we should make. If we trust God enough to do the things He directs us to do we will never be disgraced. If we turn to God for knowledge He will teach us all that we need to know. The psalmist even tells us how to recognize where God is directing us: He will never direct us to lie or to do that which is not pure. If the path we are travelling calls for deceiving others, it is not the one to which God has directed us. God will not direct us to accompany liars, defend hypocrites, or join in with those who do evil. No, God directs us to live with integrity and according to His truth, which is the only truth that there is. I want to emphasize the importance of not lying, of not being deceitful. I had a discussion with someone who said that any religion which does not allow for lying to avoid persecution is irrational. Unfortunately, I was distracted by other issues in the discussion and failed to point out that neither Judaism nor Christianity do so. There are passages in the Bible which can be interpreted as supporting lying in order to protect others from harm, but none that support lying for your own protection.

    I have a few final points I would like to make today, but I am not sure I will be able to tie them together. The antidote to fear is meditating on God’s words and instructions. Meditating on His commands and instructions should lead us to act in accordance with those instructions. If we do so, we will know that we are under His protection and that no true harm may come to us. God is calling us to come to Him to talk with Him. I pray that you are willing to have a conversation with Him. I pray that I am willing to converse with Him when He calls to me. Sin will drain our strength, when we find this happening we can either let it drain us completely or we can allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse the sin from us. I will praise the Lord for He has stored up goodness for those whose fear of Him leads them to follow His instruction.

Daily Bible Study

June 20, 2018 Bible Study — Hoping, Even In the Depths of Despair

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 18-22.

    Every time I read Psalms 18 it evokes the image of a fantasy movie in my mind. Our protagonist has been trapped by his enemies. They have tied him up and placed him where the rising flood waters will drown him shortly. Even if he were to escape his bonds there are more traps between him and safety, he has no hope of escaping. In his desperation our protagonist cries out to his Protector, the Mighty Wizard King. Far away the Mighty King magically hears our protagonist’s cry. He is furious that anyone would dare attempt to bring harm to one under His protection. The entire palace trembles, even the land outside of it. The Mighty King bursts forth from His palace. Not taking time to saddle a mount, He rides storm clouds summoned by His anger to where our protagonist is trapped, firing arrows (think Legolas from Lord of the Rings, only more devastating) and lightning bolts at our protagonist’s enemies who are standing around watching him drown, scattering those who are not killed. Arriving just in time, the Mighty King reaches out His hand and plucks our protagonist from the rising waters and placed him on a high point safe from the waters.

    After this dramatic scene the psalmist tells us the unalterable characteristics of this Mighty King. He is faithful to those who are faithful. He shows His integrity to those who have integrity. His purity is revealed to those who are pure. But those who seek to take advantage of these characteristics by deceit and trickery discover that He is shrewd enough and wise enough to see through their plots. When they think they have found a loophole they can exploit by appealing to the letter of the Law, in violation of its spirit, they discover that the letter of the Law catches them out elsewhere.

    While not as dramatic, Psalms 19, 20, and 21 paint as magnificent of a picture of how God works in this world as Psalms 18. Through them we learn that following God’s commands and instructions lead to greater happiness and pleasure than can be gained from the sins they warn against. The psalmist makes clear that we do not need great training to understand what God says to us in the Bible. As I have read through the Bible over the last several years, this has become more and more clear to me. From time to time, I come across something which insight can be gained by referring to the original Greek or Hebrew words, but such is not necessary to understand the basic meaning anywhere in the Bible.

    Then there is Psalms 22, which Jesus cited as He died on the cross. Every since I became aware of the rabbinic tradition that quoting the first line or so of a Scripture passage invoked the entire passage I have found Jesus’ citing of it uplifting. The psalmist begins the psalm by expressing complete despair. He feels completely abandoned by God. He has declared his faith in God and now his enemies are mocking him with it. The psalmist is defeated and has no hope of rescue. Yet from this position of complete despair, he makes a further declaration of hope and faith. Despite feeling, and appearing, abandoned by God, he is confident that God will bring him through victorious. It appears that he is going down to defeat for the final time, but he is confident this is not the case. The psalmist declares that in the future he will declare God’s greatness before God’s assembled people. The time will come when he will share the story of what happened here as an example of God’s great power and faithfulness. Despite his feelings of great despair, when Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” He was declaring His faith that soon He would be telling people that His death was a reason to praise God. We should have similar hope and faith when we face despair. Jesus cried out so that we would know that it is OK to feel despair when we are in the midst of suffering, but we must not allow that despair to cause us to lose hope.

Daily Bible Study

June 19, 2018 Bible Study — No One Does Good, But We Are Called To Try

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 10-17.

    In many ways I see these psalms as reflections of the world today. The wicked seem to prosper. They prey upon the weak, who cry out to God for aid. The wicked are sure that no one will hold them to account because they control the levers of political power. Bit by bit, the foundations of law and order are destroyed, while people foolishly look on and say, “What does it matter? There is no God.” Some people react to this by moving to the mountains, or other remote locations. But I know that there IS a God and that He will call the wicked to account. He will protect the righteous. The wicked may proudly stand and be praised for their evil deeds, but God will not be mocked. He will bring about justice. It may seem like evil is triumphant, but that will not last.

   The psalmist tells us that no one does good and then in the very next psalm declares that only those who do right may worship in God’s sanctuary. What does that mean for us? Does that mean that no one can worship in God’s sanctuary? No, it means that we all have to acknowledge that we have sinned, that we are no better than the wicked I condemned in the last paragraph. It is only when I accept my sinfulness and accept God’s forgiveness that I can begin the process of being healed. However, that does not mean that I can just continue to sin either. If I desire to enter into God’s presence I must seek to lead a blameless life. Here is the goal:

  • Do what is right.

    • It is not enough to not do what is wrong. We must also do what is right.

  • Speak the truth from a sincere heart.

    • If we speak the truth with the intent of hurting others, we have missed the point.

  • Refuse to gossip.

    • OK, I think this one is pretty straightforward, but it is harder than it looks.

  • Refuse to harm out neighbors.

    • Remember what Jesus says about who our neighbors are.

  • Refuse to speak evil of our friends.

    • I think that Jesus would tell us that our friends are in the same category as our neighbors.

  • Despise flagrant sinners.

    • This one is tough because we are supposed to love everyone, but I think we get an understanding of what he means when we look back to where it talks about evil being praised…we should do the opposite and call evil evil.

I could go on, but I think you can see where I am going as you read the rest of Psalms 15. There is so much more to be said about what is written in this passage, but I will leave off with this: “I am determined not to sin in what I say.”

Daily Bible Study

June 18, 2018 Bible Study — Meditating On God’s Commands Lends Stability

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 1-9.

    I love these psalms, but I always struggle to write my blog entry because each one of them expresses a different thought about our relationship with God. Psalms 1 tells us of the joy in studying God’s word and meditating on His commands. Those who do so are firm and established. While the wicked get blown around as if by the wind. The wicked view God’s commands as chains which they desire to break and godliness as slavery (Psalms 2). However, they will discover that their rebellion leads only to heartbreak and loss. Whereas those who embrace God’s commands find them to be protection from the winds of life (Psalms 3). Even though they are surrounded by enemies they can lay down and sleep knowing that they will wake up in God’s peace. I think the points made here are reflected in society around us, those who reject God’s commands keep changing what is, and what is not, acceptable behavior. While the godly calmly continue to allow God to direct their thoughts despite the attacks against them.

    As you can see, when I started to write a theme emerged. Now I am going to make a stretch and put together some things which are not exactly connected in the passage (but which I think are connected in life). The psalmist warns us allowing our anger to lead us to sin. Instead we should put off comment and/or action until we have had a chance to get a night’s sleep and think about it. In the meantime we should do as the psalmist did in Psalms 8 & 9. Praise God, look at the night sky and see His wondrous handiwork. Yes, before we act on our anger let us sing praises to God and recognize His majesty. Then we will be prepared to rely on God to mete out the appropriate punishment to those who have angered us, and to be satisfied with His justice if He does not appear to do so.

Daily Bible Study

June 17, 2018 Bible Study

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 38-42.

    Throughout the book Job had challenged God to answer him. Now God does so. Job had questioned why God acted as He did, questioning whether His acts were truly just. Now God replies by asking Job some questions. Faced with God’s questions Job realized that he did not know enough to question God’s decisions. Looking at the questions which God asked Job, we see that science has learned the answer to many of them, but the point still stands: Our limited minds are not capable of knowing and understanding enough to second guess God. It is human nature for us to question God when we see injustice in the world. However, if we truly seek God, He will reveal Himself to us, and like Job, we will find that we have to confess that we lacked understanding and repent of our anger towards God. In the end we see that it was Job’s three friends, who defended God with inaccurate generalizations made universal, who were condemned by God. Job called on God for answers when he perceived wrong in the way the world worked. His friends declared that what Job perceived must be the way things ought to be. God’s response was that Job was correct to think that it looked wrong, but that Job did not know enough to understand what was going on.

Daily Bible Study

June 16, 2018 Bible Study — Sin Causes God No Harm

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 34-37.

    Elihu continues and reprimands Job for claiming to be sinless. He reminds us that God sees everything we do; no matter what subterfuge we try we cannot hide our actions from God. In His time, God will judge each and every one of us for our actions. We do not get to set the time for us to stand before Him. God does not twist justice and shows no favoritism. He judges the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless by the same standard. When the oppressed cry out to God, He hears them. If He chooses not to speak or act, how can we possibly know enough to criticize His choice? When we suffer we have two just choices. We can say to God, “I have sinned, but I will sin no more.” Or we can ask, “I do not know what evil I have done-tell me. If I have done wrong I will stop at once.” What is being said here echoes what is said many other places in the Bible. In particular, Paul says in Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” If we do not know what sin we are committing most frequently, we should ask God to reveal it to us so that we can stop doing so.

    Elihu has another insight for us here. One which I do not believe is touched upon elsewhere in the Bible. Our sins do not affect God. The Laws which God commands us to obey are not for God’s benefit, rather they are for ours. Violating the Laws which God has given us brings no harm to God. We are the ones who are harmed when we violate His Laws and commands; we and our fellow humans beings. In the same way, God does not benefit when we do what is right. Once again, doing what is right benefits us and our fellow man. God has given us his rules and laws for our benefit, we are hurting ourselves and our fellow man when we choose not to follow them.

Daily Bible Study

June 15, 2018 Bible Study — Humility and Listening When God Speaks

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 29-33.

    Job discusses how good his life had been and relates how bad it now is. Then he lists off sins which he believes are deserving of his suffering, but declares that he is not guilty of any of them. I am not going to write about those sins, but it is worth our time to read what Job says here because we should strive to live up to the life he claims for himself. Job demands that God answer and tell him what he has done to deserve the suffering he is experiencing.

    When Job is finished a new person speaks, Elihu. Elihu was not mentioned at the beginning when we are told the names of Job’s other friends and he is not mentioned at the end when God condemns what the other three had to say to Job. Those two facts mean that we should look at Elihu’s comments differently from the other three friends. Elihu starts with humility. First he acknowledges that he is younger than the others and remained silent in order to give his elders time to speak. Now that they are silent he begins to speak and he starts by declaring that he is no better than Job. I cannot emphasize enough how important this is. Elihu makes it clear that he is not speaking to Job as his moral superior.

    From there Elihu goes on to challenge Job’s complaint that God does not speak to him. God speaks to people again and again, even though we often fail to recognize His voice. If we do not hear God’s voice it is not because He does not speak. Rather it is because we fail to listen. Let us listen to God’s words as He speaks them to us, whether in dreams at night, or random encounters with strangers. If we listen to God and confess our sins to Him, He will listen to us and accept our repentance.

Daily Bible Study

June 14, 2018 Bible Study — Finding Wisdom

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 22-28.

    Job’s friends continue to argue with him and accuse him of some terrible sin while Job maintains his innocence. Then Job speaks of wisdom. For all of mankind’s ability to do more than animals he is no more able to find wisdom on his own than those animals. We can dig into the earth for copper, iron, gold, and precious gems. We can smelt the ores of those metals in fire to purify them. We can build great works to obtain resources. We can examine the earth and determine where to dig to find the minerals which we desire. But we cannot find wisdom without turning to God. Understanding and wisdom come only from God. True wisdom is fear of the Lord and avoiding evil demonstrates understanding.

    All of this reminds me of my throw away line to my friends who are non-believers. I often tell them, “Stay out of trouble.” To which they often reply, “That’s no fun.” I answer that with, “If you don’t get caught, you are not in trouble.” The conversation usually ends there, but sometimes they will take it further by saying that sometimes it is fun to get caught. Which brings the next statement, “If you like the consequences, you weren’t really caught.” Left unsaid is the important corollary, if you don’t like the consequences, you were caught, even if no one else knows. On those occasions where I discuss this philosophy further, I mention to people that, as far as I am concerned if someone gets hurt, you got caught. The point of this whole discussion here is that when I was younger I realized that I strove to choose my actions to be calculated to stay out of trouble. As I got older, and I believe wiser, I realized that there were times where I did not get caught by others, but I did not like what happened and that felt as bad as getting caught by others. Which as God moved in my spirit led me to the realization that my sins led me to consequences I did not like. God does not tell us not to sin for arbitrary reasons. He tells us not to sin because He knows we will not like the consequences.

Daily Bible Study

June 13, 2018 Bible Study — Do Not Judge On Outward Appearances and Remember That Our Redeemer Lives!

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 16-21.

    Job once more complains that instead of offering him comfort in his suffering, his friends accuse him of unspecified, but horrible, sins. Everyone assumes that he is some kind of reprehensible person because of the misfortune he has suffered. We should take this to heart and remember not to assume that those who are poor and/or sick have done something to deserve their suffering. We should treat them as individuals and learn their specific circumstances before reaching any kind of judgment. We should not assume that the homeless person is homeless because of their own actions, even though that is true for most of them. Even if those who are suffering are doing so because of their own sins, we should strive to have mercy on them; it is not our place to punish people for their sins. Let us leave that to God.

    Bildad and Zophar both repeat the idea that the wicked inevitably suffer for their wickedness. While I do indeed believe that there is truth to this, Job points out that the wicked often appear to prosper, even when disaster strikes the wicked often seem to come through unscathed. Sometimes, it even seems as if their wickedness provides them the means to avoid suffering. Further, Job points out that we often praise the wicked. Even after they have died and no longer have the power to harm us for speaking of the evil they have done we often speak glowingly of them. Let us learn not to judge people as righteous because they are prosperous and powerful, doing so grinds the salt in the wounds of those they have abused.

    I cannot end my discussion of this passage without touching on one of the great statements of faith. Despite his suffering and torment, despite the depression Job clearly struggled with, he said something astoundingly inspiring:

But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
and he will stand upon the earth at last.

And after my body has decayed,
yet in my body I will see God![a]

I will see him for myself.
Yes, I will see him with my own eyes.
I am overwhelmed at the thought!

I hope that you too know that your Redeemer lives. If not, I pray that God will reveal Himself to you. The knowledge that God has provided us with a Redeemer who will mediate between us and Him provides us with the hope to continue to strive to overcome depression.

Daily Bible Study

June 12, 2018 Bible Study — Offering Comfort to Those Suffering From Depression

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Job 11-15.

    As I begin reading this I am reminded of a post by a friend on Facebook about suicide awareness which I saw this morning, expressing their struggle with depression. In today’s passage the third of Job’s friends replies to him. Zophar tells Job that he deserves to suffer and almost certainly deserves to suffer even more than he is. According to Zophar only the wicked suffer, while the godly always lead pleasant lives. Even if this was not wrong, it would be a terrible thing to say to someone whose suffering is already causing them to flirt with the idea of dying, as Job’s previous comments make clear is true of Job. However, Job responds by telling Zophar, and the other two, that they are no better than he. And this is one of the first things we must make clear when we confront those whose sin is causing their suffering: I am no better than you. Actually, that is a message for us to communicate to anyone who is suffering.

    AS I further read Job’s response to Zophar I am struck by how often some of what he says is echoed by those who are suicidal. All too often we mock those who are struggling and provide a push to those who contemplating taking their own life. While at the same time allowing those who bring harm to others to live in peace. It would be better for us to remain silent in the presence of those who are suffering than to give them the same useless advice proffered by Job’s friends.

    I mentioned yesterday that I struggle with reading the Book of Job because of the need to keep in mind what God says to the people in it at the end. Well, in many ways that is a good reason to read through the book time and again, the book contains a lot for us to learn. And this brings us to another passage in it which I struggle to write about clearly:

Can the dead live again?
   If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle,
   and I would eagerly await the release of death.
You would call and I would answer,
   and you would yearn for me, your handiwork.
For then you would guard my steps,
   instead of watching for my sins.
My sins would be sealed in a pouch,
   and you would cover my guilt.

Job started this with a rhetorical question for which he thought the answer was “No”. He then goes on to tell us how things would be different for those suffering from depression if the answer was “Yes”. And that is the wonderful thing because, in Christ, the answer is indeed, “Yes, the dead can live again.” Which means that we do not need to fear death. In fact we can embrace our coming death because what awaits us beyond it is so much better. But there is more to it than that, because the dead can live again, God yearns for us and guards our steps. He has sealed our sins in a pouch and has covered our sins with the blood of Jesus.