I am reminded today of a thought I had a while back about the proverbs. They are often designed for us to examine ourselves. If I am trying to determine whether I am wise, I should consider whether others consider me discerning. If I want to persuade others to my point of view, I need to speak pleasantly, not with hostility. This approach to reading proverbs really helps me to see a little more than the obvious in them.
This psalm reminds us that we should be focused on God the way a slave focuses on a beloved master (I would use the more correct “mistress” her, but the connotations in modern English just do not work). I will strive to keep my attention focused on God, so that I may respond to every hint as what He wants me to do next and to the least sign that my current actions displease Him.
This story has always struck me. Peter and John were not rich men, but they saw what this man truly needed. But Peter did not heal the lame man in order to bring glory to himself. He did so in order to bring glory to Jesus, and through Him to God. All of our actions, whether they be miraculous or merely mundane, should be done for the purpose of bringing glory to God. As I discussed in my comment on the psalm, let us keep our focus on God and doing what He wants us to do.
It is interesting that over the course of David’s story we are presented with a negative image of Joab. Yet here, and in several other places, Joab gave David advice which David would have been better off to have followed. Joab advised David against taking the census, but followed David’s instructions and conducted the census. It turned out that Joab was right and David sinned by conducting the census, a sin which led to plague throughout Israel.
If we want to be thought of as wise, if we are truly wise, we will speak with pleasant words. That is, we will speak to others in ways that both make them feel respected and liked, and that instruct them. Pleasant words are persuasive, so the wise will use them to instruct others. If those you wish to instruct cannot be taught with pleasant words, chances are good they will not accept instruction at all.
Let us keep our focus on God so that we can see His will for us. Let us be ready to obey His will at the most subtle signal from Him. I will depend on God’s mercy and not let the contempt of the proud distract me from following His will.
When the lame man begged Peter and John for money, they had none to give him. However, Peter recognized that they had something more valuable to give the man. Through God’s power, they were able to cure him and give him the ability to walk. This gave Peter an opportunity to preach the Gospel. However, it is worth noting that Peter did not heal the man in order to preach the Gospel, he healed the man in order to heal the man. It was after the fact, when people were curious about what happened that Peter saw the opportunity to preach. This should be our model. We should help people in order to help them, but when helping gives us the opportunity to preach the Gospel, we should seize that opportunity with vigor.
When Peter was preaching, he talked about the guilt those listening had in Jesus’ crucifixion. However, he also pointed out that they, and their leaders, had acted in ignorance. They did not know better. What had happened was according to God’s will. Peter’s words here are an example of gentle and persuasive words being used by the wise to persuade. Let us remember to use kind and gentle words to persuade others to follow Jesus.
David decided that he wanted a census of all of the people of Israel. In particular, he wanted to know how many fighting men he could muster. Rather than trust in God that the number of fighting men would be sufficient when danger threatened, David wanted to know what force he had at his disposal. By doing so, David brought a plague upon the people of Israel. The passage does not tell us this, but I believe that the plague was spread by David’s census takers. David realized his error and begged God’s forgiveness. We need to face the consequences of our actions when we sin, especially when those consequences bring harm to others.
I have been using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study for almost a year. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I started writing this blog because the only way I can get myself to read the Bible everyday is to pretend that I am teaching someone about what it says to me. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
At some point David decided to take a census of all of the fighting men in Israel and Judah. He sent Joab and the rest of his army commanders out to count how many men capable of being called up as warriors there were in the land. Joab questioned the utility of such a census, but David insisted. When the census was completed and the numbers reported to David (1.3 million men throughout the land), he began to feel guilty. David turned to God, confessed that he had sinned and begged God for forgiveness. The prophet Gad came to David the next day and offered him a choice of one of three punishments for his sin: three years of famine in the land, three months of fleeing from his enemies, or three days of plague throughout the land. David chose the plague saying that he would rather fall into the hand of God than into human hands.
Plague spread throughout the land for three days killing 70,000 people. The passage tells us that God halted the plague when the angel spreading it was at the threshing floor of Araunah. The prophet Gad told David to build an altar to God at the threshing floor of Araunah and offer sacrifices to God there. David went to Araunah and asked the price to buy his threshing floor. Araunah offered to give it to David, but David insisted on purchasing it. David built the altar and offered sacrifices upon it.
Yesterday’s passage told us that the disciples went to the Temple daily to pray. One afternoon when Peter and John were going to the Temple, a lame man was being brought to the Temple portico to beg. When he saw Peter and John about to enter the Temple, He asked them for alms. Peter and John focused their attention on the lame man and Peter told him to look at them. The lame man did, expecting to receive money from them. However, Peter told the man that he did not have any wealth to give him, but that he would give him what he had. Peter continued, “In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, get up and walk.” Peter then seized the man’s right hand and pulled him to his feet. The man, who had been lame since birth, was immediately healed and jumped to his feet and began walking. He entered the Temple with Peter and John, walking and leaping and praising God. People recognized him as the man who had daily been begging alms at the Temple gate and were amazed to see him walking and leaping.
Peter asked them why they were amazed and were looking at himself and John as if this had happened through some special power or piety on their part? It was God who had healed this man in order to bring glory to Jesus. Peter told them that they had rejected Him and turned Him over to Pilate to be killed. God had raised Jesus from the dead, something which Peter and John had witnessed. It was faith in the name of Jesus which had healed this man. This was not some “cripple” brought in whom no one had ever seen before. They had all seen this man every day for years.
Peter went on to tell them that he realized that both they and their rulers had acted in ignorance when they killed Jesus. Indeed, Jesus went through His suffering according to God’s plan in order to fulfill what the prophets had said about the coming Messiah. Now was the time to repent of their sins and turn to God. Those listening to Peter were included in the promise that God had made to Abraham that everyone on earth would be blessed through his descendants. God raised up Jesus and sent Him first to the Jews in order to bless them by turning each of them from their sinful ways. God has sent Jesus to every one of us to turn us from our wicked ways and deliver to us the blessings of serving Him.
I want to end my comments on this passage by going back to what Peter said to the lame man. He told him that he had no money to give him, that he could not ease his suffering by giving him material goods. But Peter was willing to give him what he did have. And that is what God calls us to do. We are to give those who are sick, crippled, or otherwise suffering what we do have. In this case, what Peter had to give the man was much more valuable than gold. Peter gave him the ability to walk and care for himself. Well, God may not give us the gift of healing people (but we should never assume that just because He has never done it through us before, He won’t do it today), but whatever He has given us to give people is much more valuable than whatever it is they want that we don’t have. Are we willing to say with Peter, “What I do have, I give to you,” without any other condition? I know that God is calling me to take that step and give whatever gifts He has given me to those I see around me in need. I don’t always know what I have to give, but if I can be faithful in giving when I know what I have, God will clearly reveal to me even more gifts that He has given me to pass on to others.
This psalm gives us guidance about how to weather the contempt and scoffing that the proud and arrogant have for those who choose to serve God. He tells us that we should keep our eyes on God. We should focus on every move that God makes, looking for the slightest signal that indicates His will. If we keep our focus there, we will not notice those who belittle us and hold us in contempt and even if we do notice them, we will not care what they think of us for God will have mercy on us and bring us joy.
People quickly learn who has wisdom and who doesn’t. Those who express wise thoughts are known for their pleasant words. Those who are wise exercise discretion, but even after being disciplined, fools fail to understand its value. Someone with wisdom chooses his words carefully and his utterances are both wise and pleasant.
I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
The passage tells us that David orders Joab to take a census of the people of the tribes of Israel. Joab objects asking why David wants to do this, but David insists. God is displeased with David taking the census and sends a plague on the people of Israel. When David realizes what is happening he cries out to the Lord saying that the people are innocent, the fault is all his own. When I first read this passage years ago I wondered what was wrong with David taking a census of the people of Israel. My father explained to me that David took the census so that he could know how big of an army he could muster. This showed a lack of faith in God, or at least a desire to be able to stand on his own power. David did not need to know how large of an army he could muster because God would fight on their side in any war that God called on them to fight. This makes sense to me.
After this David builds an altar to God at the point where the plague stops spreading. When he arrives at the location intending to buy it, the owner of the property offers to give it to him. David insists on buying the land and the oxen that he sacrifices. David was unwilling to give an offering to God that did not cost him anything. This is an important lesson, when we give something that cost us nothing it is not an offering to God. The federal government allows us to deduct from our taxes the value of things we give to a thrift store. Yet, for the most part, the things we donate to a thrift store are things we would otherwise throw away. We should not take credit in our minds for having made an offering to God by donating these items. They actually cost us nothing. This does not mean that we should not donate to thrift stores. We should indeed donate to thrift stores, but, in general, such donations do not count towards satisfying the movement of the Spirit to make offerings to God.
One day when Peter and John were going up to the afternoon service at the Temple, they saw a lame man being brought to the gate of the Temple so that he could beg money from those going to the Temple. As they approached the man asked them for money. This translation says that Peter and John “looked at him intently”. Other translations word it differently, but they all say in some manner that Peter and John focused their attention on the man. I believe that they were studying the man’s motivations. They were trying to determine if the man wanted to be healed. They did not give him what he was asking for, instead they gave him what he truly desired. Peter told him that he did not have money to give him, but that he would give him what he had to give. Peter then told him to stand up and walk. Peter did not stop there. Peter reached out and helped the man up. Sometimes people do not need a donation, but our help to stand up.
There is another aspect to this story as well. Among the Church there is a debate going on about the relationship between helping those in need and preaching the gospel. There are those who say that we should help the need in order to get the opportunity to preach the gospel to them. On the other side are those that say that we should allow our actions in helping those in need speak the gospel for us. In this passage, Peter and John healed the lame beggar because that was his need. But then when that drew a crowd, Peter began to preach the gospel. Peter did not heal the beggar in order to have an opportunity to preach the gospel. But when that healing led to an opportunity to preach the gospel, he took it without hesitating.
The psalmist here says that he is looking to God and asking God for mercy. The psalmist is calling on God for mercy because he is tired of being held in contempt. Those who hold us in contempt for our faith should not cause us to turn away from God. They should instead cause to cry out even more to God.
We are told in this proverb that if we want to be perceived as wise, we need to be both discrete and pleasant. If you want to persuade someone to a course of action you are more likely to do so if you speak to them pleasantly than if you do so with hostility.
