For today, One Year Bible Online links here.
If you guarantee someone else’s debt, or put up security for them, make sure you are able to pay the debt, because you are likely to need to do so. If someone needs you to guarantee their debt, they are probably not a good risk for making the payments.
I struggle to put meaning to this psalm because the picture this psalm draws of Doeg the Edomite does not match the picture I get from reading about him in 1 Samuel. It is not that there is a contradiction between these two views of Doeg, just that I am not sure how to connect the two.
So, what does this psalm tell us? It tells us that those who are willing to do evil in order to curry favor with the powers-that-be will earn God’s judgment. If you put your trust in the power and wealth you can gain by toadying up to the people in charge, you will so learn that the people in charge may change, but God never does. Those who trust in their wealth to save them from the consequences of their wicked behavior will discover that it will fail them.
I found it a challenge to find a theme which ties the lessons I see in this passage into a coherent pattern. However, as I started typing it sort of came to me. Paul is talking about how we should view ourselves/behave when we find ourselves in a position of authority over other believers (which I believe that all of us will for some period of time in our Christian walk). He is also giving us a standard to measure those who have been given spiritual authority over us.
His first point is that the tools/weapons of spiritual authority are not the same as those of worldly authority. Instead we use use spiritual insight, divine power, to destroy the obstacles, the arguments and pretensions, which keep people from knowing God. In order to do this we must make our every thought serve Jesus. This is a standard to which I do not yet meet. As I think about things I need to learn to stop and ask myself, “How does this serve Christ?” If I cannot see any way that it does, I must take control of my thinking and direct it in a different direction. As we make all of our thoughts, on every subject, serve God, the Holy Spirit will provide us with the insight and understanding to address whatever obstacles prevent those we are called to reach from knowing God.
Paul’s next point is that we are given authority over others to build them up, not to tear them down. It is important that we do not belittle our fellow believers. They belong to Christ just as much as we do. We do not accomplish God’s purpose by using whatever authority we have to make others feel like they are inferior to us (or to anyone else). That means that when we provide help to others we do not do so in a way which increases their dependence on that help. Paul’s final point is that we should not boast about what we have done. We should only boast about what God has done.
God wants us to seek justice, help the oppressed, defend those who cannot defend themselves, and fight for the powerless. If our worship services, offerings and sacrifices, retreats and special events do not empower us to do such things, they are worse than useless. The time is coming when God will take revenge on His enemies. He will restore the world with justice. Those who repent will be revived, but those who rebel and desert the Lord will be destroyed.
As I read this passage, I see a day of judgment coming soon. We are standing at a crossroads and God is giving us a choice. We can choose to go up to the Mountain of the Lord and learn His ways, doing as He commands. Or, we can fill the land with armies and military might, worshiping the things which we have made. If we choose the former, God will mediate between nations, He will settle our disputes. If we choose the latter, God will punish the proud and mighty, humbling human pride and arrogance. Time is running short, let us repent and turn to the Lord in prayer!
