Psalm 36

Dear RTB’ers,

I can’t read today’s psalm without singing it in my mind. And the sung words say more than I could ever offer. Sing along if you know the song:

Your steadfast love extends to the heavens
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds
Your righteousness is like majestic mountains
And your wisdom like the depth of the sea
And you come to me

Filling my heart with your loving kindness
I find my peace in the shadows of your wings
I eat my fill from the abundance of your household
And I drink from the streams of rejoicing
You are my king

Lyrics by Ted Sandquist, https://www.fridaynight.info/songs/your-steadfast-love

Blessings!

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See also: April 3 (2022) / Psalm 36

Psalm 35

Dear RTB’ers,

Much of today’s Psalm is David speaking about his enemies, about how they are going after his life. There were, however, two verses that spoke to me differently. First, For they do not speak peace, but against those who are quiet in the land they devise words of deceit. (v. 20) Here I thought of scammers who prey on the elderly, in particular, but who go after anyone whom they think they can fleece. Targeted deceptions and robocalls going after ill-gotten gains.

The other verse struck me in a different way – it concerns the topic that I am teaching today, LDCs (lesser developed countries) and international trade: “O LORD, who is like You, delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, the poor and needy from him who robs him?” (v. 10b) For centuries leaders and entrepreneurs in the more advanced countries have taken advantage of African and Latin American people. Think of all the colonization by the English, Spanish, Portuguese, French. Think of the slave trade from Africa to the USA. Think of the oil barons getting wealthy with their investments in the Middle East, and thousands more examples worldwide. Where is the Lord’s deliverance of these oppressed people? We see it in individual and governmental foreign aid and investment. We see it in Christian missionaries and ARDF-type organizations teaching and building schools and churches and digging wells – and sometimes simply providing food to the needy. We even see it in international attempts like UNCTAD and international commodity agreements aimed at creating a more even playing field in international trade markets. The Lord is at work for the poor and needy, working through His people, you and me. I’m thinking right now of Avanza and of St. Andrew’s support for BKD in Uganda, our sponsored girls in particular. The Lord is working, through His people. Be one of them!

Blessings!

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See also:

• March 31 (2022) / Psalm 35:1-10
• April 1 (2022) / Psalm 35:11-18
• April 2 (2022) / Psalm 35:19-28

Psalm 34

Dear RTB’ers,

The header on today’s psalm reads “Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.” I went to I Samuel 21:10-15 to provide more details on this header. There, however, the person to whom David is feigning madness is King Achish of Gath. My AI app said that Achish is also referred to as Abimelech, whose name means “father of the king”. (Achish – Wikipedia). The further confusion is that earlier in that chapter David appears before Ahimelech, priest of Nob, and is given the consecrated bread which he and his men eat. I’m sure there was no confusion in David’s mind or in the later editors who put the psalms together in the Psalter. What we can presume, however, is that David is referring to this incident when he writes this psalm as he is fleeing from Saul.

We are taught to believe every word of Scripture, that it is all “God-breathed” (II Timothy 2:16). But occasionally I wonder. Today, The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. (v. 10) When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. (v. 17) Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. (v. 19) “…lack no good thing”, delivered from “all”… I’m sure that sermons have been delivered that explained those verses, but they remain troubling for me. I could certainly say that I “lack no good thing”; there are many “good things” that I do not have, but I do have what I need in my life and in my relationship with the Lord. And as for deliverance… Past afflictions are just that – past! Prior difficulties in my life have moved on, some fairly quickly and some taking years. But Carol and I and others prayed through those troubling times and they are now gone and mostly forgotten. Bottom line: I can believe David’s words – all, complete.

So while I’m thinking of the afflictions of the righteous and their crying for help, let’s all keep our fellow RTB’ers, Laura Z. and Mary G. in prayer as they heal from their surgeries. And me… I’ve still got shoulder pain whenever I try to use my right arm at a higher level. But I’m confident that there is healing for me down the road, whether miraculously or through surgery or whatever. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

Blessings!

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See also:

• March 29 (2022) / Psalm 34:1-10
• March 30 (2022) / Psalm 34:11-22

Psalm 33

Dear RTB’ers,

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.” I feel like many/most/all of us look on the USA as a nation blessed by God. I certainly do. Two verses earlier David has this to say, “The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples.” So, we just had an election and Donald Trump has been chosen to lead our nation for the next four years. What will those four years be for him, for his supporters, for those who voted against him? “…blessed by God”? Or frustrated plans? We are called to pray for our leaders. Let’s do that. 

Blessings!

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See also:

• March 27 (2022) / Psalm 33:1-12
• March 28 (2022) / Psalm 33:13-22

Psalm 32

Dear RTB’ers,

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” (v. 8) How do we hear from the Lord? I daresay people have been asking that question for the two millennia since Jesus ascended. Our most straightforward answer is the one that Jesus gave, that He would send the Holy Spirit and that He would be our Counselor, our Helper. But that then begs the question, how do we hear from the Holy Spirit? Back to square one…

I don’t have an answer as to how we hear from the Lord, but there have been a few times in my life when I felt something in my heart and I just knew that it was a prompting from God. It just felt right and I did not hesitate to move in what I had felt was His direction. But telling those incidents is another item for our time together. We fly home one month from tomorrow. We are seriously looking forward to seeing you all again!

Blessings!

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See also: March 26 (2022) / Psalm 32

Psalm 31

Dear RTB’ers,

I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols… (v. 6a) I could understand what David was saying about people in his day who worshiped idols. But in our 21^st century world, I’m calling to mind preachers asking us, “What are your idols?” Are you seeking money? Fame? Possessions? Power? Success? In my mind I certainly don’t “hate” people who are seeking, working, striving after those other things, but I do feel sorry for them when their efforts are so driven toward those goals. I certainly wanted to be successful in life, in my career, to earn enough income to provide for my family. But I was fortunate that God got hold of me early enough that my greater goal has been to seek Him for the past fifty years. As I have sought that greater goal, I have been blessed with money, possessions, success (and countless failures along the way). Having that greater goal has increased my thanksgiving for all those other things. David says it well: But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand… (vv. 14-15a) Yes, my times and everything inside those times were and are in God’s hands. And His is the better plan; He is the better builder.

Blessings!

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See also:

• March 24 (2022) / Psalm 31:1-13
• March 25 (2022) / Psalm 31:14-24

Psalm 30

Dear RTB’ers,

We have left I Corinthians behind and will spend a couple of weeks in the Psalms before returning to II Corinthians.

I typically have difficulties relating to David’s psalms when he writes of deliverance from his enemies and not letting his foes rejoice over him. In my adult life I’ve been “mistreated” on a number of occasions (three in particular), but I never think of enemies and foes in those incidents. And for each of those occasions I was “delivered” into a better life and have forgiven those who were responsible for those hurts in my life. Soon after one of those hurtful occasions I had contacted my dissertation advisor and he assured me, “Fred, you have a way of landing on your feet.” What he spoke was true, but he did not know the God that I knew or how the deliverance of which he spoke would come about through God’s gracious working in my life. It’s good to look back on disappointments and failures and see God’s hand at work in His healing and deliverance. David faced different foes in his life, but his words continue to ring true today.

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See also: March 23 (2022) / Psalm 30

I Corinthians 16

Dear RTB’ers,

I was noticing Paul’s concern for his fellow workers. First, Timothy: When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace… (vv. 10-11a) We know from Acts and other epistles of Paul’s special relationship to Timothy, so I’m not surprised that Paul would be concerned for his welfare. Second, Paul mentions Apollos in verse 12, but not with particular concern for his welfare. He had already covered that in I Corinthians 3.

Paul’s third mention today is Stephanas: … you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints— be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. (vv. 15b-16) Paul is lauding Stephanas and his household for their ministry to fellow believers. I got online for more information on Stephanas – mostly I was interested in whether he shows up anywhere else in Paul’s epistles. I’m glad I did that! I had forgotten that we read just a couple of weeks ago that Paul had baptized Stephanas’ entire family (I Cor. 1:16). So again, here’s another of Paul’s special relationships.

Paul cares about his fellow laborers. It’s nice to see that in writing.

Blessings!

I Corinthians 15:35-58

Dear RTB’ers,

What is sown is …	What is raised is …
Perishable	Imperishable
Dishonor	Glory
Weakness	Power
A natural body	A spiritual body

In comparing the earthly and the heavenly, Paul compares Adam with Jesus and identifies us directly both to Adam and to Jesus: The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second Man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the Man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the Man of heaven. (vv. 47-49) “We shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” Awesome!! That’s something to look forward to!

What a powerful section of Scripture we are reading today!!

Blessings!

I Corinthians 15:1-34

Dear RTB’ers,

Today’s reading is about Jesus’ Resurrection and what it means for us. First Paul provides “evidence” for the Resurrection in the form of a list of people to whom Jesus appeared in bodily form, the strongest of which is that …He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive… (v. 6a) Then he includes himself, Last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared also to me. (v. 8) Paul even reflects on his own conversion, …by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain … though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (vv. 10-11, slightly edited) Paul sees in himself all the work that he has done, all that he has accomplished, but he recognizes that it is really God at work in him that is the actual work being done. That’s a good point for me (us?) to see, that it is not me (us?) doing things, but it is God at work in me (us?).

Paul then goes on to talk about the fact of Jesus’ Resurrection and its impacts on our lives. He casts the Resurrection in the negative, that if Jesus had not been raised from the dead that we are wasting our time, that we are to be pitied for our wasted beliefs and activities. But he quickly cancels that possibility, But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead … (v. 20) and moves on to talk about the end times, when Jesus returns and He delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. (v. 24b) Finally, for our own preparation for our own death or these end times, Paul speaks rather bluntly: Wake up from your drunken stupor … and do not go on sinning. (v. 34a) Read it again, “WAKE UP!” Not surprisingly this was also Archbishop Beach’s message to us in a July 2020 podcast entitled “Wake Up America!” (replayed in 2023), maybe also a message for today?

Blessings!

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See also: December 7 (2023) / I Corinthians 15-16; Acts 19:23-20:1