Today we’re shifting gears and turning from the Psalms to the Book of Job for a while. In today’s reading we get the “back story”, the context that explains what is really going on. But Job — and his friends who show up shortly — are unaware of what is going on “behind the scenes” and are left to try to figure things out for themselves. Job and his friends all have basically the same worldview with an understanding that “good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people”. As we shall see, that perspective leads Job’s friends to come to the obvious conclusion that, since Job has suffered so horrendously he must be guilty of some horrible hidden sin, and they “comfort” Job with that accusation, advising him to confess and repent. Some “comfort”! Job, on the other hand, knows he is not guilty of anything so heinous and demands an opportunity to plead his case that he is being treated unfairly. Unfortunately, Job’s position ultimately amounts to accusing God of being unjust.

There are many difficulties here for us. First, whether we admit it or not, we generally tend to agree with the perspective that “good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people”, and we all struggle with observed life experiences that argue otherwise. Which of us, upon sentencing of some infamous criminal don’t say, “He’s getting what he deserves” or, when some child is afflicted with leukemia don’t ask, “Why? No child deserves that!” Some conclude that God must not exist (or, worse, that He is evil or capricious), because otherwise how could a good God allow evil and suffering to exist?

Further, although Job’s friends are dead wrong about Job, there is at least some truth in what they say — truth that is echoed elsewhere in Scripture: God does bless the righteous and God does oppose evil and will ultimately set all things right. Just take a look at Deuteronomy 28, Proverbs, and some of the Psalms we have already read. Yet the overall message of Job argues against that simplistic view — at least for this life. And that is part of what makes this book so valuable: we see the Bible wrestling with truly difficult questions, refusing to just feed us spiritual pablum.

Interestingly, Job’s friends are trying to “justify” or “defend” God against Job’s assertions of unfairness. Yet they are doing so in ignorance and ultimately do not accurately speak for God. (See Job 42:7.) God does not need their “help”. Note also that, in the end God does show up, but he does not directly answer Job’s questions. Instead, He just says something akin to “Sit down and shut up!” And we need the humility to say, with Job, “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” (Job 42:3)

So, fair warning… Be careful how you read Job! Bear in mind who is speaking. Is it Job? Is it one of his friends? Is it the younger upstart Elihu (in Job 32-37)? Is it God Himself (in Job 38-41)? Don’t just accept the verses that “sound good” to you and reject verses that are challenging. And don’t just accept what Job says or reject what his friends say. Neither perspective is completely right or completely wrong. (The only speaker we can say is completely right is God Himself…) Ask yourself whether you agree with the speaker and why. And then ask whether you should agree with the speaker — which is clearly a different question! Ask yourself whether you sometimes try — like Job’s friends — to “help” God and whether your efforts are really in line with His Truth. Ultimately, take the time to really listen to what the Lord is saying through this book. Wrestle with its questions alongside Job. Review your own worldview and whether it might need some adjustment. In the end, we should find ourselves with a deeper understanding of God.

As Debbie posted two days ago, Psalm 22 ends with praise. It’s intriguing to imagine Jesus praying this portion of the psalm while He is dying on the cross. Maybe that’s a lesson – in the midst of the hardest hardships, maybe the best response is praising God for His goodness, for all that He has done. That might help to relieve anxiety and fears.

I was struck by verses 27 and 28: All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will worship before You. For the kingdom is the LORD’s and He rules over the nations. I recall a sermon a few weeks ago where our preacher said that the Jews knew they were God’s chosen people – and they acted like it! They kept their blessings to themselves; they forgot that they were to be God’s agents to the rest of the world. These verses emphasize that point. Peter clearly recognized that fact in Acts 10,11 when the Holy Spirit fell on Gentiles as he was speaking. Our preacher went on to say that we Christians often behave like that – enjoying our blessings and not sharing them to those around us. We need to be Mission people!

Psalm 22:11-21

Debbie’s post yesterday enlightened me for today. I can now picture Jesus reciting this psalm during His time on the cross – no doubt, this psalm and other psalms. And it makes all the difference to read through this psalm and imagine Jesus reciting it to Himself, even shouting out some of the verses.

A main reason for my familiarity with this psalm is from my childhood, when we had Stations of the Cross every Wednesday evening during Lent. Two of the verses in Psalm 22 are in those Stations: But I am a worm and not a man, a reproach of men and despised by the people… (v. 6) and They have pierced My hands and feet, I can number all My bones. (vv. 16-17a) So I have these words from my childhood plus Gospel readings with Jesus’ own words and the prophetic words and actions of onlookers. No wonder Psalm 22 is so familiar to me!

Psalm 22:1-10

At the outset of this journey through the Psalms, there were only five that I could call by number where I knew something of their content. Psalm 22 is one of those five – this one because of prophecy fulfilled with Jesus’ death on the cross. Today we see two of those prophecies/words fulfilled. The first is today’s first verse: My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Those words were repeated by Jesus on the cross: And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, … “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46) Then we see a second sentence of prophetic words from today’s reading: He trusts in the Lord; let Him deliver him… (v. 8a). These words parallel the Jews’ jeering words from the foot of the cross: He trusts in God; let God deliver him now if He wants him. (Matthew 27:43a) Christians cannot read these words (and later words in this Psalm) without cringing, without going to the cross themselves. Powerful.

Psalm 21:8-13

I have never been someone who embraced the Psalms lovingly. Today’s reading is one of those for which I can not easily relate. Verses 7 and 13 are meaningful – powerful even! But the rest of it, hard to relate to… I’m hoping some of the rest of you can weigh in more favorably.

Psalm 21:1-7

You have given him his heart’s desire, and You have not withheld the request of his lips. For You meet him with the blessings of good things… (vv. 2-3a) I’ve never really had much “heart’s desire” in my life; the one thing that I had always hoped for when I was younger was to be married and have children – and that desire was clearly granted with more than I could have ever have imagined! And the blessings of good things have truly been abundant in my life. Frankly, I had never dreamt much in my life as to what I wanted to be or where I wanted to go. But the Lord led me, bit by bit, mile by mile through my life to where I have been and where I am today. I have been (and am) truly blessed!

Psalm 20

Posting from the Louisville airport on our way to Costa Rica – please pray for our travel safety and enjoyment.

For today’s Psalm, two of my study Bibles talked about David going to war, with the “you” pronouns in the first five verses related to peoples’ prayers for him. Then the next four verses reflect the peoples’ confidence in God’s saving acts in delivering David from his adversaries. So, given our immediate situation and doing as I like to do – putting myself into the Psalm – verse 4 struck me: May He grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans! We’re not headed to war – just the opposite! We’re looking for a relaxing two weeks away. So the thought of having our heart’s desires granted was an encouragement. I’m claiming this Psalm fully for our travels, thanking God for the timeliness of these psalms!

Psalm 19:7-14

Whether we’ve read it or not, we’ve heard verse 14 countless times when a preacher begins his sermon: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. It’s also quite likely that the first few verses in today’s reading are familiar, having been set to music – although I can’t remember how it is sung beyond a few lines. Maybe I’ll have Carol sing it for me!

My focus today is on verses 12b-13a: Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins… We are more familiar with those presumptuous sins. We often speak of sins of omission and commission – things we have not done that we should have done and things that we did that we should not have done. But those hidden faults… What are they? I can relate to telling a police officer that I didn’t know that the speed limit had changed. That actually happened to me – twice! Our daughter, Nancy saw our nephew, Matthew standing on his head on the couch. His reply: “You told me not to jump on the couch.” How do we cover all the bases? How do we discern all right vs. wrong? I remember Bill Clinton saying that he was “anti-abortion, pro-choice”. Joe Biden seems also to be in that camp: If we outlaw abortion, then the evil that is black-market, illegal abortion will become more prominent. If we can reasonably justify our position on something that we believe or something that we do or if we are ignorant of all the facts of a particular issue, are we guilty of wrongdoing? Is that a “hidden fault”? Is that where David wants to be declared innocent?

How to discern our “hidden faults”…? That’s a good question to ponder.

Psalm 19:1-6

Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. (v. 4a) I’ve read these words many times – actually, surprisingly in each of the past two years! Paul quotes this verse verbatim in Romans 10:18. In the Psalm David applies these words to the heavens and the sky (v. 1). Paul applies this verse to ministers of the gospel. Beginning in Romans 9 Paul has been speaking of his fellow Jews and his sorrow at their unwillingness to accept Jesus as their Messiah. The immediate prelude to his verse 18 is in his verse 14: How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? The “they” pronouns in verse 14 refer to the Jews (see Romans 10:1). I/we have mentioned a number of times in the past two years that Paul clearly knew his Old Testament scriptures. It’s nice that we can “close that loop” ourselves some 2000 years later.