I Thessalonians 4

Dear RTB’ers,

For this is the will of God, your sanctification… (v. 3a, NASB). This word, “sanctification” occurs twice more in the next four verses in the NASB; the ESV has “holiness” in verses 4b and 7b. It was a new concept to me that I picked up on only a few years ago, in our Men’s Group meetings. One (or more) of the men spoke of “salvation and sanctification” – first an initial conversion, a turning to the Lord, then our continuing growth in Him, being filled with all that He has for us, being filled with the Holy Spirit, a changed life. That’s sanctification.

Paul speaks of the “end times” in today’s last six verses – one of the clearest pictures that he gives us of what the end will look like. To me 4:14 is the key verse: For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. Paul seems to be answering a question, possibly brought to him by Timothy, that the Thessalonians were concerned that their friends who had died would not see Jesus when He returns. Paul clarifies that for them – and for us! For the following twenty centuries billions of Christians have “fallen asleep” – and many of us will (?possibly, probably?) join them before Jesus returns. But because He died and rose again, so shall we!

One other item. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air… (v. 17) My Study Bible said that this is the only place in the New Testament where a rapture of living Christians is clearly stated. Yet so many people/denominations make such a big deal about it!

Blessings!

I Thessalonians 3

Dear RTB’ers,

Reminder: The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea… (Acts 17:10) Paul had spent only three weeks in Thessalonica. That was enough time to win a few converts and to begin relationships, but his sudden, unexpected departure put an end to his teaching and created in him a real longing for those whom he had left behind. He went to Berea and Athens, spending enough time in those cities to preach and win a few converts, then went on to Corinth. In spite of ministry successes in Berea and Athens and Corinth, Paul’s Thessalonians have not been far from his mind or his heart. So he sends Timothy to check on them. Those few relationships that he had developed in Thessalonica must have been strong indeed!

Paul’s prayers and concerns answered: But now that Timothy has come to us from you … we have been comforted about you through your faith. (vv. 6-7) And Paul continues to pray for them: we pray … night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith… (v. 10) Yes, he will see them face-to-face (Acts 20:1-3), but it will have been after about a five-year separation.

Blessings!

I Thessalonians 2

Dear RTB’ers,

I posted yesterday on a bit of the background to the Thessalonian letters. Paul mentions in today’s second verse a bit that I had left out, that Paul had come to Thessalonica from Philippi where he and Silas had been badly treated, not by the Jews this time, but by the town merchants who were afraid of losing their markets as people turned away from their idols to the true God Whom Paul was preaching. The miracle of their release surely emboldened Paul to preach all the more strongly wherever he went. Clearly the Thessalonians were the recipients of this powerful message.

As we read through today’s second chapter we get the sense that Paul has built a very strong relationship with the Thessalonian believers: So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. (v. 10) In fact, however, Paul had spent only three sabbaths there! (Acts 17:2) But those three weeks must have been powerful times for him with them – so powerful that he had felt the need to send Timothy back to check up on them, and then to revisit them himself nearly two years later on a major detour as he was headed to Jerusalem.

In my comments on chapter 1 four years ago I had mentioned how often in Paul’s letters we will see him writing in triads – three items typically tied together by the conjunction “and” or some other connector. There were two yesterday, in I Thes. 1:3 (faith, love and hope) and in I Thes. 1:9b-10a (turned, to serve, to wait.) Today we see five: I Thes. 2:5-6; 2:10; 2:11; 2:13-14 (a bit hidden); and in I Thes. 2:19. Look back and find them all yourself; it’s a fun exercise!

Blessings!

I Thessalonians 1

Dear RTB’ers,

Today we go in a new direction in our walk through the Bible –the first of Paul’s epistles. Although our Bibles have (in order) seven epistles before we get to I and II Thessalonians, most scholars agree that I Thessalonians was the first epistle that Paul wrote – in fact, the first of any of the New Testament writings that we include in our Bibles. Some scholars argue for Galatians to have been the first epistle that Paul wrote, but they are in the minority.

The background to the Thessalonian letters begins in Acts 17:1-10 with Paul’s visit to Thessalonica during his second missionary journey. Most importantly in those verses we see that …the Jews were jealous, and … they formed a mob … (Acts 17:5) and …the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea… (Acts 17:10a). Right away we remember the problems that Paul had with “the Jews from Asia” during his first missionary journey and continuing with his trials later in Acts. We see the same behavior by the Thessalonian Jews – jealous, angry, violent against Paul’s preaching. So Paul is quickly taken south to Berea, then on to Athens (Acts 17:16-34), then on to Corinth (Acts 18:1-18a) where he stayed a year and a half. From Corinth Paul sent Timothy (and Silas?) back to Thessalonica to encourage the believers there. Timothy’s report to Paul when he returns to Corinth forms the base for I Thessalonians, wherein Paul spends much of his writing answering questions that arose from Timothy’s report.

So now, with this background in place we begin Paul’s epistles. Enjoy!

Blessings!

Psalms 28-29

Dear RTB’ers,

Psalm 28. …who speak peace with their neighbors while evil is in their hearts. (v. 3b) These words struck me today, by way of condemnation! So often I find myself in two-faced conversation – speaking words and listening to what is being said while my mind is way off somewhere else – somewhere else that I needed to be or something else that I wanted to do. Yes, I have a hearing problem and I tend to tune out when I am not hearing well. But that does not excuse me in two-person conversation! By the way, verse 3a, the lead-in to the half-verse that I quoted above, tells us that David is speaking of the wicked … the workers of evil. Ouch!!

Psalm 29. It is easy for us to put ourselves into this Psalm! Sitting on a covered porch during a summer rain while lightning flashes and thunder roars – we see God’s power and majesty firsthand! The voice of the LORD (seven times in this Psalm) … and in His temple all cry, “Glory!” (v. 9b). GLORY!!

Blessings!

Psalm 27

Dear RTB’ers,

Psalm 27. David had two primary (personal) enemies in his life – first it was Saul trying to kill him, then it was his son Absalom trying to take his throne. In addition, when David was king surrounding nations were constantly doing battle with Israel. So as I read the psalms and David speaks of his enemies I have some idea what he might be dealing with.

However, for myself it’s often difficult for me to put myself “into the story”. I’ve had difficulties and failures, but not so many “enemies”. To connect with the Psalm I have to look at my adverse situations as my enemies, whether it’s work issues, finances, personal relationships, or whatever. Therein the Lord has been my deliverance time and time again – situations that I will save for our RTB gathering this Sunday. When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh … my heart will not fear. For on the day of trouble … He will lift me up on a rock. (vv. 2a, 3b, 5 NASB)

So if your enemies are “situational difficulties” like mine, take heart and re-read Psalm 27!

Blessings!

Psalm 26

Dear RTB’ers,

Psalm 26. Integrity. In the past: …for I have walked in my integrity… (v. 1b) And in the future: …I shall walk in my integrity… (v. 11a) In my life, an incident from graduate school comes to mind. One of my major professors asked me to help him with something – something that I felt was not right, and I turned him down. Then he lightened his request a bit, but I turned him down again. We parted and, to his credit, he did not hold it against me. He was not one of those hypocrites, evildoers, the wicked (vv. 4-5) that David was claiming to avoid. But my integrity from back then comes to mind here, even a small item from some 40+ years ago. Doing the right thing, in spite of the consequences. I was fortunate, indeed, to be writing under an honorable man. [NOTE: Later he saved me from another professor’s questioning during my dissertation defense!]

Many times I have asked us to put ourselves “into the story”. That might be easier done with Acts, where we see Peter, Paul, and others actively serving the Lord in their evangelistic ministries. But we also need to do that with the Psalms – putting David’s words onto our lips – confession, repentance, petitions, praise. Calling to mind where we’ve come from and where we’re headed. Integrity: I have walked; I shall walk.

Blessings!

Psalm 25

Dear RTB’ers,

Psalm 25. Today I noticed that Psalm 25 has 22 verses. We will see 22 verses again with Psalm 33 and Psalm 34 a couple of months down the road, then with Psalm 119 much later. Psalm 119 actually has 176 verses, which is 8 sections with 22 verses each. When we see a Psalm with 22 verses, it is typically the case that each verse begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which contains 22 letters. These Psalms are known as “alphabetic acrostics”; sometimes the verses begin alphabetically in order while other times the letters are scrambled, but each is used. So today is our first alphabetic acrostic.

The word “shame” popped out to me today – early in verses 2 and 3, then later in verse 20. So if David begins and ends this Psalm with shame, it must be the case that the entire Psalm somehow reflects shame. The beginning has three actors reflecting and not reflecting shame – David, himself, let me not be put to shame (v. 2b); those who seek the Lord, none who wait for You shall be put to shame (v. 3a); and the “wantonly treacherous, they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous (v. 3b). His concluding shame verse brings it back to himself.

David speaks to himself in verses 4 and 5, Make me to know Your ways, O LORD; then to the Lord in verses 6 and 7, Remember your mercy, O LORD, and Your steadfast love…; then to all his readers in verses 8-10 and 12-15, Good and upright is the LORD… The one interruption is this last group of verses, I think, is what is causing David shame: For Your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great. (v. 11) David is feeling guilty before the Lord and is ashamed of who he is or what he has done. He is simply acknowledging that before the Lord. It has left him lonely and afflicted (v. 16) and he is seeking forgiveness (v. 18).

What’s interesting to me is that David is not being publicly shamed – not yet! It is his own internal feelings that trouble him, that he is somehow wrong with the Lord. And I sense that he is afraid that his inner turmoil will show itself to those around him, to his enemies (vv. 2b, 19-20). He does not want to be put to shame (vv. 2, 20) before those enemies, and only by cleansing his soul and seeking forgiveness will he be put right before God. Confession, forgiveness, restoration. End of shame.

Blessings!

Psalms 23-24

Dear RTB’ers,

Those of you who stay caught up with our readings, especially those of you who read early in the morning possibly noticed that yesterday’s Psalm reading at church was almost exactly our own daily reading. We read Psalm 22:22-31; at church it was Psalm 22:23-31, one verse off. I was able to enjoy the Psalm reading at church in a very different way than usual, having posted on it already that morning. Doesn’t happen often, but when it does…! Sweet!!

Psalm 23, the Good Shepherd, a favorite, one we all know, one that many of us can quote by heart, a standard for children’s storybooks and Sunday School. Surely Jesus was reflecting back to this Psalm in John 10:1-16. 

Psalm 24. Bible scholars maintain that David wrote this Psalm in conjunction with him bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the city of Jerusalem. See II Samuel 6 for that history and especially tying that history into verses 7-10 in this Psalm. Back in my post in 2022 I linked these last four verses to Palm Sunday, to Jesus’ own triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Those four verses fit His entrance really well, as we know Him today. However, the Palm Sunday crowds were probably not singing Psalm 24 just yet. They had not yet raised His stature to that level! But we today can see our King of Glory entering that Holy City. To begin His last week on Earth…

Blessings!

Psalm 22:22-31                                        

Dear RTB’ers,

Psalm 22, continued. Yesterday’s reading had so many Crucifixion references – the Gospels, the “Stations of the Cross”, Good Friday – that it’s easy to forget that David was writing this Psalm in his own time, that he was the one feeling a disconnect between him and his God, that he was being pursued. He had closed yesterday’s reading with four pleas: …O LORD, do not be far off! … come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul … Save me …! (vv. 19-21a) Yet with those pleas, David remained confident of his deliverance: You have rescued me… (v. 21b)

Then today’s reading is all about praise! Praise from every corner of the earth! David begins, I will tell of Your name to my brothers… (v. 22a). And then he lists those peoples who will praise Him: You who fear the LORD… All you offspring of Jacob… those who fear Him… the afflicted… those who seek Him… All the ends of the earth… all the families of the nations… All the prosperous of the earth… all who go down to the dust… even the one who could not keep himself alive… And finally, posterity … the coming generation… to a people yet unborn… That’s us, folks. We are those people yet unborn!

What’s the message? …that He has done it. (v. 31b) Done “it”? Done what? For He has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and He has not hidden His face from him, but has heard, when he cried to Him. (v. 24) Even we yet unborn will be delivered from our afflictions: He has not hidden His face from him, but has heard, when he cried to Him. When we cry to Him…!

Blessings!