II Corinthians 1:23-2:17

Dear RTB’ers,

I am repeating below a comment that I wrote in 2020 (slightly edited), primarily to help us all understand the confusion in Paul’s letter regarding his Corinthian visits and correspondence:

So, is there a lost letter or a lost visit? I sense that the majority of scholars tend to believe that yes, there is a lost letter and an unreported visit. There is clear evidence for an unreported visit later in II Corinthians, at 12:14 and 13:1, where Paul mentions visiting them for a third time. The only reports that we have of his visits to Corinth are when he first visited during his second missionary journey (Acts 18:1, ff,) and on his third missionary journey (Acts 20:2-3). So there does appear to be a missing trip by Paul to Corinth. As to when that occurs, most speculation centers on a short visit from Ephesus during his three-year ministry there, between his writing of the two Corinthian letters.

As to that lost letter… There is some evidence of a missing letter in today’s reading: And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain… (v. 2:3a) and For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears… (v. 2:4a). I don’t see anything that we read in I Corinthians that would have been painful for Paul to write. Much of the letter was about Paul answering questions that the Corinthians had asked. The chapter 5 incident (a man living with his father’s wife) was a rebuke of one person’s behavior. So I see Paul writing that first letter calmly, much like a teacher counseling a student. I don’t see the harshness that would have caused pain for either Paul or the Corinthians. So there must be a lost letter.

Finally, a quick word on the other item in today’s reading, verses 5-11. It appears that someone within the Corinthian church was guilty of some serious sin – perhaps the man I mentioned above from I Corinthians 5. However, whatever this person had done, he had been punished by the church to the point where he was repentant and remorseful, such that Paul’s advice was to receive him back into the body with love and full forgiveness. It’s hard to imagine such a person ever being universally fully received, but it’s Paul’s advice to bring him back into the body. Perhaps Paul even had himself in mind, in that he persecuted the church mightily until the Lord met him on the road to Damascus. Oh, if everyone at St. Andrew’s knew our deepest sins… Ouch.

Blessings!

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See also: May 22 (2020) / II Corinthians 2:1-11

II Corinthians 1:12-22

Dear RTB’ers,

As we near the end of this 16^th year of RTB, I’m asking myself if I can apply Paul’s “boast” to myself? He says, For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. (v. 12) Could I say the same thing of myself with respect to RTB and you RTB readers: For my boast is this, the testimony of my conscience, that I behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. I have never claimed much in the way of Biblical training –only experience borne out of some 40+ years of reading Scripture on a daily basis. I pray that some “simplicity and godly sincerity” on my part has come through in my leadership, in my many posts these many years. My only reward comes from you telling me and others that you are growing in the Lord. That’s the essence of Paul’s boast, …it is through Him that we utter our Amen to God for His glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put His seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. (vv. 20b-22)

Blessings!

II Corinthians 1:1-11

Dear RTB’ers,

Blessed be the God … of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction… (v. 3-4a). There was a time in my life (summer and fall 1981) when for seven straight months I had some major “affliction” in my life, the worst of which were my father’s death and a broken engagement with Carol. I recall vividly, through it all, asking God, “Why all this? What’s going on here?” I don’t recall being angry – more confused than anything. But the main thing that I can remember through all that was one person in our Bible Study group commenting on the stuff I was going through and my reply, “I don’t know how people go through difficulties without God in their lives.” Through it all, one thing after another, I was calling on God – not unlike David in most of the psalms we just read. How do people survive, trying to do it all on their own?

In today’s reading Paul mentions “comfort” ten times, “affliction” three times, and “suffer(ing)” four times. I think he’s concerned with people and their trials and difficulties. His answer is the second half of the verses quoted above, …so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (v. 4b) God is our only Comforter, but we are His intercessors – we are “comforters” for Him.

Blessings!

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See also:

• Rearranging II Corinthians
• September 12 (2021) / II Corinthians 1:1-24
• December 8 (2023) / II Corinthians 1-7

Psalm 41

Dear RTB’ers,

I don’t know why, but so often it seems like the first words in a psalm are the ones that hit me. Today was the case again, Blessed is the one who considers the poor! (or the “weak” or “helpless”, v. 1a) The ESV ends those eight words with an exclamation mark. Other translations use a semicolon and continue that verse and the next verse with four more sentences. But it was only that first sentence that got my attention. And immediately I thought of Avanza and our parishioners’ involvement therein. I am forever grateful for Kelly and our in-church connections with Huntertown. Truly, lives have been changed, not only the kids and their families, but also our entire church and even people outside our church who have plugged in one way or another!

I don’t know how many illegal aliens there are among those kids and their families, but I think we need to pray over the possibilities of severe family separations if plans move forward as the next administration has pledged. Blessed is the one who considers the poor!

Blessings!

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See also: April 13 (2022) / Psalm 41

Psalm 40:11-17

Dear RTB’ers,

I said yesterday that God’s provision is infinitely ongoing. Today’s last verse repeats that thought, As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. (v. 17a) I see “takes thought for me” as a continual thing, that the Lord is constantly taking thought of me – and everyone else in the universe! Seldom do I think of myself as “poor and needy”. As is often the case with me, I compare myself with others whom I see as less fortunate and more in need of help than I. Sadly, the fact is that I don’t really know how poor and needy I truly am – especially how poor and needy I truly was before I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior; how poor and needy I was before I was filled with the Holy Spirit; before I realized that …every good and perfect gift is from above… (James 1:17a, NIV) Truly, God’s provision is infinitely ongoing!! I am / we are blessed!!

Blessings!

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See also: April 12 (2022) / Psalm 40:9-17

Psalm 40:1-10

Dear RTB’ers,

After two days of posts about David’s anger at God and his desire for a restoration of that relationship, we see a very different mood today: I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. (vv. 1-2) We don’t know whether there was some actual deliverance for David from whatever was troubling him or whether it was just his mindset that changed, but clearly his words today are an answer to his prayer from yesterday: Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry… (Ps. 39:12a) I’m wondering about times that I have prayed for something and then that something came about and I failed to thank the Lord for His provision, His deliverance, His “whatever”! Carol and I just returned from a weekend away. Before we left we had prayed about our weekend, our travel, God’s protection. We got back last night from a three-hour drive, drank some hot, mulled wine, and collapsed into bed. Oops! Oh yeah, “Thank you, Lord…”. An afterthought should have been my first thought! God’s provision is infinitely ongoing! Many, LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done, and Your thoughts toward us; there is no one to compare with You. (v. 5a, NASB)

Blessings!

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See also: April 11 (2022) / Psalm 40:1-8

Psalm 39

Dear RTB’ers,

My NASB translation names this Psalm “The Futility of Life”. That sounds a lot like Ecclesiastes, and today’s reading does read a lot like Ecclesiastes, with a bit of Job sprinkled in: O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before You. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! (vv. 4-5) And later, For I am a sojourner with You, a guest, like all my fathers. (v. 12b)

In between these verses, just like yesterday David sounds like he is angry with God, but again like yesterday his anger with God is the result of his own failings: Remove Your stroke from me; I am spent by the hostility of Your hand. When You discipline a man with rebukes for sin… (vv. 10-11a) And one more time, again like yesterday, David wants only a restoration of his relationship with God: Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; hold not Your peace at my tears! (v. 12)

I don’t know that I’ve ever been angry with God. I’ve been frustrated with life, disappointed at things not going my way, wondering where the Lord is in all my turmoil. But angry? Not really. Wanting God to heal my difficulties, to act sooner? Absolutely! In the end it’s Jesus’ own words that bring me consolation, “Not My will, but Your will be done.”

Blessings!

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See also: April 10 (2022) / Psalm 39

Psalm 38

Dear RTB’ers,

We cannot read David’s words today without feeling for him and whatever is troubling him, especially when his opening sentences speak of pain that the Lord has inflicted: …Your arrows, Your hand, Your indignation… (vv. 2,3a) But he quickly clarifies that he, himself is the source of his pain: …my sin, my guilty deeds, my guilt, my sin… (vv. 3b, 4a, 18) and that his trust lies in his repentance and the Lord’s mercy, But for You, O LORD, do I wait; it is You, O Lord my God, who will answer. (v. 15) (See also Psalm 38:9a,18,21-22.)

Confession, repentance, and confidence in God’s forgiveness. We could all learn from David’s heartfelt emotions, written thousands of years ago, but fully applicable today. Do not forsake me, O LORD! O my God, be not far from me! (v. 21)

Blessings!

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See also:

• April 8 (2022) / Psalm 38:1-12
• April 9 (2022) / Psalm 38:13-22

Psalm 37:21-40

Dear RTB’ers,

The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way… (v. 23) We had an interesting discussion on the pronouns in this verse two years ago. Compare the two interpretations when we first have the Lord as HE, then again when we have the Lord as HIS: “…when the Lord delights in his way…” or “…when he delights in the Lord’s way…” An interesting distinction… However, my love for this verse is the beginning: The steps of a man are established by the LORD… In my deepest heart, I believe that the Lord is guiding and has directed my steps. In my younger years I was not a person who set goals for myself. I responded to life more than I planned for it. But, “things happen” and I firmly believe that the Lord had a hand in how those “things happened”. One thing after another – and not with a lot of planning on my part – and I came to be where I am today. So I guess I like the Lord’s pronoun to be “his”: The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in HIS way… Yeah, I like that!

Blessings!

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See also:

• April 6 (2022) / Psalm 37:23-34
• April 7 (2022) / Psalm 37:35-40