Psalm 19

Dear RTB’ers,

Psalm 19. A late morning. After eleven days of travel and a midnight arrival, Carol and I slept in. Back on schedule tomorrow.

One short psalm today. The first six verses, the heavens, especially the sun reflecting the glory of God – …there is nothing hidden…! I am reminded of Paul’s charge against …all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men… For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:18b-20) There is nothing hidden…!

Law, testimony, precepts, commandment, judgments (rules)… (vv. 7-9). I’ll have something to say about these “synonyms” when we get to Psalm 119.

Today’s closing: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Have we heard those words before? Like before half of the sermons you have heard on Sunday mornings…!! Now you know where the preacher’s prayer comes from!

Blessings!

Psalm 18:31-50

Dear RTB’ers,

Psalm 18, the rest of the Psalm – David’s enemies are defeated, he is king!

When psalms are long and broken down into smaller sections, it is often good to read through the whole psalm to get the full picture. [Except for Psalm 119…!!] Psalm 18 is like that. Just reading yesterday, we saw that the Lord had delivered David from his enemies – and that was true. But reading today we see that David was not only delivered (as he had been when he escaped from Saul), plucked from danger, as it were, but that God has given him a mighty victory over those enemies: I pursued my enemies and overtook them…(v. 37a); …those who hated me I destroyed (v. 40b); …they cried to the LORD, but He did not answer them (v. 41b); I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet. (v. 38)

Not only is David’s military victory complete, but he is exalted as king. …You made me the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me.(v. 43b) We get the sense that this Psalm is not just about David escaping from Saul, but more likely about his victory over Absalom and his kingship over a united Israel. But David knows that it’s not the might of his army that has won the battle, but the Lord delivering him: …God who … subdued peoples under me, Who rescued me from my enemies; yes, You exalted me above those who rose against me; You delivered me… (vv. 47-48a). And for this, David is thankful and God is worthy of his praise, For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing to your name. (v. 49) David, his army, his faith, his God. And who’s on our team…?

Blessings!

Psalm 18:1-30

Dear RTB’ers,

Psalm 18, beginning. Thirty verses today and we’re just over halfway through this psalm. My guess is that most of us will read through the entire psalm today, even though STS breaks it down into two readings. But today, only the first thirty.

It often helps for me to see these psalms in smaller chunks. Today’s first six verses point to David’s love for the Lord and for his need for God to intervene against his enemies: I call upon the LORD … The cords of death encompassed me … From His temple He heard my voice… Then verses 7-15 paint a majestic picture of natural forces raining down upon these enemies – try to picture “hailstones and coals of fire” coming down side-by-side – hailstones during a volcanic eruption…!!?? And we see these together twice (vv. 12, 13), so that must have been what David saw. Then with these heavenly forces we see David delivered in the next four verses: He brought me out into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me. (v. 19) Then David reflects further on his deliverance in the next five verses: The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He rewarded me. (v. 20) We might think of David as a bit arrogant in these verses, but my Study Bible suggested that David is measuring himself up against his enemies. And yes, in that realm he is indeed righteous!

Today I was most struck by our last six verses, where David brings the rest of humanity (us!) into his reflections. Look at his descriptors of who we are: merciful, blameless, purified, crooked, humble, haughty. (vv. 25-27) Yes, we are both blameless and crooked, both humble and haughty. He sees us with those behaviors because that’s how he sees himself. He sees his shortcomings, but he also knows Him in whom I have believed (II Timothy 1:12). David closes today’s reading with confidence: For by You I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. (v. 29) Any walls confronting your path today…??

Blessings!

Psalm 17

Dear RTB’ers,

Psalm 17. Have I mentioned that I wish you all had study bibles? Or maybe access to online Bible commentaries…?

Today’s Psalm 17 was as confusing as any that I’ve read thus far, but my Study Bible helped me make sense of it, breaking it down into its smaller components. They see the overall setting as a courtroom, with the Lord as the judge. The first two verses are an appeal for justice: Hear a just cause, O LORD…”. Then verses 3-5 are David’s protestation of innocence: You have tried my heart, … You have tested me, and You will find nothing. Verses 6-9 form a petition, what David is asking the Lord to do for him: …hide me in the shadow of Your wings, from the wicked who do me violence. Verses 10-12 are the accusation against David’s enemies: … they set their eyes to cast us to the ground. Finally verses 13-15 form a second petition, Deliver my soul from the wicked…, and a concluding expression of confidence in the Lord delivering him from his accusers: As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with Your likeness.

Have I mentioned that I wish you all had study bibles? Or maybe access to online Bible commentaries…? Money (or time) well spent!

Blessings!

Psalms 15-16

Dear RTB’ers,

Back to Psalms. Today, Bastille Day in France! I recently read and re-read A Tale of Two Cities. It’s a wonderful novel, historical fiction, set in the context of the French Revolution. If you’re looking for something to read…!

He who walks blamelessly and does what is right … He who does these things shall never be moved. (Ps. 15:2a, 5b) After his intro, David then lists behaviors of those who do “what is right”, mostly a “Thou shalt not” list of living righteously in this world. He does make one positive statement, however, honoring those who fear the LORD. (Ps. 15:4b)

For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. (Ps. 16:10) Is this verse Messianic? Both Peter and Paul thought so. Each cited this verse – Acts 2:27, 13:35, respectively. My NASB also has “Holy One” capitalized, an obvious reference to Jesus and His Resurrection. But David might have been referring to himself as someone who is “godly”. We’ll never know, but the early church clearly thought so!

I was also struck by verse 16:8, I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. A manager might speak of a foreman as his “right-hand man”. David speaks of the LORD in this manner, One in whom he puts his full trust and confidence. And if we have Him at our right hand, we should be holding that holy hand as He leads us!!

We covered the Psalms and the Wisdom literature in RTB in 2022. Each day as I make my own reflections I typically look back at what I (and others) said back then. I was struck by the number of comments following my posts for both of these psalms. There were four different people who added comments following my post for Psalm 15 and three different people who added comments for Psalm 16, a stunning contrast with this year where typically we might get one or two added comments per week. I think those comments from 2022 are due to the content material. Most of the Psalms are short and easily read and mostly understood. Amos and Hosea, however…!! As both John and I have said, we’d like to hear more from you!

Blessings!

Psalms 13-14

Dear RTB’ers,

Back to Psalms. How long, O LORD?… How long…? How long…? How long…? (13:1-2) Four times in two verses David cries out, “How long…?” Can you relate? When in your heart you know that something needs to happen, that good needs to overcome evil, and you know that God is all-seeing and all-knowing, but why doesn’t He act??!! You pray and you wait and you wonder, “How long, O LORD?” Yeah, been there…

…there is no one who does good, not even one. (14:3b) David contrasts this verse with his first verse, The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” (14:1a) While we may laugh at “the fool” and his ridiculous claim, we are no better off. We are all in that “not even one” category. My mind also went to Romans 3:10, There is none righteous, not even one. (NASB) There Paul is doing the same thing as David, but there claiming that the Jews are no better than the Gentiles. And we today… Centuries separated Paul from David and now centuries from Paul to us. And still, There is none righteous, not even one. Except Jesus!! Thank you, Lord!

Blessings!

Hosea 13-14

Dear RTB’ers,

Hosea, continued – and ended. Today, again two chapters very different from each other, with chapter 13 continuing God’s judgment on Israel and chapter 14 speaking of His deliverance.

Earlier in this book we saw a lot of greed and subjugation of the poor and helpless by the wealthy and powerful. We haven’t seen that for a while; mostly the last few chapters have been about idolatry, about Israel seeking after other gods, about idol worship. Hosea likens this worship of other gods to morning dew, chaff and smoke, all of which exist for a while and then are gone. Good imagery there!

Earlier I posted about “prosperity, luxury, complacency”. Today we see something similar, but something even more hurtful – pride: As they had their pasture, they became satisfied, and as they became satisfied, their heart became proud; therefore they forgot Me. (13:6, NASB) Complacency is bad enough, but when we get to the point where we don’t acknowledge all that we have been given from God, when we see ourselves as being successful for our successes, when we become prideful, then we have problems!

Hosea ends chapter 13 on a horrible note: Samaria shall bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword; their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open. (13:16) But that’s his necessary transition to his main message – return! Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take with you words and return to the LORD… (14:1-2a) It’s easy to miss something very important, Take with you words… Hosea is telling these people that their sacrifice of bulls and goats is not enough, but what is needed is a turning of their hearts, their words!

Sadly, we never see that Israel repented. We learn that they went away into exile to Assyria in 722 BC. And we sometimes speak of “the ten lost tribes of Israel”. Judah will also have problems and will go into exile to Babylon in 586 BC, but she will come back (see Ezra, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel). Hosea closes with a proverb for us all, Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. (14:9)

Blessings!

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See also: June 8 (2023) / Hosea 11-14; II Kings 15:1-7

Hosea 11-12

Dear RTB’ers,

Hosea, continued. I’ve often heard that the book of Hosea is basically a love story – a story of God’s love for Israel (and for us!) in spite of their many wanderings from that love (and our own wanderings!). First we saw that in the book’s first three chapters, with Hosea going back to take his wife from her life of harlotry. Now we see that today in different contexts: When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. (11:1) Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk… (11:3a) How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? (11:8a) God loves His people – Israel and us!

Hosea 11 was mostly an expression of God’s love for Israel, but Hosea 12 takes us back into Israel’s history, focusing primarily on Jacob, but also with an aside to Egypt and Moses. We see Jacob’s history in Hosea 12:3-4 and Hosea 12:12, while Moses was the prophet who led the people out of Egypt. (Hosea 12:13)

It’s always nice when we see a New Testament references in these Old Testament readings. Today, right away we see Matthew citing 11:1b, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” (Matthew 2:15b) Nice.

Blessings!

Hosea 9-10

Dear RTB’ers,

Hosea, continued, God’s punishment of Israel for her iniquities, both civil and spiritual: The days of punishment have come; the days of recompense have come; Israel shall know it. (9:7a) Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house. I will love them no more… (9:15b)

Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; as his country improved, he improved his pillars. Their heart is false; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars and destroy their pillars. (10:1-2) Prosperity, luxury, complacency. An apt description of Israel thousands of years ago – and of us today…??

Blessings!

Hosea 5:15-8:14

Dear RTB’ers,

Hosea, continued. I quoted today’s first verse yesterday: I will return again to My place, until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face, and in their distress earnestly seek Me. (5:15) So naturally the first thing the Israelites do today is to seek Him: “Come, let’s return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.” (6:1) But God is not listening to their superficial repentance: “For your loyalty is like a morning cloud, and like the dew which goes away early.” (6:4b) And He continues like that for these three chapters! “But they do not consider that I remember all their evil.” (7:2) “I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me. They do not cry to Me from the heart…” (7:13b-14a). “I have spurned your calf, O Samaria … a craftsman made it; it is not God.” (8:5a, 6a) “As for My sacrificial offerings, they sacrifice meat and eat it, but the Lord does not accept them.” (8:13a)

A bit of their then-current history… Israel was in serious trouble from their neighbors. Recall John’s comment from a few days ago, his “Tips on the Prophets”, about the hostility from their surrounding nations. So their first reaction is a political alliance, to look for help from the south (Egypt) or the north (Assyria) instead of seriously seeking the Lord: “Ephraim is like a dove, silly and without sense, calling to Egypt, going to Assyria.” (v. 7:11)

All this is thousands of years ago?? But it sounds so familiar…!!

Blessings!

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See also: June 7 (2028) / Hosea 5:8-9:17