Psalms 86, 102, 109, 139-141, 143

You may have noticed a common theme in many of the psalms today and lately: the call for God’s judgment and vengeance upon the wicked, often quite graphically. Are you uncomfortable when the Psalms say such things? Do you think that such sentiments are somehow “unchristian”? Do you even feel guilty reading/praying these psalms? Do you think, then, that the psalmist is wrong, and that if Jesus were given an editor’s pen that He would thoroughly rewrite these psalms, striking out all those “nasty” verses?

Think again.

Jesus himself declares that Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35), so the Editor’s pen is not an option. Yes, Jesus tells us to love our enemies (Mt. 5:44), and yes, Peter says that the Lord does not [wish] that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (II Peter 3:9) And so, yes, we should pray likewise, that the wicked would repent and find salvation in Jesus. But it should be abundantly clear that most of the wicked cling to their sin and never repent. Given that the wicked remain wicked, what then should our (and the psalmist’s) prayer be? It should be exactly what the psalmist does, in fact, pray. So stop being hesitant about asking the LORD to set things right. Stop feeling guilty about praying for justice. The LORD knows how to execute that justice properly.

See also:

• August 8 (2022) / Psalm 86
• August 28 (2022) / Psalm 102:1-17
• August 29 (2022) / Psalm 102:18-23
• October 5 (2022) / Psalm 109:1-20
• October 6 (2022) / Psalm 109:21-31
• December 17 (2022) / Psalm 139:1-12
• December 18 (2022) / Psalm 139:13-24
• December 19 (2022) / Psalm 140
• December 20 (2022) / Psalm 141
• December 22 (2022) / Psalm 143

Psalms 53, 55, 58, 61, 64, 69-71

For it is for Your sake that I have borne reproach,
that dishonor has covered my face.

Psalm 69:7

Good people are always a reproach to the wicked, because they are quite unwilling to sanction their crimes. They carefully withdraw from them, join in no compact with them. These reproaches bear witness to the slaps, scourgings and spitting that the Lord Savior endured from the mad crowd.

Cassiodorus, “Expositions on the Psalms”

It seems to me that in commenting on Ps. 69:7 Cassiodorus here flips the verse on its head. The verse talks about how the psalmist (or, really, Christ — see Ps. 69:9; Rom. 15:3) bears (erroneous) reproach from the wicked, but Cassiodorus talks about how the wicked feel (correctly) reproached by the righteousness of the righteous. Food for thought…

See also:

• June 2 (2022) / Psalms 53-54
• June 3 (2022) / Psalm 55:1-14
• June 4 (2022) / Psalm 55:15-23
• June 7 (2022) / Psalm 58
• June 10 (2022) / Psalm 61
• June 13 (2022) / Psalm 64
• June 19 (2022) / Psalm 69:1-12
• June 20 (2022) / Psalm 69:13-28
• June 21 (2022) / Psalm 69:29-36
• June 22 (2022) / Psalm 70
• June 23 (2022) / Psalm 71:1-13
• June 24 (2022) / Psalm 71:14-24

Psalms 35-36, 38, 40-41

For with You is the fountain of life;
in Your light do we see light.

Psalm 36:9

What other light of God can we speak of in which a person sees light except God’s spiritual power, which when it lightens a person causes him either to see clearly the truth of all things or to know God Who is called the Truth? Such then is the meaning of the saying “in Your light we shall see light;” that is, in Your word and Your wisdom which is Your Son, in Him shall we see You, the Father.

Origen

Since the fount is life, and life is Christ, the fount is Christ … By meditating on what is made, we will see Christ, and in understanding Christ, we will see God.

Evagrius of Pontus

See also:

• March 31 (2022) / Psalm 35:1-10
• April 1 (2022) / Psalm 35:11-18
• April 2 (2022) / Psalm 35: 19-28
• April 3 (2022) / Psalm 36
• April 8 (2022) / Psalm 38:1-12
• April 9 (2022) / Psalm 38:13-22
• April 11 (2022) / Psalm 40:1-8
• April 12 (2022) / Psalm 40:9-17
• April 13 (2022) / Psalm 41

Psalms 25-28, 31

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 27:1

If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:31b

I hope that we all always read these Scriptures in context. We must not forget that David himself faced many perils, many hardships, many sorrows — over long periods of time — and that these laments are written while in distress, yet he expresses hope and faith in the LORD. Similarly, Paul’s letter to the Romans does not indicate that “bad stuff” will not happen to the believer. Quite the contrary, the context leans far more toward the expectation that “bad stuff” will most certainly happen to the believer, but that none of it can separate us from God’s love in Christ. (Romans 8:31-39)

See also:

• March 17 (2022) / Psalm 25:1-11
• March 18 (2022) / Psalm 25:12-22
• March 19 (2022) / Psalm 26
• March 20 (2022) / Psalm 27
• March 21 (2022) / Psalm 28
• March 24 (2022) / Psalm 31:1-13
• March 25 (2022) / Psalm 31:14-24

Psalms 11-14, 16-17, 22

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

Psalm 14:1

To whom do you listen? To the news media? To Hollywood? To social media? To celebrities or other “influencers”? To politicians? To scientists? To experts?

And do they say — either explicitly or by the lives they lead — “There is no God”?

Why, then, do you listen to such fools?

See also:

• January 12 (2022) / Psalm 11
• January 13 (2022) / Psalm 12
• January 14 (2022) / Psalm 13
• January 15 (2022) / Psalm 14
• January 17 (2022) / Psalm 16
• January 18 (2022) / Psalm 17
• January 29 (2022) / Psalm 22:1-10
• January 30 (2022) / Psalm 22:11-21
• January 31 (2022) / Psalm 22:22-31

Psalms 4-6, 9-10

We all know that David wrote a lot of psalms. We have already read those that are tied to specific events in David’s life. Now for the next several days, we get to read the rest of them, with just a couple of peeks back into Chronicles. So settle into the Psalms for the next several days. It may seem like we are racing through them, so you may want to schedule some extra time to be able to sit with each one individually. Take a look at last year’s comments and think about what you yourself might say. And then let the rest of us know.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

Psalm 9:18

Officiant Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
People Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.

2019 Book of Common Prayer, pp. 22,48

Ever wonder where the BCP gets its prayers?

See also:

• January 4 (2022) / Psalm 4
• January 5 (2022) / Psalm 5
• January 6 (2022) / Psalm 6
• January 9 (2022) / Psalm 9:1-10
• January 10 (2022) / Psalm 9:11-20
• January 11 (2022) / Psalm 10

I Kings 1-2

OK, I confess. I am a little irritated at The Chronological Study Bible’s schedule of readings. Following their schedule, we today come to the end of David’s life and proceed a few years into the reign of David’s son, Solomon. But we are by no means done yet with David. We will be reading his psalms and learning of other things he does for the rest of this month, so today’s reading seems premature to me. But be that as it may…

Recall II Samuel 3:2-5. There we learned that when David was at Hebron, he had six sons in this order: Amnon, Chileab (aka Daniel), Absalom, Adonijah, Shephatiah, and Ithream. Of course, he also subsequently had other sons and daughters, including Solomon. (I Ch. 3:1-9) Absalom killed Amnon, and Joab killed Absalom in Absalom’s rebellion. Nothing is otherwise known about Chileab/Daniel, so it is probably safe to say that he died as a child. That makes Adonijah the current eldest son and thus the presumptive heir to David’s throne. As David becomes old and frail, Adonijah acts upon that presumption and sets himself up as king with the support of Joab and Abiathar, which sets off all manner of political maneuverings to ensure that the younger Solomon — with David’s support — is instead anointed and proclaimed as king.

Solomon does indeed ascend to the throne as a coregent while David is still alive, and Adonijah backs down, averting a war. But in the course of time, Solomon finds good reasons for eliminating four significant figures:

• He kills his brother and rival, Adonijah, when Adonijah asks for Abishag as wife (making it clear that Adonijah still has ambitions for the throne)
• He expels Abiathar from the priesthood for his support for Adonijah, fulfilling the curse on Eli’s house (I Sam. 2:27-36; I Kings 2:26-27)
• He kills Joab, ostensibly for his support for Adonijah, but really as a just sentence for Joab’s murders of Abner and Amasa (I kings 2:5-6, 28-35)
• He kills Shimei for a parole violation, but really as retribution for Shimei’s cursing of David during Absalom’s rebellion (II Sam. 16:5-14; 19:16-23; I Kings 2:8-9, 36-46)

What is curious to me in all of this is why David didn’t handle all these things earlier himself. Why was it not obvious to everyone (including Adonijah) that Solomon was to be king? Why didn’t David properly sentence Joab to death for the murder of Abner years earlier, or later for the murder of Amasa? Why did David initially show mercy to Shimei and swear not to kill him for his cursing, only to then hold on to that grudge and instruct Solomon to deal with him? Those are all questions we cannot answer, so it is perhaps fruitless to ask them, but still I wonder…

And I wonder about myself. Do I have unfinished business? Am I leaving messes behind that I expect my kids to clean up for me after I am gone? I know I have plenty of physical messes — stacks of paper and way too much junk — which will be bad enough for my kids to sort through. I sure hope I don’t leave relational messes…

Psalm 60; I Chronicles 18:14-21:30; II Samuel 24

Today our readings in I Chronicles 18-20 replay what we’ve already seen in II Samuel, telling us lots of positive things about David and his reign. But Chronicles completely avoids any mention of David’s sin with Bathsheba and Absalom’s subsequent rebellion. Interesting.

Then we get to I Chronicles 21 and II Samuel 24. Both chapters tell us of a new and tragic episode in David’s history in which David wrongly calls for a census. Seeing as how we’re reading the story twice already today, I’m not going to rehash it here. Let’s just briefly consider the opening lines for each version:

Again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and He incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”

II Samuel 24:1

Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.

I Chronicles 21:1

Um…

OK, so maybe we won’t consider those two statements much at all, because we clearly do not have the bandwidth here for a full theological treatise. Suffice it to say that God, in His sovereignty over everything, makes use of evil forces (like Satan) to accomplish His good purposes. We’ve seen that before in Scripture, and we’ll see it again and again. (For the ultimate example, consider the Cross…)

Although it is obvious from the outset that the census is a bad idea and that David is wrong to do it, neither Samuel nor Chronicles explains why. It may be that David is trusting in his strength of arms rather than the LORD, in marked contrast to that younger David who slew Goliath “against all odds”. Or it may be that David is looking to boast over the size of his kingdom, puffed up in his own pride. Or maybe there is some other reason. The fact that we are not explicitly told suggests to me that the reason is somewhat immaterial. What really matters is the ending: David’s purchase of the threshing floor of Araunah/Ornan the Jebusite and his building of an altar there. Why is that important? Because that is the spot on which Solomon will build the Temple. (II Chronicles 3:1) (We won’t get to that for another month, so stay tuned…)

See also, June 9 (2022) / Psalm 60.

II Samuel 22-23; I Chronicles 18:1-13

II Samuel 22 is nearly identical to Psalm 18, which we read on April 1.

With the merciful you show yourself merciful;
with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
with the purified you deal purely,
and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.

II Samuel 22:26-27 (cf. Psalm 18:25-26)

God is, of course, exactly Who He is, regardless of what we think. But how we perceive Him says a lot about ourselves. Does He appear to be crooked, unjust, or “tortuous”? Then take a look within.

See also:

• January 19 (2022) / Psalm 18:1-15
• January 20 (2022) / Psalm 18:16-24
• January 21 (2022) / Psalm 18:25-36
• January 22 (2022) / Psalm 18:37-45
• January 23 (2022) / Psalm 18:46-50

II Samuel 21

Remember the Gibeonites? They are the people who escaped the violent conquest of the Promised Land by dressing up in old rags and claiming to be from a far off country, tricking Joshua and the people of Israel into agreeing to spare them. (If you need a refresher, see Joshua 9 and the March 6 post.) Joshua entered into that covenant with the Gibeonites under their false pretenses and without consulting the LORD. I am guessing that Saul took that as sufficient grounds to nullify the covenant and to start killing off the Gibeonites (II Sam. 21:2), but the LORD evidently disagreed and instead affirmed the covenant, bringing judgment in the form of a three-year famine upon Israel for their bloodguilt in violating the covenant. David makes atonement to the Gibeonites by handing over seven descendants of Saul for execution. (II Sam. 21:6) Then he subsequently gathers the bones of Saul, Jonathan, and those seven men and gives them a proper, honorable burial, after which the LORD lifts the famine. (II Sam. 21:14)

Before we get all bent out of shape regarding the fates of Saul’s descendants, let me redraw the scene in more contemporary terms. Saul is guilty of a war crime. All his family members are coconspirators, supporters of his brutal pogrom against the Gibeonites. Now consider the Nuremburg trials and the subsequent executions of the Nazi leadership. Is our (relatively) modern sense of justice really all that different from what David and the Gibeonites do? (If we are still howling in protest, perhaps we should take a moment and go brew ourselves a cup of humility and drink it down. And then maybe go brew another and prayerfully consider that maybe, just maybe, the Judge of all the earth and God of all righteousness knows better than we.)

So how about the famine? How do you really think about the weather, or climate change, or natural disasters in general (e.g., earthquakes)? Are all these things mere physics, with God standing aloof, thoroughly detached? Or is our natural environment available for God to use as He sees fit? Is He in control or not? If God is not in control or stands aloof, then nature is morally neutral and whatever happens just happens. But the Bible clearly teaches otherwise.

We all know climate change is currently a major political issue. Some deny that there is any such thing. Others acknowledge that the climate is changing but that humans have little or nothing to do with it. And still others say that human use of fossil fuels is entirely to blame and that we have only a few years before the whole world literally goes up in smoke. I am not here to stake out a position on that. But let’s suppose, for the sake of argument, that climate change is in God’s hands and that it is His instrument of judgment. Perhaps, then, the real solution to the problem has less to do with finding ways to reduce our carbon footprint and more to do with repentance. Maybe we need to stop thumbing our national (or worldwide) nose at God. Maybe we need to turn away from immorality. Maybe we need to heed His voice. Maybe we need to bow before Him. Maybe we need to repent.