Psalm 105:37-45

Today’s reading completes the psalmist’s overview of the Exodus. We see how the Egyptians sent the Israelites away, even giving them silver and gold. (Ps. 105:37,38; Ex. 12:33-36) We see God’s faithfulness in guiding them and in providing them with food and water all through the wilderness. (Ps. 105:39-41; Ex. 13-17, plus the rest of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) Finally, we see that He gave Israel possession of the land that He had promised to Abraham. (Ps. 105:42-45; Joshua 1-24.)

The LORD is indeed a good and faithful God, Who does what He says. God always does what is good and right, and He always does it the best way. He never fails to accomplish His plans and purposes. This psalm celebrates God’s faithfulness. Let’s do the same.

Psalm 105:16-36

The psalmist continues recounting highlights of Israel’s early history. We see Joseph, having been sold into slavery by his brothers, rising to power as Pharaoh’s right-hand man (Ps. 105:16-22). We also see that it is God Who summons a famine on the land, and it is God Who sent Joseph to Egypt as the way to rescue Jacob (Israel) and his family, to preserve them through the famine (Ps. 105:16,17,23). For details on that history, see Genesis 37-50.

So Israel sojourns in Egypt, and God blesses them, causing them to multiply and to become strong. But God also turns the hearts of the Egyptians against them (Ps. 105:23-25). See Exodus 1.

Then we see that God chooses Moses and Aaron to deliver the people of Israel, working signs and wonders and bringing severe plagues upon Egypt (Ps. 105:26-36). See Exodus 2-12:32.

It’s easy to look at all of these works of God from our (or even the psalmist’s) perspective, hundreds of years after the fact, with all our hindsight, and with the knowledge of how the story works out. We can see God’s faithfulness. We can see His power. And we can sing praises accordingly. But put yourself into the story, as all these events were unfolding. How did it look for Joseph when his brothers were selling him into slavery, or when he was languishing in prison? How did it look for everybody in the area during the famine that God sent to drive Jacob and his family to Egypt? How did it look for the Israelites during the four centuries between Joseph and Moses? How did it look for the Israelites as the hearts of the Egyptians were turned against them by the LORD? Or how did it look for the average Egyptian as the plagues were poured out?

Clearly, things did not always look so rosy as God worked out His purposes. Yet all the “bad” stuff — all the waiting, all the pain, all the silence, all the suffering — was just as much part of the story, just as much part of the plan as the “good” stuff, perhaps even more so. So the next time you are contemplating “glory sightings”, don’t just look for the things that make you feel all warm and fuzzy. Look for all those hard things, those trials that God is using to conform you to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29), because that’s the real deal: Christ in you, the hope of glory! (Col. 1:28)

Psalm 105:1-15

Psalm 105 is a testament to the LORD’s faithfulness to the people of Israel. It highlights several “glory sightings” extending from Abraham to the Exodus.

Today’s reading reminds us of God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (aka Israel), how He promised to give the land of Canaan to their descendants (Ps. 105:8-11) and how He protected them as they sojourned in various places (Ps. 105:12-15). If you want to refresh your memory on that period of history — with a good deal more detail! — see Genesis 12-36.

As the psalmist recalls Israel’s history, we likewise should recall our own history. Remember how God has touched your life. Call to mind how He has been faithful to you. And share your (that is, His) story with someone. Make known his deeds among the peoples! (v. 1)

Psalm 104:24-35

O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

Psalm 104:24

Our reading today continues to give glory to the LORD as the Creator. He is the One Who made it all, and He is the One Who rules over all. He is the One Who gives and sustains all life. And He is the One Who deserves all the glory and praise.

Yesterday, I suggested going outside to take a good look at nature and to let that look lead you to worship our Creator. Do it again today. And tomorrow. In fact, make a habit of it.

I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

Psalm 104:33

Bless the LORD, O my soul!

Psalm 104:1-23

We are back to the Psalms today, but Fred wants to extend his “vacation”, so it looks like you are still stuck with me. Sorry about that.

Psalm 104 begins with the same refrain we heard in Psalm 103: Bless the LORD, O my soul! It goes on to extol the LORD as the Creator, as the One Who set the earth on its foundations (Ps 104:5), the One Who formed the seas, the mountains, the valleys (Ps 104:6-9). He is the One Who waters the earth, Who gives life to all the plants and animals and mankind (Ps 104:10-18). He is the One Who orders day and night and seasons by the sun and the moon (Ps 104:19-23). He is the One responsible for all we see.

I grew up in Iowa. It’s one of those places with “big sky” because there isn’t much blocking the view from horizon to horizon — unless you happen to be standing in a cornfield with the corn at full height, in which case you can’t see anything! The night sky there is tremendous, with views of stars, planets, the Milky Way, and even the northern lights on occasion. But I spent most of my adult life in Northern Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C., a place that is most definitely not “big sky”, and the light pollution from the city blots out all but the brightest stars. There it is easy to neglect to look up, because it seems like there isn’t much to see. And the culture of the nation’s capital reinforces that notion with its focus on earthly things, particularly power and wealth.

It is easy to get so focused on the man-made, on modern technology, or human achievements, or entertainment, or whatever, that we forget about the wonders of creation. On the other hand, there are those who do indeed see the natural world, but — unwilling to acknowledge God — become enthralled with nature itself. (See Rom. 1:25.) Let’s not make either mistake. Open your eyes. Go outside. Look around. Marvel at the structure, the order, the beauty, the grandeur of nature. Then worship its — and your — Creator!

Proverbs 31:10-31

An excellent wife who can find?

Proverbs 31:10a

I found one!

---

Our reading today brings us to the end of Proverbs, and what a great way to end!

I hope that our walk through this book of wisdom has served to spur us all on in our personal pursuits of true wisdom. I hope it has been useful and thought-provoking. I hope it has shaken us up and torn down false notions we might have held for years. I hope it has convicted us of both sin and folly. I hope it has encouraged and inspired us, and given us insight for living life well. Most of all, I hope it has drawn us closer to the heart of our Father.

Proverbs 31:1-9

You know how moms can have a kind of sixth sense about what their kids are up to? When our younger son was a boy, perhaps 6 or 7 years old, my wife heard some “interesting” sounds emanating from his room. She called up the stairs to him asking, “What are you doing?”

Silence.

After a few uneasy moments came the reply: “Nothing … anymore!”

It was a reply that was technically truthful, but not altogether honest.

The mother of King Lemuel (whoever that might be — I have no idea) perhaps had a similar sixth sense about her son and similarly asked: What are you doing, my son? (Pr. 31:2) Change “son” to “child”, and that’s a question we could all hear from our Father in heaven — a question we should attend to, and answer honestly. When you are getting into mischief, what are you doing, my child? When you are focused on yourself, what are you doing, my child? When you are lured and enticed by your own desires, what are you doing, my child? When you are filled with resentment, what are you doing, my child?

Today, what are you doing, my child?

Proverbs 30:21-33

Under three things the earth trembles;
under four it cannot bear up:
a slave when he becomes king,
and a fool when he is filled with food;
an unloved woman when she gets a husband,
and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.

Proverbs 30:21-23

What?

What is it about these four scenarios that is so earth shattering? Today we often root for the underdog. We like a good rags-to-riches story, so what is wrong with a slave becoming king? And we like a good romance, so what is wrong with an unloved woman finally finding a husband?

The problem isn’t so much that there is anything wrong in the immediate situation, but in the aftermath. That is, what tends to happen within people who suddenly find themselves in positions of privilege or authority? Sad to say, they do not tend to exercise such newfound authority well. They tend to lord it over all around them. A slave who becomes king turns into a tyrant; a maidservant that becomes the mistress looks down on all the other servants. Think of the nouveau riche who flaunt their wealth with newly acquired snobbery.

All of that should serve as a strong caution for us as Christians. None of us deserves the grace we have been given. Each of us represents the ultimate rags-to-riches story. But in our sainthood, we often start looking down on all those sinners “out there”, forgetting that we ourselves are no better. We say that we can’t work our way to heaven, yet we treat the decision to follow Jesus as just such a work. We see our wise exercise of free will as evidence that we are better or smarter than everybody else. Let’s stop patting ourselves on the back and remember the lavish grace of God: “There but for the grace of God, go I…”

Proverbs 30:11-20

There are those who curse their fathers
and do not bless their mothers.
…
The eye that mocks a father
and scorns to obey a mother
will be picked out by the ravens of the valley
and eaten by the vultures.

Proverbs 30:11,17

Honoring one’s parents is a notion that we see often in the Scriptures. Indeed, it is one of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:12; Dt. 5:16), and Paul reiterates it clearly (Eph. 6:1-3; Col. 3:20). It forms an undercurrent that runs throughout Proverbs, which takes a dim view of disrespecting parents, as is made abundantly clear here.

Interestingly, the commandment to “honor your father and mother” makes no attempt to focus that honor only on perfect parents or even on reasonably good parents. The commandment is there for us all, whether our parents are good, neglectful, or outright abusive. And that makes this commandment a serious challenge for some, if not most. It is hard to honor someone that we know to be less than what they should be, yet we are still called to honor our parents.

Needless to say, our culture — at war with God in multiple ways — provides little help for us here and makes honoring parents all the more difficult. Sitcoms and commercials routinely bash parents — particularly fathers — as incompetent fools. Psychology and sociology often blame parents for the sins of the children. Teachers and coaches often undermine the very parents that they should be supporting. And, of course, all those things make good sense to us at some level at least some of the time. That is, we laugh at the sitcoms because they ring (partly) true; sometimes criminal behavior is clearly the result of horrendous parenting; sometimes teachers and coaches really do steer kids onto better paths than their parents would. And so we fall into the trap, and we rationalize away a core truth of Scripture.

So I encourage us all to fight back. Take time to evaluate our relationships with our parents. Take a good, honest look at who they are (or were), their strengths and their weaknesses, their successes and their failings. Forgive them for all the ways they messed up. And honor them, simply because they gave you life.

Proverbs 30:1-10

Who has ascended to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is his son’s name?
Surely you know!

Proverbs 30:4

This verse immediately transports me back to our tour through Job, to where God shows up and starts challenging Job, especially in Job 38:5a: Who determined [the earth’s] measurements—surely you know! So take a look back at what we said then. I’ll wait…

Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the LORD?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.

Proverbs 30:7-9

I have long thought this to be an exceptionally wise prayer: give me neither poverty nor riches. It recognizes the danger of either extreme, of being either rich or poor. And it seeks to avoid the temptations associated with either end of that spectrum. We see these temptations play out around us — the rich who become arrogant in their wealth under the delusion that they are self-sufficient and have no need of God, and the poor losing faith and taking matters into their own hands. The Lord explicitly warns the Israelites against the “rich” temptation in Deuteronomy 8:11-17. Meanwhile, although we may sympathize with the poor, there are no exemptions for the poor in “Thou shalt not steal.” So, it is safest to have neither too much nor too little. Call it “The Goldilocks Prayer”, if you will, but it’s a good one!