He remembers that we are dust

Psalm 103:1-22 TNIV

Praise the Lord, my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, my soul,

and forget not all his benefits—

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The Lord works righteousness

and justice for all the oppressed.

He made known his ways to Moses,

his deeds to the people of Israel:

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse,

nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us as our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

for he knows how we are formed,

he remembers that we are dust.

As for mortals, their days are like grass,

they flourish like a flower of the field;

the wind blows over it and it is gone,

and its place remembers it no more.

But from everlasting to everlasting

the Lord ’s love is with those who fear him,

and his righteousness with their children’s children—

with those who keep his covenant

and remember to obey his precepts.

The Lord has established his throne in heaven,

and his kingdom rules over all.

Praise the Lord, you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his bidding,

who obey his word.

Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,

you his servants who do his will.

Praise the Lord, all his works

everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.


My thoughts -

Why do we praise God? The psalmist here seems to have a pretty robust understanding. He lists what God does:

God forgives. God heals. God rescues. God loves. God is compassionate. God fulfills desires. God is righteous and works for justice for the oppressed. God does not treat us like what we deserve in our sin but is gracious and merciful.

These are all wonderful things about God. When we worship we tell of God and of the wonderful things that God does. But there's something else we do. We acknowledge that God is God and that we are not and we humbly submit. We offer ourselves, such as we are, to God.

Let's look again, starting with verse 13:

As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

for he knows how we are formed,

he remembers that we are dust.

As for mortals, their days are like grass,

they flourish like a flower of the field;

the wind blows over it and it is gone,

and its place remembers it no more.

But from everlasting to everlasting

the Lord ’s love is with those who fear him,

and his righteousness with their children’s children—

with those who keep his covenant

and remember to obey his precepts.

We are mortal. We are born and then a few short years later we die. Our lives are a blink. God is eternal. God is forever. Before time began God is. After time ends God is. This mortal brain stuck in time and here for only a short while can't begin to fathom that. The vastness that is God is barely approachable to me. Quite simply I can't comprehend God. Not really. Not fully.

But we do experience God. And we do acknowledge that God is greater. And we do have faith and trust God and try to live the life that God desires for us. And we do have hope that God's love is greater than anything we could ever consider the possibility of maybe someday understanding.

We have hope that God's love endures far beyond our mortal bodies. God's love is from everlasting to everlasting. I don't understand how this is. I don't need to. And even if I did I wouldn't be able to. Some things are beyond knowing. I just have faith that it is.

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Do you show your wonders to the dead?

Psalm 88:1-18 TNIV

Lord, you are the God who saves me;

day and night I cry out to you.

May my prayer come before you;

turn your ear to my cry.

I am overwhelmed with troubles

and my life draws near to death.

I am counted among those who go down to the pit;

I am like one without strength.

I am set apart with the dead,

like the slain who lie in the grave,

whom you remember no more,

who are cut off from your care.

You have put me in the lowest pit,

in the darkest depths.

Your wrath lies heavily on me;

you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.

You have taken from me my closest friends

and have made me repulsive to them.

I am confined and cannot escape;

my eyes are dim with grief.

I call to you, Lord, every day;

I spread out my hands to you.

Do you show your wonders to the dead?

Do their spirits rise up and praise you?

Is your love declared in the grave,

your faithfulness in Destruction?

Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,

or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

But I cry to you for help, Lord;

in the morning my prayer comes before you.

Why, Lord, do you reject me

and hide your face from me?

From my youth I have suffered and been close to death;

I have borne your terrors and am in despair.

Your wrath has swept over me;

your terrors have destroyed me.

All day long they surround me like a flood;

they have completely engulfed me.

You have taken from me friend and neighbor—

darkness is my closest friend.


My thoughts -

The idea of an all knowing, all loving, all powerful God seems to be defeated in suffering. You can ask if God is all knowing then shouldn't God have seen this coming? If God is all loving why would God allow suffering to happen? If God is all powerful then can't God do something to stop it?

The psalmist here is overwhelmed by suffering. He is crying out to God in anguish and counting his life as not worth living, himself as essentially already among the dead. He has cried out to God to save him, he says that he cries out every day, and yet he has found no relief. There is no hope. He's as good as gone.

The psalmist feels forsaken. He feels abandoned by God. More than abandoned he feels oppressed by God. He is telling God that his suffering is God's doing. Absent an all knowing, all loving, all powerful God that suffering has defeated he has opted for an all powerful one that has taken love away. God has become the oppressor. He has cried out to God and has received no relief. Worse than that he has received wrath.

I want desperately for this psalm to have a happy ending but it doesn't. I want the psalmist to express hope and confidence in God's plan and purpose but he doesn't. Suffering is okay if you know it is for a short time and then God makes everything better. We even have hope in heaven. If it doesn't work out in this life we always have the next, and this time it will be perfect. You'll see.

This psalmist has no hope in the next life. But he does raise an interesting thought. I love the questions he asks beginning with verse 10:

Do you show your wonders to the dead?

Do their spirits rise up and praise you?

Is your love declared in the grave,

your faithfulness in Destruction?

Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,

or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

Death is darkness. Death is the abyss. Death is the unknown. Death is destruction. The psalmist is resigned to his fate. He is suffering. He will die. This offers him little hope. And yet he asks these questions. It feels so optimistic in the midst of despair. A morbid optimism, sure. But optimistic.

And of course that is our hope, isn't it? We believe that God's love is shown beyond the grave. We believe that Jesus died and destroyed the darkness once and for all. Death is not the final word. Death is not the last chapter. Death has been destroyed. Destruction, as the psalmist calls it here, has been destroyed.

It seems crazy when the psalmist speculates it. Almost a wild fantasy. Can love extend into and beyond the grave? Can the dead rise up and praise God? Can love be found even in the darkness?

The psalmist can find no love even in this life. He's endured more than he can bear. He can't take it any more. He has no hope.

And yet still he does. A wild, crazy, almost irresponsibly optimistic hope that somehow God's love may be found even in the darkness, even in death.

And of course we share this hope. We call him Jesus.

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God and "gods"

Psalm 82:1-8 TNIV

God presides in the great assembly;

he gives judgment among the “gods”:

“How long will you defend the unjust

and show partiality to the wicked?

Defend the weak and the fatherless;

uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.

Rescue the weak and the needy;

deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

“The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.

They walk about in darkness;

all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

“I said, ‘You are “gods”;

you are all sons of the Most High.’

But you will die like mere mortals;

you will fall like every other ruler.”

Rise up, O God, judge the earth,

for all the nations are your inheritance.


My thoughts -

The problem with the somewhat superficial nature of my devotional reading right now is that I feel like I am really missing out on some depth in places. This psalm reminds me of that.

First, what I do get. Obviously this psalm like so much in the Old Testament reinforces God's concern for the poor, the weak, the vulnerable, the oppressed and the powerless. When we read about judgement and justice it is almost always accompanied by concern for the poor and the powerless. That's justice. Defending those who can not defend themselves. Protecting those who can not protect themselves.

The powerful don't prey on other powerful but instead they prey on the powerless. It's a lot easier when your victim has no recourse. That's where God and God's people come in. To protect the powerless against the powerful and to ensure that preferential treatment is not given to those with power against those without it. Absent God there's nothing protecting the concerns of the powerless. They have nothing to offer. There's nothing to gain in doing it except that you are doing what is good and right and godly.

Now for what I feel I'm missing. The psalmist is placing God against "gods" and I have no idea what the psalmist means by "gods". I want to say that they are the things of this world that draw our attention and worship away from the Lord our God but that's just because that's what makes sense to me contextually. One thing I see here is that these "gods", while purporting to fill the role of God, clearly are not doing the job of providong for the poor, the needy, and the powerless. They fail to be God.

Some day I'm going to have the time to devote to deeper study. God willing.

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Endow the king with your justice, O God

Psalm 72:1-20 TNIV

Endow the king with your justice, O God,

the royal son with your righteousness.

May he judge your people in righteousness,

your afflicted ones with justice.

May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,

the hills the fruit of righteousness.

May he defend the afflicted among the people

and save the children of the needy;

may he crush the oppressor.

May he endure as long as the sun,

as long as the moon, through all generations.

May he be like rain falling on a mown field,

like showers watering the earth.

In his days may the righteous flourish

and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.

May he rule from sea to sea

and from the River to the ends of the earth.

May the desert tribes bow before him

and his enemies lick the dust.

May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores

bring tribute to him.

May the kings of Sheba and Seba

present him gifts.

May all kings bow down to him

and all nations serve him.

For he will deliver the needy who cry out,

the afflicted who have no one to help.

He will take pity on the weak and the needy

and save the needy from death.

He will rescue them from oppression and violence,

for precious is their blood in his sight.

Long may he live!

May gold from Sheba be given him.

May people ever pray for him

and bless him all day long.

May grain abound throughout the land;

on the tops of the hills may it sway.

May the crops flourish like Lebanon

and thrive like the grass of the field.

May his name endure forever;

may it continue as long as the sun.

Then all nations will be blessed through him,

and they will call him blessed.

Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel,

who alone does marvelous deeds.

Praise be to his glorious name forever;

may the whole earth be filled with his glory.

Amen and Amen.

This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse.


My thoughts -

What is David's prayer? What is David asking God for? What does David see as the job of the king that necessitates the help of God?

David is asking God to endow him, the king, with God's justice. And what does that justice look like? The protection of the needy and vulnerable from powerful oppressors.

That's the first thing David asks for. Justice.

Sure, he asks to be blessed with long life and prosperity, but he first asks for the ability to care for and to protect the needy and the vulnerable.

I wonder if this is the prayer on the lips and the hearts of our leaders, both political and religious.

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Such violent peace?

Psalm 46:1-11 TNIV

God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall;

God will help her at break of day.

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see what the Lord has done,

the desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease

to the ends of the earth.

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the shields with fire.

“Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.”

The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.


My thoughts -

This psalm really struck me this morning. It employs such powerful language to describe how mighty God is. And yet, that power is used for peace. Look at verses 8 and 9:

Come and see what the Lord has done,

the desolations he has brought on the earth.

He makes wars cease

to the ends of the earth.

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the shields with fire.

Look at the desolations he has brought. He breaks the bow. He shatters the spear. He burns the shield. Here God is being describe essentially as violently destroying violence and destruction.

In God we have peace. God has a violent desire for peace as described here. After the tools of violence are described as being destroyed what does God desire? Stillness. Peace.

Be still and know I am God.

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My Lord and my Savior

Psalm 38:1-22 TNIV

Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger

or discipline me in your wrath.

Your arrows have pierced me,

and your hand has come down on me.

Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;

there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.

My guilt has overwhelmed me

like a burden too heavy to bear.

My wounds fester and are loathsome

because of my sinful folly.

I am bowed down and brought very low;

all day long I go about mourning.

My back is filled with searing pain;

there is no health in my body.

I am feeble and utterly crushed;

I groan in anguish of heart.

All my longings lie open before you, Lord;

my sighing is not hidden from you.

My heart pounds, my strength fails me;

even the light has gone from my eyes.

My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;

my neighbors stay far away.

Those who seek my life set their traps,

those who would harm me talk of my ruin;

all day long they scheme and lie.

I am like the deaf, who cannot hear,

like the mute, who cannot speak;

I have become like one who does not hear,

whose mouth can offer no reply.

Lord, I wait for you;

you will answer, Lord my God.

For I said, “Do not let them gloat

or exalt themselves over me when my feet slip.”

For I am about to fall,

and my pain is ever with me.

I confess my iniquity;

I am troubled by my sin.

Many have become my enemies without cause;

those who hate me without reason are numerous.

Those who repay my good with evil

lodge accusations against me,

though I seek only to do what is good.

Lord, do not forsake me;

do not be far from me, my God.

Come quickly to help me,

my Lord and my Savior.


My thoughts -

When we speak of God and of Jesus we often use the phrase Lord and Savior. But do we know what we are saved from? This psalmist seems to.

Look at the distress in this psalm. The psalmist begs God for mercy. He says he has been pierced and broken. He has nothing left. He has been humbled and brought low before the Lord. He knows that he can not endure by his own strength. He's got nothing left. He's hit rock bottom. He even says he is "utterly crushed". We say sometimes that the things we endure may break us but he hasn't just been broken but crushed.

This psalmist is overrun and overwhelmed. He is pierced, broken, and crushed. He is grieving. He is racked with guilt. His sin and his enemies have gotten the best of him and he can't take it any more but is powerless to save himself.

So here he comes, humbled and repentant before God confessing his sin and asking, no, begging for mercy.

Lord, do not forsake me; do not be far from me, my God. Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Savior.

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I do not sit with the deceitful

Psalm 26:1-12 TNIV

Vindicate me, Lord,

for I have led a blameless life;

I have trusted in the Lord

and have not faltered.

Test me, Lord, and try me,

examine my heart and my mind;

for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love

and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.

I do not sit with the deceitful,

nor do I associate with hypocrites.

I abhor the assembly of evildoers

and refuse to sit with the wicked.

I wash my hands in innocence,

and go about your altar, Lord,

proclaiming aloud your praise

and telling of all your wonderful deeds.

Lord, I love the house where you live,

the place where your glory dwells.

Do not take away my soul along with sinners,

my life with those who are bloodthirsty,

in whose hands are wicked schemes,

whose right hands are full of bribes.

I lead a blameless life;

redeem me and be merciful to me.

My feet stand on level ground;

in the great congregation I will praise the Lord.

My thoughts -

Sometimes I feel like I have a pretty good grasp of things. Sometimes I feel like I'm pretty together and I understand what's going on. Sometimes I feel almost perfect. Most of the time, though, I am just a flawed, confused, selfish and frustrated human being.

Reading this passage in light of my own issues created an interesting dynamic for me. First, I aspire to have the kind of confident righteousness of the psalmist here. I want to be able to confidently proclaim my trust in the Lord. I want to confidently proclaim how I have always relied on God's unfailing love. I want to confidently proclaim how I have consistently shared the good news of what God has done for us. I want more of what this psalmist seems to have.

But I also wonder what Jesus thinks of this psalm. Reading this psalm against the life of Jesus verses 4 and 5 really jump out:

I do not sit with the deceitful,

nor do I associate with hypocrites.

I abhor the assembly of evildoers

and refuse to sit with the wicked.

Jesus refused to refuse to sit with the "wicked". Jesus associated with sinners. He spent a lot of time catching flack for it from pious religious people like me.

Let's look at verses 9, 10, and 11 again, too:

Do not take away my soul along with sinners,

my life with those who are bloodthirsty,

in whose hands are wicked schemes,

whose right hands are full of bribes.

I lead a blameless life;

redeem me and be merciful to me.

If we're dividing up souls based on who's lived a blameless life I'm in a lot of trouble. I try, and sometimes I do okay but blameless I am not. I'm not even all that good, let alone perfect. Most of the time I'm a mess. If God needs me to be perfect before I can be redeemed I'm just not going to make it. No way. Not happening.

What Jesus has done, then, is to turn this on its head. We can't be perfect so he was for us. He has redeemed us and forgiven our sins and paved a path forward for us so that we can become that which we were created to be.

Maybe I said that wrong. Maybe I should have said that he has paved a path forward so that we can become that which we are being created to be. Creation is a process. I'd like to think that I'm not a finished product yet. I know I've still got some rough edges and a few glitches and bugs. I'm like a beta release. Not quite there yet but a work in progress.

I'd like to think that Jesus sat with sinners and ate with them and ministered to them and died for them so that they, make that us for we are all sinners, can have the righteousness that this psalmist has. Jesus made a way for us to all avoid what the psalmist sees as the fate of sinners.

We can all be redeemed. We can all be set free from both the consequences of our sin and from sin itself. We no longer have to be held captive to our selfish, sinful nature. Jesus did not wait until we were blameless to redeem us but instead he has redeemed us so that we can become blameless.

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Memories

It was a beautiful morning and the forecast for the rest of the week looks a little dicey so I took and extra long ride this morning. My ride took me down memory lane, past the house I lived in as a kid and the elementary school I went to until we moved when I was in second grade. As I rode by my mind wandered until it stumbled across some very vivid memories.

When we were young my dad was establishing his career and so that meant that he traveled some. If he went to LA then he'd come back with Lakers gear and I'd pretend I was Kareem. Not Magic, not Worthy, but Kareem. I always wanted to be the big guy. I don't know why. When other kids dreamed of being Jordan growing up I favored the man who has been mocked for being drafted ahead of him, Sam Bowie. Maybe it's just the UK fan in me but I was convinced (and still am) that if not for injuries he would have been one of the best big men of his generation. I always wanted to be one of those giants like Kareem and Bowie. I always wanted to play the five. Alas, no one ever jumped at the chance to sign the next great 6'1" center so my hoop dreams faded.

I remember one trip dad went to DC and came back with Redskins jerseys for us. We went out to the big yard by the school (odd, it was much smaller this morning when I rode by - I wonder who shrunk it) and threw a football around dreaming of playing for the Redskins. They must have been great, otherwise dad wouldn't have bothered to buy the jerseys. Dad played high school football and quit because he didn't care for the conditioning. The way he described the dictatorial coaches forcing the players to run with all of that heavy equipment on and that water was for wimps I decided that, while football may be a great sport, it is a great sport to watch. My football career was over before it had a chance to begin.

I also remembered this morning how we used to ride bikes in the old neighborhood down to the corner store to buy baseball cards. Baseball was a big deal back then. We'd play pickup games in the street with all of the kids from the neighborhood. It was a pretty quiet street, so you could do that for a while. Every once in a while the game would stop for a car to get through but we didn't mind. That was just a part of the ground rules.

Dad would take us to Cincinnati sometimes to see the Reds play, even though he hated the Reds. I never understood this. He explained that his dad was a Dodgers fan from back when they played in Brooklyn. This fandom carried over even when they moved to LA. Since the Dodgers and the Reds were in the same division, as a Dodgers fan he was obligated to hate the Reds. Division rivalries are something I don't think kids intuitively understand, so I just decided to like both teams. Besides, how could anyone hate the Reds? They had Pete Rose.

I wanted to be a baseball player. I dreamed of playing in the big leagues. That was something I wanted more than anything else. I loved baseball. But when I got to high school I found that my love of baseball was lost somewhere between wind sprints and stadium laps. Conditioning was the enemy. If conditioning was required for it then maybe baseball wasn't so great, after all. In hindsight it was no great loss for baseball. No one was jumping at the chance to sign a 150lb corner infielder with no work ethic to speak of.

It is odd that I would bike past my old home this morning given my reasons for leaving the athletic realm. As I have gotten older I have discovered a love for conditioning. I have discovered a love for running. I have discovered a love for biking. I have discovered a love for sweating profusely and breathing hard. I say that I got into running (and later biking) for existential reasons. And this morning, like most mornings, when I see the sun barely peaking up over the next hill, I see a glimpse of the face of God.

And it's smiling.

How long, Lord, how long?

Psalm 6:1-10 TNIV

Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger

or discipline me in your wrath.

Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint;

heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.

My soul is in deep anguish.

How long, Lord, how long?

Turn, Lord, and deliver me;

save me because of your unfailing love.

Among the dead no one proclaims your name.

Who praises you from the grave?

I am worn out from my groaning.

All night long I flood my bed with weeping

and drench my couch with tears.

My eyes grow weak with sorrow;

they fail because of all my foes.

Away from me, all you who do evil,

for the Lord has heard my weeping.

The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;

the Lord accepts my prayer.

All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish;

they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.

My thoughts-

What an honest plea! I wish I couldn't say this but there have been quite a few nights that I have knelt by the couch in my living room (it may seem odd but I've found that place to be a good place to pray) and poured out my soul like this.

There are a couple of things in particular that I like about this psalm. First, the psalmist asks God to deliver and to save him, not because he is righteous, not because he deserves it, not because of anything that the psalmist has done, but because of God's unfailing love. I don't know the back story here. I don't know anything really about who wrote this psalm or what was going on. I don't know what led this man to this place where he is pleading to God for mercy.

In a way it almost doesn't matter what leads you to the place where you are begging God to deliver you. What matters is the deliverance. What matters is God's unfailing love. What matters is that, even if in desperation, you turn to God and humbly submit, asking for help. We can't do this life on our own. We need God.

Another thing that I like about this psalm is a question the psalmist asks. Maybe I'm reading too much of myself into this situation, but it is a question that on occasion has been known to keep me up at night. It seems to be a fundamental part of being human.

Who praises you from the grave?

The psalmist here seems to make the assumption that death is the end. Death is darkness. Death is the place from which we do not return.

Among the dead no one proclaims your name.

Is the psalmist bartering with God? Is he trying to make a deal? Is he praising God hoping that God would find his praising pleasing so that he can then convince God that those pleasing praises can't come from a dead man?

This man is desperate. I have known this desperation. We all go through this. It is a part of being human. The man is sick with anguish and grief and he needs relief and he needs it now. In his anguish he calls out to God, asking "how long, Lord, how long? His need for deliverance is intense and immediate. He can't take it any more. He needs salvation right now. There may be no more honest prayer than this: God, I need you, and I need you right now.

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Building up and tearing down

Job 29:1-25 TNIV

Job continued his discourse:

“How I long for the months gone by,

for the days when God watched over me,

when his lamp shone on my head

and by his light I walked through darkness!

Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,

when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house,

when the Almighty was still with me

and my children were around me,

when my path was drenched with cream

and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.

“When I went to the gate of the city

and took my seat in the public square,

the young men saw me and stepped aside

and the old men rose to their feet;

the chief men refrained from speaking

and covered their mouths with their hands;

the voices of the nobles were hushed,

and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.

Whoever heard me spoke well of me,

and those who saw me commended me,

because I rescued the poor who cried for help,

and the fatherless who had none to assist them.

Those who were dying blessed me;

I made the widow’s heart sing.

I put on righteousness as my clothing;

justice was my robe and my turban.

I was eyes to the blind

and feet to the lame.

I was a father to the needy;

I took up the case of the stranger.

I broke the fangs of the wicked

and snatched the victims from their teeth.

“I thought, ‘I will die in my own house,

my days as numerous as the grains of sand.

My roots will reach to the water,

and the dew will lie all night on my branches.

My glory will remain fresh in me,

the bow ever new in my hand.’

“People listened to me expectantly,

waiting in silence for my counsel.

After I had spoken, they spoke no more;

my words fell gently on their ears.

They waited for me as for showers

and drank in my words as the spring rain.

When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it;

the light of my face was precious to them.

I chose the way for them and sat as their chief;

I dwelt as a king among his troops;

I was like one who comforts mourners.

Job 30:1-31 TNIV

“But now they mock me,

men younger than I,

whose fathers I would have disdained

to put with my sheep dogs.

Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,

since their vigor had gone from them?

Haggard from want and hunger,

they roamed the parched land

in desolate wastelands at night.

In the brush they gathered salt herbs,

and their food was the root of the broom bush.

They were banished from human society,

shouted at as if they were thieves.

They were forced to live in the dry stream beds,

among the rocks and in holes in the ground.

They brayed among the bushes

and huddled in the undergrowth.

A base and nameless brood,

they were driven out of the land.

“And now those young men mock me in song;

I have become a byword among them.

They detest me and keep their distance;

they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me,

they throw off restraint in my presence.

On my right the tribe attacks;

they lay snares for my feet,

they build their siege ramps against me.

They break up my road;

they succeed in destroying me.

‘No one can help him,’ they say.

They advance as through a gaping breach;

amid the ruins they come rolling in.

Terrors overwhelm me;

my dignity is driven away as by the wind,

my safety vanishes like a cloud.

“And now my life ebbs away;

days of suffering grip me.

Night pierces my bones;

my gnawing pains never rest.

In his great power  God  becomes like clothing to me ;

he binds me like the neck of my garment.

He throws me into the mud,

and I am reduced to dust and ashes.

“I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer;

I stand up, but you merely look at me.

You turn on me ruthlessly;

with the might of your hand you attack me.

You snatch me up and drive me before the wind;

you toss me about in the storm.

I know you will bring me down to death,

to the place appointed for all the living.

“Surely no one lays a hand on those who are crushed

when they cry for help in their distress.

Have I not wept for those in trouble?

Has not my soul grieved for the poor?

Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;

when I looked for light, then came darkness.

The churning inside me never stops;

days of suffering confront me.

I go about blackened, but not by the sun;

I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.

I have become a brother of jackals,

a companion of owls.

My skin grows black and peels;

my body burns with fever.

My lyre is tuned to mourning,

and my pipe to the sound of wailing.

My thoughts -

Job did nothing wrong. He maintained his integrity. He did not sin to cause his own suffering.

We, culturally, like to build up heroes and then we like to watch them fall. Look at how Job describes his former life in chapter 28. He was admired. He was respected. He had it all. But he was also good. He gave to those less fortunate. He took care of the needs of others. He was a godly man. Better by far than anyone I know. Per the prevailing theology of the day Job should expect to be blessed with a long, comfortable life. And yet he is now suffering far more than the worst sinners.

Look at how he is being treated. He has lost everything and not only does he have to endure that but also the ridicule and shame that comes with it. Not only do people mock his misfortune but he is currently in the midst of a theological debate with his "friends" as they try to convince him that all that he is suffering is his own fault; that his problems are of his own making.

And yet Job did nothing wrong. He know this. It is spelled out plainly for us throughout this book. One of the main question Job asks, time and time again throughout this book, is why, if God is so just, do the wicked prosper? Why, if God demands righteousness, do the righteous suffer?

I can't answer those questions. Job eventually gets an answer of sorts from God, but that answer is just the assurance that God is in control and is present.

Maybe that's enough. To just be present for suffering. To not try to argue the whys like Job's friends or to mock and ridicule the suffering of others like those who saw the formerly mighty Job in his weakness and decided to tear him down further. Maybe we just need to be there. Maybe that is enough.

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Job worshipped

Job 1:1-22 TNIV

In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.

One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”

Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

and naked I will depart.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;

may the name of the Lord be praised.”

In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

My thoughts -

Job was a good man. He was also a man who was blessed. He was wealthy, healthy, and had a large family. In a culture that believed that the faithful would be blessed Job had all of the trappings of a particularly faithful and blessed life. Job's life makes sense based on his culture's theology. He will well off, well respected, and in a very close relationship with God. Then everything is taken away.

I love how Job initially responds to this. He has many other responses later, but initially after finding out that essentially all of his wealth and his children are gone he does something I don't think I could imagine doing. He worships:

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

and naked I will depart.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;

may the name of the Lord be praised.”

It is easy to praise God when things are as they should be. When the good are blessed and the wicked are punished and all seems right in the world we can see the hand of God working and give praise. But Job's world was flipped upside down. Things were not ad they should be. Job, a righteous man, one who was so faithful that he even gave offerings to cover his children's sins on the chance that they had committed any. Job was as good as people get, and yet he had to endure this tragedy. And in that tragedy he still saw fit to worship God.

Later Job's health is taken from him. His wife, probably well-intentioned and in love, asks him why he doesn't just curse God and die. That seems like an appropriate response, doesn't it. If God has caused this horrible suffering then God should be cursed. If life is nothing but misery then death is preferable, right? I love what Job says in response to her:

Job 2:10 TNIV

He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

Job did not cause his own suffering. There was no reason for it. It was needless, senseless, horrible and tragic. His culture's and his friends' theology couldn't explain it or make sense of it. Comfort was not found in the "right" beliefs. Job didn't need to repent and return to a right relationship with God. Job never left. Job didn't sin. Job was not the source of his own suffering. And initially, in the face of unthinkable, incomprehensible tragedy, Job worshipped.

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The faith of Mordecai and Esther

Esther 4:5-17 TNIV

Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.

So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate. Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.

Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”

When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”

Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.

My thoughts -

King Xerxes, during a large, drunken celebration, sent for his queen, Vashti. When she refused to go to him he and his advisers decided that Xerxes needed to get himself a new queen. Ultimately Esther, who was raised by her cousin Mordecai, was selected.

Mordecai was a Jew and drew the ire of Haman, who had been elevated above all others by king Xerxes. Haman was enraged that Mordecai, the Jew, would not bow down to him. In his rage he got the king to essentially agree to the extermination of all of the Jews.

Esther, now the queen, hearing that her beloved cousin is in distress, sends for him. Mordecai lets her know what's up. Esther has to do something. It would seem that she is her people's only hope. And yet, she waffles. Look at her response:

“All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”

Esther, rightly I might add, fears the king. She is only the queen because he replaced the previous one that displeased him. Xerxes holds all of the power in this relationship. The law gives him the power to have her killed if she approaches him now. He's clearly not afraid to have people killed as he has already agreed to genocide at the request of Haman. This is a big deal. Esther isn't being stubborn here. Her life is in danger.

And yet, so are the lives of all of her people. Something must be done. If Esther can't do it, what chance do her people stand? They don't stand any chance without her, do they? But then look at the faith in Mordecai's response to Esther:

“Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”

This is the faith of a man who has placed his trust in the Lord. This is the faith of a man who refused to bow down before human rulers. This is the faith of a man who knows that, even if human eyes can't see it and human brains can't conceive it, with God there is always a way. Esther is in a position to serve God. If she won't do it, God will find someone who will.

Esther decides to serve God. She, facing death, goes before the king. And her people are saved. And the fate that Haman desired for the Jews falls on his own head.

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Putting the pieces back together

Nehemiah 4:1-15 TNIV

When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?”

Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”

Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.

So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.

But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.

Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.”

Also our enemies said, “Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work.”

Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”

Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your people, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”

When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to our own work.

My thoughts -

Nehemiah heard that Jerusalem was destroyed and its gates burned down. He wept for the destruction of his homeland. And then, as the king's cupbearer, he decided to see if he could do something about it. With the king's blessing he returned to Jerusalem and began the task of rebuilding.

Rebuilding is a difficult task, whether it is a city, a home, or a life. That difficult task is made even harder when the work becomes interrupted by trouble makers like Nehemiah's was here.

I can't understand or explain why, but some people just want to see others fail. Maybe they're miserable and they want to bring others down to their level. Maybe they're stuck in a pattern of self destructive sin and want believe that it's "normal". Maybe they just find joy in the suffering of others.

Who's to say why some people do the things that they do? But when you're putting the pieces of your broken life back together the last thing that you need is someone telling you that you will fail, that you're not good enough, that it's impossible, that you deserve to be in the hell you're in. The last thing you need is someone to convince you that you should remain broken.

I love Nehemiah's response to this. First, he prayed. Second, he prepared. While Nehemiah had faith that the Lord would protect them from their enemies, he still posted armed guards.

Nehemiah's enemies bullied and intimidated. They made things up about him, even that he was leading a revolt against the king he had faithfully served and who's blessing he had received for this task. Nehemiah trusted in God, prepared for confrontation, and faithfully continued the work he set out to do.

It was a difficult task, made even more so by those determined to see him fail, but Nehemiah trusted God and did his job. 52 days later the wall was rebuilt and the Lord was worshipped in Jerusalem once again.

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The myth of "love"

Forgive me. Got some bad news about some friends. In fact, I've heard a lot of this kind of news lately. I'm afraid that I'm going to rant.

I am sick of what I call the myth of love. You hear it all the time. People fall in love. There's this connection. A spark. This almost obsessive desire to be near to each other. This insatiable infatuation. They can't get enough of each other. That's how you know it's love. It's this feeling you can't explain but share together. It's this natural chemistry. It just works.

These things may feel like love but they are hollow. The newness of the relationship gives way to familiarity and these two find that what they thought they had isn't there anymore. They must not love each other after all.Time to move on.

Love is not in the "spark". The spark may ignite a fire but that too is not love. It may become love. But love is not the spark or the flame. Love is not the smoke, however visible and impressive. Love is there when the flame calms down. Love is found in the burning coals that remain, burning far hotter than the wildest flame.

Love is commitment. Love is dedication. Love is lifting the other up and caring for the other's needs above your own. Love is being there today, tomorrow and always. Love is never giving up on each other and lifting each other up to become the best you both can be. Love doesn't make demands but encourages. Love lifts up and love endures. Love is selfless. Love never gives up and never fails. I don't think you can do any better than how Paul describes love:

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 TNIV

If I speak in human or angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Sometimes we humans just really suck at loving each other. Relationships end. Families are torn apart. Grown men and women act like selfish children. But let's not blame that on love. We've just bought the shallow imitation and then treated it as though it were the real thing.

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Shouts of joy and the sound of weeping

Ezra 3:10-13 TNIV

When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:

“He is good;

his love toward Israel endures forever.”

And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

My thoughts -

What a deeply moving event. First, the temple is being rebuilt. If you recall the worship service the people had when Solomon's temple was completed, this one seems to rival it for enthusiasm. The trumpets are blasting, the people are singing (the same song, in fact) and the Spirit of God is moving.

But along with that joyful noise is a bittersweetness. Those who knew the former temple wept. They knew how far the people had fallen. They knew the former glory. And my guess is they knew that this moment wouldn't last. They would leave this celebration of worship and go back to their lives. And the people would stumble again.

Thank God our God is the God of the second chance. And the third... And the fourth... And the...

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Worship and restoration

2 Chronicles 29:20-36 TNIV

Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials together and went up to the temple of the Lord. They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary and for Judah. The king commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer these on the altar of the Lord. So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it against the altar; next they slaughtered the rams and splashed their blood against the altar; then they slaughtered the lambs and splashed their blood against the altar. The goats for the sin offering were brought before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them. The priests then slaughtered the goats and presented their blood on the altar for a sin offering to atone for all Israel, because the king had ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.

He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets. So the Levites stood ready with David’s instruments, and the priests with their trumpets.

Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the Lord began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel. The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the musicians played and the trumpets sounded. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed.

When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped. King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed down and worshiped.

Then Hezekiah said, “You have now dedicated yourselves to the Lord. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the temple of the Lord .” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings.

The number of burnt offerings the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams and two hundred male lambs—all of them for burnt offerings to the Lord. The animals consecrated as sacrifices amounted to six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep and goats. The priests, however, were too few to skin all the burnt offerings; so their relatives the Levites helped them until the task was finished and until other priests had been consecrated, for the Levites had been more conscientious in consecrating themselves than the priests had been. There were burnt offerings in abundance, together with the fat of the fellowship offerings and the drink offerings that accompanied the burnt offerings.

So the service of the temple of the Lord was reestablished. Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly.

My thoughts -

Hezekiah was a good and faithful king of Judah. His predecessor and father, Ahaz, had been unfaithful up to the point of taking furnishings from the temple of the Lord and turning them into alters for the worship of other gods. He even ordered sacrifices to these other gods.

When Hezekiah became king the first thing he did, in his first month ruling, was to repair and reopen the temple. He then made a new covenant with God and the people, reaffirming that the Lord is their God and they would worship and serve only the Lord. He then prescribed this "revival" service for worship, praise, and rededication.

I love that in worship they were restored to God. The people had fallen. They had followed misguided leadership and had turned away from the God of their ancestors. But with a new king came the call to repent and then to worship and to be restored.

The temple is reestablished for worship. The people are restored in their relationship to God. I love the last line if this passage:

Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly.

God, whose anger had burned so brightly against the people of Judah under the rule of Ahaz, restored the people under Hezekiah, and did so "quickly". God didn't waste any time there.

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Preparing for Worship with 2 Chronicles 16

2 Chronicles 16:1-14 TNIV

In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah and fortified Ramah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the territory of Asa king of Judah.

Asa then took the silver and gold out of the treasuries of the Lord ’s temple and of his own palace and sent it to Ben-Hadad king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus. “Let there be a treaty between me and you,” he said, “as there was between my father and your father. See, I am sending you silver and gold. Now break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so he will withdraw from me.”

Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the commanders of his forces against the towns of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Maim and all the store cities of Naphtali. When Baasha heard this, he stopped building Ramah and abandoned his work. Then King Asa brought all the men of Judah, and they carried away from Ramah the stones and timber Baasha had been using. With them he built up Geba and Mizpah.

At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand. Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen ? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”

Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison. At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people.

The events of Asa’s reign, from beginning to end, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the Lord, but only from the physicians. Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his ancestors. They buried him in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bier covered with spices and various blended perfumes, and they made a huge fire in his honor.

My thoughts -

Asa was a godly man and a good king. For the first 35 years of his reign there was peace. He destroyed idols and even deposed his own grandmother over idol worship. He built cities and fortified them and relied on God for protection. He even prayed this prayer while under attack from the Cushites:

Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, “ Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.” (2 Chronicles 14:11 TNIV)

This was a king of Judah that truly followed after David. And then there was the 36th year, which we just read about.

Here's pride sneaking in again. The king who relied on God got cleaver and decided he could do everything by his own strength. When called on this he didn't like what he heard so he metaphorically shot the messenger when he imprisoned Hanani. When David fell and was confronted with his sin he repented and returned to God. Asa was too proud for that. He jailed his accuser and then oppressed his own people.

His pride even marred his treatment for an illness. He didn't seek help from the Lord, who had rescued him from a mighty foe (the Cushites) earlier, but rather from his own physicians. He didn't need God's help. He could do it on his own.

He was buried shortly thereafter.

As we prepare for worship this morning let us humble ourselves before the Lord, acknowledge that we need God, that we can't do this on our own, and prepare to praise God and tell of the wonderful deeds God has done for us and to give thanks for all God continues to do.

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The pride and the fall

2 Chronicles 13:1-22 TNIV

In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, Abijah became king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maakah, a daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.

There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. Abijah went into battle with an army of four hundred thousand able fighting men, and Jeroboam drew up a battle line against him with eight hundred thousand able troops.

Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, in the hill country of Ephraim, and said, “Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me! Don’t you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt? Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, an official of Solomon son of David, rebelled against his master. Some worthless scoundrels gathered around him and opposed Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young and indecisive and not strong enough to resist them.

“And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hands of David’s descendants. You are indeed a vast army and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods. But didn’t you drive out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make priests of your own as the peoples of other lands do? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may become a priest of what are not gods.

“As for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him. The priests who serve the Lord are sons of Aaron, and the Levites assist them. Every morning and evening they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the Lord. They set out the bread on the ceremonially clean table and light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We are observing the requirements of the Lord our God. But you have forsaken him. God is with us; he is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you. People of Israel, do not fight against the Lord, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed.”

Now Jeroboam had sent troops around to the rear, so that while he was in front of Judah the ambush was behind them. Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands. Abijah and his troops inflicted heavy losses on them, so that there were five hundred thousand casualties among Israel’s able men. The Israelites were subdued on that occasion, and the men of Judah were victorious because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

Abijah pursued Jeroboam and took from him the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron, with their surrounding villages. Jeroboam did not regain power during the time of Abijah. And the Lord struck him down and he died.

But Abijah grew in strength. He married fourteen wives and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters.

The other events of Abijah’s reign, what he did and what he said, are written in the annotations of the prophet Iddo.

My thoughts -

Abijah was Solomon's grandson, David's great-grandson. Here we are, just a few generations removed from David, and just the fifth generation of kings (Saul, David, Solomon, Rehoboam/Jeroboam, and Abijah) and Judah and Israel have already split into two kingdoms, neither of which have done a really good job of following the Lord. Solomon was faithful for most of his reign but strayed and worshipped other gods towards the end. Rehoboam was proud and refused to listen to the elders which led to the rebellion led by Jeroboam and then ultimately to this confrontation.

So what brought us to this place? Solomon the wise's son proved to be not so wise in his early years ruling. He made a mistake and didn't listen to good council of the elders, rejecting it for that of his peers. Israel, as a result of this, felt that they no longer had a share of the house of David and left to do their own thing, led by their new king Jeroboam. Rehoboam was proud and wouldn't listen. Israel was proud and wouldn't stay. Jeroboam was proud and rejected the Lord and Israel's heritage. Look at what this new kingdom has done:

"Don’t you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt? Yet Jeroboam son of Nebat, an official of Solomon son of David, rebelled against his master. Some worthless scoundrels gathered around him and opposed Rehoboam son of Solomon when he was young and indecisive and not strong enough to resist them.

“And now you plan to resist the kingdom of the Lord, which is in the hands of David’s descendants. You are indeed a vast army and have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods. But didn’t you drive out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and make priests of your own as the peoples of other lands do? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may become a priest of what are not gods."

Now Israel is here, preparing to fight against the very God that delivered them from Egypt and who has given them victory after victory over their enemies. Abijah points this out to Jeroboam but he will have none of it. He sees the size of his own army and may be too far removed from Saul and David to understand what he is really up against. His pride says that he can win and so he fights against this warning.

And then he and his army are routed, Jeroboam's reign ends and he dies.

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A picture of worship

After Solomon finished building the temple he gathered all of the people together to dedicate the temple, place the ark of the Lord in its new home, and celebrate and worship. I love this description of their worship:

2 Chronicles 5:11-14 TNIV

The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang:

“He is good;

his love endures forever.”

Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.

I wonder if we could ever lift our instruments and voices up together giving praise and thanks to God in worship such that the glory of God would prevent us from being able to perform the service.

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Forever?

1 Chronicles 28:1-21 TNIV

David summoned all the officials of Israel to assemble at Jerusalem: the officers over the tribes, the commanders of the divisions in the service of the king, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the mighty warriors and all the brave fighting men.

King David rose to his feet and said: “Listen to me, my fellow Israelites, my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it. But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.’

“Yet the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from my whole family to be king over Israel forever. He chose Judah as leader, and from the house of Judah he chose my family, and from my father’s sons he was pleased to make me king over all Israel. Of all my sons—and the Lord has given me many—he has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. He said to me: ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. I will establish his kingdom forever if he is unswerving in carrying out my commands and laws, as is being done at this time.’

“So now I charge you in the sight of all Israel and of the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God: Be careful to follow all the commands of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever.

“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.”

Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the Lord and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things. He gave him instructions for the divisions of the priests and Levites, and for all the work of serving in the temple of the Lord, as well as for all the articles to be used in its service. He designated the weight of gold for all the gold articles to be used in various kinds of service, and the weight of silver for all the silver articles to be used in various kinds of service: the weight of gold for the gold lampstands and their lamps, with the weight for each lampstand and its lamps; and the weight of silver for each silver lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand; the weight of gold for each table for consecrated bread; the weight of silver for the silver tables; the weight of pure gold for the forks, sprinkling bowls and pitchers; the weight of gold for each gold dish; the weight of silver for each silver dish; and the weight of the refined gold for the altar of incense. He also gave him the plan for the chariot, that is, the cherubim of gold that spread their wings and overshadow the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

“All this,” David said, “I have in writing as a result of the Lord ’s hand on me, and he enabled me to understand all the details of the plan.”

David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished. The divisions of the priests and Levites are ready for all the work on the temple of God, and every willing person skilled in any craft will help you in all the work. The officials and all the people will obey your every command.”

My thoughts -

It really is something to read about the plans that David made for this temple. He paid attention to every detail, even down to the weight of the gold and silver to be used for each lampstand. How far in advance do you think the light fixtures in your church were planned?

David gave Solomon such grand and detailed plans for the temple that it took Solomon the first seven years of his reign to complete it. This was a great feat of human achievement, and for a divine purpose. Divine inspiration and human perspiration, if you will. And yet, just a few generations after Solomon, that which he and his father worked so hard to build would be desecrated, looted, and utterly destroyed.

David's words to Solomon here kind of foreshadow this destruction:

Be careful to follow all the commands of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever.

The Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

Solomon followed the Lord, but towards the end of his life he began to also worship other gods. This trend continued for generation after generation of kings following Solomon. Each generation seemed to take the sins of the previous one and then add to them its own sins, until things were so bad that Baal had a temple, the Lord's temple was destroyed, and Israelites were sacrificing their own sons and daughters in burnt offerings to idols.

In light of this it seems almost bittersweet to see what care and hope went into the building of this temple. But while the future of the temple held destruction, what happened to David's line? We see David present essentially two options. The first, obey God and have the throne established forever. The second, forsake God and be forsaken forever. Out of these grand plans and high hopes came the inevitable human failure. So then, the punishment is clear, right?

But God did the unthinkable and gave us, out of David's line, a king who is faithful forever. Jesus, whose lineage Matthew traces for us all the way back to Abraham and through Jesse, David, and Solomon, was obedient in all things to reestablish this kingdom forever.

Human frailty could not remain faithful, so God did it for us.

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Peace and rest

1 Chronicles 22:5-12 TNIV

David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the Lord should be of great magnificence and fame and splendor in the sight of all the nations. Therefore I will make preparations for it.” So David made extensive preparations before his death.

Then he called for his son Solomon and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. David said to Solomon: “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the Name of the Lord my God. But this word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight. But you will have a son who will be a man of peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon, and I will grant Israel peace and quiet during his reign. He is the one who will build a house for my Name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’

“Now, my son, the Lord be with you, and may you have success and build the house of the Lord your God, as he said you would. May the Lord give you discretion and understanding when he puts you in command over Israel, so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God.

My thoughts -

David observed that, while he the king lived in a magnificent palace made of cedar, the ark of the Lord resided in a humble tent. This seemed wrong to him. A man, who by nature is temporary, dwells in a "permanent" home and yet the ark of the Lord, which contains the eternal promise of God, dwells in a "temporary" home, a tent. David, rightly I think, observed that this should not be so and vowed to change it. But God rebuked him.

What is it about Solomon that God would chose to give him this honor instead of his loyal servant David? We are presented with an answer in this text from David's own mouth. While David fought and won many great victories for the Lord and his people, Solomon was to be a man of "peace and rest".

While we don't often equate greatness with peace, what more could any of us want than peace and rest? We often view the God of the Old Testament as being a militaristic God full of judgement while Jesus then comes in the New Testament and brings peace. But here we have God the Father, the Lord, showing favor for peace and rest over judgement, wrath, and war.

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A praise band?

1 Chronicles 15:16-24 TNIV

David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their fellow Levites as musicians to make a joyful sound with musical instruments: lyres, harps and cymbals.

So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; from his relatives, Asaph son of Berekiah; and from their relatives the Merarites, Ethan son of Kushaiah; and with them their relatives next in rank: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel, the gatekeepers.

The musicians Heman, Asaph and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals; Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah were to play the lyres according to alamoth, and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel and Azaziah were to play the harps, directing according to sheminith. Kenaniah the head Levite was in charge of the singing; that was his responsibility because he was skillful at it.

Berekiah and Elkanah were to be doorkeepers for the ark. Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah and Eliezer the priests were to blow trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-Edom and Jehiah were also to be doorkeepers for the ark.

My thoughts -

So we've got percussion, strings, singers, and even a horn section described here. Sounds like they had one heck of a praise band to me!

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From Benjamin, Saul's tribe

1 Chronicles 12:22-38 TNIV

Day after day men came to help David, until he had a great army, like the army of God.

These are the numbers of the men armed for battle who came to David at Hebron to turn Saul’s kingdom over to him, as the Lord had said:

from Judah, carrying shield and spear—6,800 armed for battle;

from Simeon, warriors ready for battle—7,100;

from Levi—4,600, including Jehoiada, leader of the family of Aaron, with 3,700 men, and Zadok, a brave young warrior, with 22 officers from his family;

from Benjamin, Saul’s tribe—3,000, most of whom had remained loyal to Saul’s house until then;

from Ephraim, brave warriors, famous in their own clans—20,800;

from half the tribe of Manasseh, designated by name to come and make David king—18,000;

from Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do—200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command;

from Zebulun, experienced soldiers prepared for battle with every type of weapon, to help David with undivided loyalty—50,000;

from Naphtali—1,000 officers, together with 37,000 men carrying shields and spears;

from Dan, ready for battle—28,600;

from Asher, experienced soldiers prepared for battle—40,000;

and from east of the Jordan, from Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, armed with every type of weapon—120,000.

All these were fighting men who volunteered to serve in the ranks. They came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel. All the rest of the Israelites were also of one mind to make David king.

My thoughts -

I wish I could say that I have gotten a lot out of reading through 1 Chronicles the last two days but I really haven't. It all seems to run together. There are families and names listed and I just can't seem to keep them all straight. I should probably make notes and charts on all of this. Maybe after I finish this reading plan I'll come back and spend more time in these books doing just that.

There are some things though, in the midst of the monotony of these lists, that have jumped out and grabbed my attention. This passage is one of them, especially verse 29:

from Benjamin, Saul’s tribe—3,000, most of whom had remained loyal to Saul’s house until then;

We've gone over the heartbreakingly complicated nature of the relationship between David and Saul. Saul's son Jonathan was like a brother to David. David was like a son to Saul, but a son that Saul was jealous enough of to want dead.

The family dynamics of ancient Israel are somewhat beyond my comprehension but they seem culturally significant and fairly close. To read that members of Saul's own tribe, his family, took up arms against him, just breaks my heart.

Now, there were less from the tribe of Benjamin than other tribes but these men are listed here as having previously been faithful to Saul. And 3000 people leaving you to fight for your enemy is nothing insignificant, either.

There is so much I don't understand and probably never will but one thing I believe is that we are all united in Christ. To see conflicts like this in our history, and to know that we've been killing each other, even in our own families, for thousands of years makes it seem like things have always been and will always be this way. But we have hope in Christ.

Come, Lord Jesus.

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Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?

2 Kings 20:1-21 TNIV

In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”

Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’ ”

Then Isaiah said, “Prepare a poultice of figs.” They did so and applied it to the boil, and he recovered.

Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord on the third day from now?”

Isaiah answered, “This is the Lord ’s sign to you that the Lord will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?”

“It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,” said Hezekiah. “Rather, have it go back ten steps.”

Then the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.

At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of Hezekiah’s illness. Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his storehouses—the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine olive oil—his armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.

Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did those men say, and where did they come from?”

“From a distant land,” Hezekiah replied. “They came from Babylon.”

The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”

“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

“The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,” Hezekiah replied. For he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?”

As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? Hezekiah rested with his ancestors. And Manasseh his son succeeded him as king.

My thoughts -

What do we want but what Hezekiah wanted? He hears that he will die and he begs, prays and weeps. He wants nothing more than to live. Hezekiah was a great king and a faithful servant of God, but the end was still coming. It comes for all of us.

The Lord heard Hezekiah's prayer and he was healed. He got fifteen more years of life. But did he get what he wanted? Look at what Isaiah tells him about his wealth and his family:

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

Hezekiah was a righteous man who faced something that seemed just wrong to him, a premature death. So he was granted what he asked for, a longer life. Yet in those additional years he faced the loss of all that he held dear in this life. That, too just seems wrong. I've read over this time and time again, even now, to see what Hezekiah did to bring this down upon himself.

Maybe there's something I don't understand going on here. I want to read some awful sin into Hezekiah's dealing with Marduk-Baladan. Maybe it's there, but if it is it's beyond my understanding.

Hezekiah was the good guy in this story. He was faithful after generation after generation after generation were not. He was a righteous and holy man who served God. And bad things happened to him. Even his miraculous healing turned out pretty sour when the last fifteen years that he was given forced him to endure the loss of everything he had here. Some gift, right?

This just does not compute. We want things to be simple, easy to explain and to understand. We want the righteous rewarded and the wicked punished. We want the good guys to live long and fruitful lives. We want to be those good guys and to receive the long and fruitful lives. We want to have grace and salvation and we want to deserve it.

But life doesn't work that way. In life a young mother dies of cancer. In life a twenty two year old hits a tree with his truck. We lament that the good die young and the wicked seem to live forever. Life isn't simple and it doesn't work the way we want it to.

Nothing here lasts. We lose our possessions. We lose our families. We lose everything. We die. Nothing here lasts. That's just the way it is. And horrible, inexplicable things happen every day. I want to be able to explain why God allows this to happen but would an explanation help? I see things that I don't understand and I want to ask why, but in the face of crisis is why the best question to ask? Does why help you endure? Does why get you through it? Does why bring a loved on back or heal the pain that is left in their absence?

Hezekiah had an idea of the way things should be. You can hear it in the question he asks Isaiah: "Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?"

When facing death he wants more life. When facing loss he wants peace and security. We want everything to work out. We want everything to be okay. We want God to be in control and to work for our good in all situations. We want this desperately and when it seems as though this is impossible we ask why.

I have a new question to ask.

What can I do to help?

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