Great Short Description of Integrity - Psalm 15

February 18, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

NOTE: We have taken a week’s break from reading through Exodus; our Exodus readings will resume TOMORROW with the account of the battle between the Lord and Pharaoh and the Ten Plagues. Can’t wait.

I have previously mentioned that I read one psalm a day, every day. I’ll continue doing that. Who’s with me? —Andrew

Psalm 15

A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?
    Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
    and speaks truth in his heart;
3 who does not slander with his tongue
    and does no evil to his neighbor,
    nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
    but who honors those who fear the Lord;
who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 who does not put out his money at interest
    and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.

After King David recovers the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines, he eventually moves it to Jerusalem and sets it on Mount Zion, building a tent—the Tabernacle—over it. (You can read about it in 2 Samuel 6.). Later, his son King Solomon builds the Temple in the same spot.

Psalm 15 is about what it means to enter into the Tabernacle/Temple; it’s a description of integrity.

My favorite part?

A person of integrity is so honest that he is the type of person who

“swears to his own hurt and does not change.”

I also like the closing line:

“The person who does these things shall never be moved.”

The Practical Atheist - Psalm 14

February 17, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Psalm 14

To the choirmaster. Of David.
1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
    They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
    there is none who does good.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
    to see if there are any who understand,
    who seek after God.
3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
    there is none who does good,
    not even one.
4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers
    who eat up my people as they eat bread
    and do not call upon the Lord?
5 There they are in great terror,
    for God is with the generation of the righteous.
6 You would shame the plans of the poor,
    but the Lord is his refuge.
7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
    let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

The practical atheist is not so much a person who flat-out rejects the idea of God, but rather a person who lives as if God doesn’t exist. It is that sort of person the psalmist calls a “fool” in Psalm 14.

For the director of music. Of David.
1 The fool says in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
there is no one who does good.

Because the fools don’t believe God will hold them to account, they behave in wicked ways.

2 The Lord looks down from heaven
    on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
    any who seek God.
3 All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
    there is no one who does good,
    not even one.
4 Do all these evildoers know nothing?

The Lord is searching for faithful people in the midst of a faithless generation—don’t these foolish people know that nothing is hidden from the Lord?

They devour my people as though eating bread;
    they never call on the Lord.
5 But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
    for God is present in the company of the righteous.
6 You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
    but the Lord is their refuge.

People are being eaten up by the wicked, but God has not abandoned the poor and vulnerable—He is with them.

7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord restores his people,
let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

Zion is the little mountain on which the Temple was built in Jerusalem, and the Israelites liked to think of it as the Lord’s particular place. Jacob was the Old Testament patriarch who was renamed Israel; thereafter, the entire nation of the Israelites was often called “Jacob” or “Israel”. Nearly all the psalms end, like this one, on a note of hope.

Be hopeful today! The Lord sees.

How Long, Lord? - Psalm 13

February 16, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Our new Exodus books are in, and our Exodus reading resumes on MONDAY! Part 2 of our Exodus plan will run six weeks: from February 19 to Good Friday, March 29. It will cover chapters 5-15: the Plagues, the Passover, and the Parting of the sea. Here’s how to get your copy:

Pick up a book this Sunday at Asbury;
Email Sandie Tomlinson, and she’ll mail you a copy;
If you live in Dallas, email Sandie and she’ll tell you how you can pick yours up for yourself there in town.

(The pdf is available here.)

Psalm 13

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
    and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
    light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
    lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
    my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
    because he has dealt bountifully with me.

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

The psalmist feels utterly alone—no one to counsel him, no one to encourage him. Worst of all, his enemies are thriving while he is suffering.

3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

If the Lord doesn’t quickly respond, the psalmist won’t be able to persevere much longer and his enemies will gloat over his destruction.

5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Though there are more psalms of lament than psalms of joy—a fact which teaches us something important about the nature of life on this blue planet—almost all the psalms end on a note of confidence and joy. The psalmist knows that the Lord is faithful forever, and that those who put their trust in him will not be disappointed.

How can you rejoice today, right in the midst of your difficulties?

I'm Not a Bird - Psalm 11

February 14, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Psalm 11

1 In the Lord I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
“Flee like a bird to your mountain,
2 for behold, the wicked bend the bow;
   they have fitted their arrow to the string
   to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
3 if the foundations are destroyed,
   what can the righteous do?”
4 The Lord is in his holy temple;
   the Lord's throne is in heaven;
   his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
5 The Lord tests the righteous,
   but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
6 Let him rain coals on the wicked;
   fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the Lord is righteous;
he loves righteous deeds;
   the upright shall behold his face.

The psalmist is indignant: “I trust in God—stop telling me to fly away like a bird!”

1 In the Lord I take refuge.
    How then can you say to me:
    “Flee like a bird to your mountain.
2 For look, the wicked bend their bows;
    they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows
    at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are being destroyed,
    what can the righteous do?”

The psalmist reminds himself that the Lord is still King and still on duty, and that the wicked will be punished. (He clearly alludes to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.)

4 The Lord is in his holy temple;
    the Lord is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
    his eyes examine them.
5 The Lord examines the righteous,
    but the wicked, those who love violence,
    he hates with a passion.
6 On the wicked he will rain
    fiery coals and burning sulfur;
    a scorching wind will be their lot.

I like the ending of Psalm 11—the Lord is good, and those who trust him will be rewarded.

7 For the Lord is righteous,
he loves justice;
the upright will see his face.

There Is No God - Psalm 10

February 13, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Psalm 10

1 Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
    Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
    let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,
    and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.
4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;
    all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
5 His ways prosper at all times;
    your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
    as for all his foes, he puffs at them.
6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
    throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”
7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
    under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
8 He sits in ambush in the villages;
    in hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9 he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;
he lurks that he may seize the poor;
    he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 The helpless are crushed, sink down,
    and fall by his might.
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
    he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”
12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;
    forget not the afflicted.
13 Why does the wicked renounce God
    and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?
14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
    that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
    you have been the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
    call his wickedness to account till you find none.
16 The Lord is king forever and ever;
    the nations perish from his land.
17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
    you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
    so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

Have you ever felt as if God were asleep or indifferent or unable or unwilling to come to your aid? That’s what Psalm 10 is about—the psalmist wants to rouse God awake to come and fight for the righteous and the poor against the wicked. Psalm 10 imagines the wicked man saying, “there is no God”—not because he is an atheist, but because he believes he can get away with whatever he wants. To this the psalmist says, “Wake up, Lord!”

1 Why, O Lord, do you stand far away?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

“Lord, please WAKE UP and DO SOMETHING!” One of the lessons of the psalms is that it is good for us to cry out to God and lodge a protest or a complaint.

2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.

This is a common theme in the Psalms—that the wicked end up harming themselves. Haven’t we all wanted that to happen? It would seem to be the ultimate form of justice.

3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,
and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.
4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;
all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

It’s not that the wicked man is an atheist; rather, it is that he believes he is untouchable—that God is weak or indifferent and that therefore the wicked man can get away with all his scheming.

5 His ways prosper at all times;
    your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
    as for all his foes, he puffs at them.
6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
    throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”

Doesn’t it often seem as if the wicked prosper while the righteous languish? The psalmist certainly feels that way. No wonder the wicked man is so arrogant—it really does seem as if he will get any with his evil actions.

7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
    under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
8 He sits in ambush in the villages;
    in hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9  he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;
he lurks that he may seize the poor;
    he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 The helpless are crushed, sink down,
    and fall by his might.

This description of how bad men take advantage of the poor and vulnerable is 3,000 years old, but it could have come out of yesterday’s newspaper. The psalmist is working himself—and us—into a state of desperate outrage.

11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”

Once more, the wicked man feels totally untouchable, and he congratulates himself at his boldness and evil.

12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand;
forget not the afflicted.

After cataloguing all the evils that the wicked inflict on the innocent, the psalmist can’t stand it any more:

“WAKE UP, LORD, AND DO SOMETHING!”

How many times have you and I wanted to scream the same thing at the Lord?

The lesson of the psalms—it’s okay to do so.

Remember, the psalms teach us to pray through our emotions.

13 Why does the wicked renounce God
    and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?
14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation,
    that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless commits himself;
    you have been the helper of the fatherless.

And here the tenor of the psalm changes. The psalmist again imagines the wicked man in his arrogance and pride, chuckling to himself and believing that he will escape accountability.

And then come my favorite 4 words in this psalm:

“But you do see.”

It might seem that the Lord is blind and deaf, but that’s not reality—the Lord in fact sees and notes the actions of the wicked and the sufferings of the innocent, and he will not be mocked! Justice will roll down! God have mercy on the arrogant and the wicked when that day comes.

15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
call his wickedness to account till you find none.

Ultimately, the wicked will be brought to justice. There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed.

16 The Lord is king forever and ever;
the nations perish from his land.

The nations that inhabit the land are like renters—the Lord is the owner, and those that oppose him will one day be overthrown.

17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

Amen.

How to Face Each Day Whole-Hearted and Unafraid - Psalm 9

February 12, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

NOTE: We are taking a week’s break from reading through Exodus; our Exodus readings will resume on Monday, February 19 with the account of the battle between the Lord and Pharaoh and the Ten Plagues.

I have previously mentioned that I read one psalm a day, every day. So, over the next week, I’d love to have you jump in and join me in my psalms reading plan. —Andrew

Psalm 9

1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
    I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and exult in you;
    I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
    they stumble and perish before your presence.
4 For you have maintained my just cause;
    you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.
5 You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;
    you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;
    their cities you rooted out;
    the very memory of them has perished.
7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
    he has established his throne for justice,
8 and he judges the world with righteousness;
    he judges the peoples with uprightness.
9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
    a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,
    for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion!
    Tell among the peoples his deeds!
12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
    he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
13 Be gracious to me, O Lord!
    See my affliction from those who hate me,
    O you who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may recount all your praises,
    that in the gates of the daughter of Zion
    I may rejoice in your salvation.
15 The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
    in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16 The Lord has made himself known; he has executed judgment;
    the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah
17 The wicked shall return to Sheol,
    all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
    and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
19 Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail;
    let the nations be judged before you!
20 Put them in fear, O Lord!
    Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah

Want to face each day whole-hearted and unafraid?

The Ninth Psalm gives us a fundamental lesson: begin your day and your prayers with full-throated thanksgiving.

Much of the psalm is a request from the psalmist that the Lord defeat the wicked and remember the oppressed, but the opening two verses are all about praise:

1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

There is a place (as we will see in other psalms) for protest before God, but it is instructive that Psalm 9 begins with praise.

Let’s do it today.

Look Up at the Night Sky - Psalm 8

February 11, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

I have previously mentioned that I read one psalm a day, every day. So, over the next week, I’d love to have you jump in and join me in my psalms reading plan. —Andrew

Psalm 8

1 O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2     Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
    to still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
    and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
    and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Every been somewhere really dark and looked up at the glory of God’s handiwork? It’s as if the Lord screwed each star into place. Psalm 8 comes from that kind of experience—the psalmist has looked up at the heavens and is reflecting on the universe that God has made and man’s place within it.

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.

“The Gittith” is an unknown musical term that is lost to us.

1 O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2     Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
    to still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
    and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
    and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

In Genesis 1, we read that God created humankind to rule over the earth in his place—to be stewards and caretakers of all that God has made. The psalmist marvels that God has entrusted his precious creation to human hands.

9 O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

P.S. I love this version of Psalm 8 by Shane and Shane.

The Time The Devil Quoted Scripture At Jesus

September 06, 2023 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Some Housekeeping:

Matthew Part 2 begins on Monday! Books arrive this weekend; get your book Sunday at Asbury, or email Sandie and get one in the mail.
I preached on the testing in the wilderness these past 3 weeks. The sermons are here.
Our next churchwide Bible study is NEXT WEDNESDAY, 9/13. 6:30-8:00 PM. It will only have been 2 weeks since the August study, but don’t miss this one. We only have 1 per month. The remaining dates are:
- October 11
- November 8

Here’s the video from last week’s Bible study. I offer it here in case any of you are having trouble sleeping.

Matthew 4:5-7

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they
will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

In the second temptation, the devil quotes part of Psalm 91, and I think it’s fair to assume that the devil’s interpretation is wrong!

Psalm 91 is a beautiful psalm of protection and peace, but the devil wants Jesus to believe that what the psalm means is that God’s Servant will face no problems or difficulties. The devil wants Jesus to see the psalm as a magic formula—if you say it, then God will be forced to do what you want; praying Psalm 91 will call God to send his angels to save you, like, like a divine Bat Signal in the sky.

Jesus again replies with a verse from Deuteronomy when he says that testing God in an attempt to force God’s hand is wrong.

God’s promises are true, but we don’t control God—he’s not a cosmic vending machine that we manipulate. He works on his own timeline.

Where do you need to make a conscious choice to trust God’s timing today?

NOTE: It’s been 150 days since Easter, and today we wrap our our journey through the psalms with Psalm 150. But, I’ve been reading one psalm a day, every day, for years, so tomorrow I’m starting over again with Psalm 1. Join me?

Psalm 150

1 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens![a]
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds;
    praise him according to his excellent greatness!
3 Praise him with trumpet sound;
    praise him with lute and harp!
4 Praise him with tambourine and dance;
    praise him with strings and pipe!
5 Praise him with sounding cymbals;
    praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

Just Praise - Psalm 150

Today we come to the last psalm, and it’s a simple psalm of praise.

We began reading the psalms with Psalm 1 on April 10—it’s a psalm of wisdom. Now, we conclude 150 days later with a psalm of praise.

The psalter moves from wisdom to praise.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

A Legitimate Need In An Illegitimate Way

September 05, 2023 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Some Housekeeping:

Matthew Part 2 begins on Monday! Books arrive this weekend; get your book Sunday at Asbury, or email Sandie and get one in the mail.
I preached on the testing in the wilderness these past 3 weeks. The sermons are here.
Our next churchwide Bible study is NEXT WEDNESDAY, 9/13. 6:30-8:00 PM. It will only have been 2 weeks since the August study, but don’t miss this one. We only have 1 per month. The remaining dates are:
- October 11
- November 8

Matthew 4:1-4

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

In yesterday’s reading, we saw how the Father gives the Spirit to the Son at the Baptism of Jesus. The Spirit then leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted.

The Temptation of Jesus is a re-enactment of Israel’s temptation and wanderings in the desert following the Exodus from Egypt, and each of the three temptations involves being willing to trust that God will provide provision on God’s timing.

It seems as if the devil heard the Father’s words at the baptism: “This is my beloved Son.” And it is as the Son that Jesus is tempted:

“Since you are the Son, why don’t you...?”

There is nothing wrong with being hungry and needing food. In fact, Jesus’s response shows that eating bread is not the problem— “Man does not live by bread alone.” The problem is that bread without learning to trust God sets us up for failure.

“The temptation from Satan, then, is that Jesus should distrust God by taking the responsibility for his life on himself. Jesus remembers, however, that trustful submission to God’s word is as necessary for true existence as food itself.” —David Bauer, The Gospel of the Son of God

Jesus replies to each temptation with a verse from Deuteronomy 6-8, which in its original context is a sermon from Moses to the Israelites in the wilderness, preparing them to enter the Promised Land.

As we will see in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’s worldview is that God can be trusted to provide all our needs, no matter what, and so therefore we ought to live without anxiety.

Where do you need to choose to trust God’s provision today?

NOTE: We have been reading through Psalms, and until we get to Psalm 150, I’m going to keep posting at the bottom of each Matthew post daily commentary on that day’s psalm. (On the weekends, it will just be that day’s psalm by itself.) If you’ve read this far, you are an over-achiever. —AF

We Praise Because God is a Just Judge - Psalm 149

1 Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
    his praise in the assembly of the godly!
2 Let Israel be glad in his Maker;
    let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!
3 Let them praise his name with dancing,
    making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
    he adorns the humble with salvation.
5 Let the godly exult in glory;
    let them sing for joy on their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats
    and two-edged swords in their hands,
7 to execute vengeance on the nations
    and punishments on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with chains
    and their nobles with fetters of iron,
9 to execute on them the judgment written!
    This is honor for all his godly ones.
Praise the Lord!

This is a song of praise, and one of the reasons it calls for praise is because God executes vengeance. That might strike us as strange, but can you imagine a judge that refused to address wrongs? The reason we can love our enemies is because we trust that God is the perfect judge and he will make all things right in the end.

Why Did Jesus Need To Be Baptized?

September 04, 2023 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

MATTHEW 3:13-17

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Why did Jesus need to be baptized? John is baptizing to prepare the people for repentance because their sins have kept them in spiritual exile. But Jesus isn’t sinful, and in fact, John is troubled when Jesus approaches for baptism: “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

John misunderstands the nature of Jesus’s mission and ministry, for Jesus is the fulfilment of Israel’s story and their representative who is taking their covenant responsibilities on himself. He is the Davidic king who intercedes for the people.

“Jesus submits to baptism not because he has sin to confess and repent of, but because it is God’s will that Jesus identify with the people in their need so as to deliver them. Ironically, in this act of identification with sinners Jesus demonstrates his righteousness, for the divine declaration of approval comes immediately in the wake of Jesus’ baptism.” —David Bauer, The Gospel of the Son of God

And it is after the baptism that God himself confirms both Jesus’s act and his identity. It is after he identifies with sinful Israel that Jesus is vindicated.

(We’ll see this pattern reoccur later at the Crucifixion and then Resurrection.)

There is something particularly close to the heart of God when God’s people intercede for those who don’t deserve it—when they step into the gap, so to speak. This was always God’s intention for Abraham and his family (see Abraham’s intercession for Sodom, in Genesis 18:16-33, e.g.), and when God’s people actually do it—when they intercede for others, when they stand in the gap—blessing is released. Jesus is the ultimate example of this, of course, but the same applies today for the followers of Jesus.

For whom can you intercede today? How can you stand in the gap for someone who doesn’t deserve it?

The St. Francis Psalm! - Psalm 148

1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
    praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels;
    praise him, all his hosts!
3 Praise him, sun and moon,
    praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you highest heavens,
    and you waters above the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord!
    For he commanded and they were created.
6 And he established them forever and ever;
    he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
    you great sea creatures and all deeps,
8 fire and hail, snow and mist,
    stormy wind fulfilling his word!
9 Mountains and all hills,
    fruit trees and all cedars!
10 Beasts and all livestock,
    creeping things and flying birds!
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples,
    princes and all rulers of the earth!
12 Young men and maidens together,
    old men and children!
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
    for his name alone is exalted;
    his majesty is above earth and heaven.
14 He has raised up a horn for his people,
    praise for all his saints,
    for the people of Israel who are near to him.
Praise the Lord!

I love the hymn attributed to St. Francis, “All Creatures of our God and King.” The words of that hymn remind me of Psalm 148, which calls on every part of Creation to praise the Lord.

Be a part of the choir today, and praise the Lord!

What Pleases the Lord? - Psalm 147

September 03, 2023 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Psalm 147

1 Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
    for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
    he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars;
    he gives to all of them their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
    his understanding is beyond measure.
6 The Lord lifts up the humble;
    he casts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
    make melody to our God on the lyre!
8 He covers the heavens with clouds;
    he prepares rain for the earth;
    he makes grass grow on the hills.
9 He gives to the beasts their food,
    and to the young ravens that cry.
10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
    in those who hope in his steadfast love.
12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
    Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
    he blesses your children within you.
14 He makes peace in your borders;
    he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15 He sends out his command to the earth;
    his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool;
    he scatters frost like ashes.
17 He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;
    who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends out his word, and melts them;
    he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.
19 He declares his word to Jacob,
    his statutes and rules to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
    they do not know his rules.
Praise the Lord!

What is it that pleases the Lord?

The psalmist tells us:

10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.

It is not our worldly success that pleases the Lord, but our submission and trust in him.

This Psalm Reminds Me of Jesus - Psalm 146

September 02, 2023 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Psalm 146

1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
   I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3 Put not your trust in princes,
   in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
   on that very day his plans perish.
5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
   whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
   the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
  who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
    the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the sojourners;
    he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
    but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10 The Lord will reign forever,
    your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!

Verses 7-8 remind me of Jesus:

The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.

The Spiritual Danger of American Christianity

September 01, 2023 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

MATTHEW 3:7-12

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

God chose one man—Abraham—and his family—Israel—to be the people who would carry God’s message and blessings to the entire world (see Genesis 12:1-3). But what happens with the chosen people aren’t faithful? What happens when they turn their back on God?

Most of the Old Testament is the sad story of how Israel’s unfaithfulness brings pain and suffering into the world, rather than blessing. But now Jesus, who is the True Israelite who embodies all of Israel, has come to bring God’s blessing to the nations and to free Israel from its spiritual exile. John the Baptist is preparing the way for Jesus’s ministry, and calling the people to change their minds and change their direction (this is what the biblical concept of repentance means) so they will be ready for the coming Kingdom.

The problem is that many of the Jews believe that they are going to be included in the Kingdom just because they are biological descendants of Abraham. John calls them out of their delusional self-righteousness:

“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

John is here foretelling how the Messiah will bring into Abraham’s family people from the nations—the Gentiles—who repent and trust him, and that if Israel doesn’t change direction and change behavior, judgement will fall on them.

This is both good news and bad news for us today.

The good news is that Jesus has brought the blessings of God to the nations with his life, death, and resurrection, and now life in the Holy Spirit is possible to all—even people like me, non-Jews—who repent of their sins and trust him.

The bad news is that the message of John applies to us today. Many American Christians are arrogantly confident that because they prayed The Sinner’s Prayer and have their names on a church membership roll somewhere, that they can continue to live in sin and open rebellion to God. But saving faith is obedient faith, and if we are not “bearing fruit worth of repentance,” just like the unrepentant Jews of John’s day, we are in danger of being chopped down and thrown into the fire.

Do not believe that just because you are an American Christian you are exempt from God’s expectation that you live a faithful life.

But it’s not too late! As long as we are breathing, God’s not done with us yet, which means we can change direction before it’s too late.

Psalm 145

A Song of Praise. Of David.
1 I will extol you, my God and King,
    and bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you
    and praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
    and his greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation shall commend your works to another,
    and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
    and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
    and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
    and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The Lord is good to all,
    and his mercy is over all that he has made.
10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
    and all your saints shall bless you!
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
    and tell of your power,
12 to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
    and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
    and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
[The Lord is faithful in all his words
    and kind in all his works.]
14 The Lord upholds all who are falling
    and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
    and you give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand;
    you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
    and kind in all his works.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
    he also hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord preserves all who love him,
    but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
    and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

There was a tradition in Babylonian Judaism that Jews should recite Psalm 145 three times a day.

It’s a lovely psalm, full of beautiful affirmations of the character of the Lord.

Can you imagine how your thought life would change if you recited those words three times every day?

P.S. Here’s a final Shane and Shane musical cover of this psalm

What Did Baptism Originally Signify?

August 31, 2023 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Bible Study Handout from Last Night:

Here’s the handout. I’ll post the video when I have it.

MATTHEW 3:1-6

3 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’ ”
4 Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

In 586 BC the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar came and completed his conquest of Jerusalem. The walls were broken down, the Temple was razed, and the Jerusalem elite were carried off into exile in Babylon, hundreds of miles to the east in what is present-day Iraq. When the exiles returned to the land of Israel decades later, they had to cross the Jordan River—from the east—to get back home.

Centuries later, a man named John went out to the Jordan River and started preaching. (This was roughly in 30 AD.) His message was a call for the Jews to prepare for the coming Messiah by repenting—changing direction. He immersed people in the Jordan River in a way that signified cleansing and renewal. The idea was that it was time for the people to come home from spiritual exile. And baptism was the sign they took their sins seriously, were eager to repent, and were ready.

John was dressed like the great Old Testament prophet Elijah; the Old Testament foretold that a man like Elijah would come again to prepare the way for the Messiah. Jesus is the one who will finally bring his people out of exile—the rest of Matthew is an explanation of how he will do that and what the coming Kingdom is like. (Hint: the Sermon on the Mount is a description of life in the Kingdom—see chapters 5-7.)

The baptism of John is an immersion of the entire self, because the coming Kingdom of Jesus will require a hokey-pokey level of commitment: you have to put your whole self in.

Find a quiet 15 minutes today and ask yourself, “What am I holding back from Jesus, and why? What am I afraid of?”

By the way, I preached on today’s passage a few weeks ago. If you’re having trouble falling asleep, this video might help.

“Blessed Are the People Whose God is the LORD!” - Psalm 144

Of David.
1 Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
    who trains my hands for war,
    and my fingers for battle;
2 he is my steadfast love and my fortress,
    my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield and he in whom I take refuge,
    who subdues peoples under me.
3 O Lord, what is man that you regard him,
    or the son of man that you think of him?
4 Man is like a breath;
    his days are like a passing shadow.
5 Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down!
    Touch the mountains so that they smoke!
6 Flash forth the lightning and scatter them;
    send out your arrows and rout them!
7 Stretch out your hand from on high;
    rescue me and deliver me from the many waters,
    from the hand of foreigners,
8 whose mouths speak lies
    and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 I will sing a new song to you, O God;
    upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
10 who gives victory to kings,
    who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.
11 Rescue me and deliver me
    from the hand of foreigners,
whose mouths speak lies
    and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
12 May our sons in their youth
    be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars
    cut for the structure of a palace;
13 may our granaries be full,
    providing all kinds of produce;
may our sheep bring forth thousands
    and ten thousands in our fields;
14 may our cattle be heavy with young,
    suffering no mishap or failure in bearing;
may there be no cry of distress in our streets!
15 Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!
    Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!

Psalm 144 borrows heavily from Psalm 8 and Psalm 18, as well as other psalms we’ve read. It’s a nice summary of many of the themes of the psalms, and it concludes with a statement that echoes the first line of Psalm 1:

Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!

Indeed.

Herod Was Right

August 30, 2023 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

ANNOUNCEMENT

Join us TONIGHT for our first churchwide Bible study on the Gospel of Matthew. 6:30-8:00 PM. Sanctuary, Asbury Church. All ages.
[Livestream available: asburytulsa.org]

If you live in Tulsa, I’m going to stick my neck out and say that these Bible studies are DO NOT MISS events. The Lord is doing something exciting at Asbury, and the Bible studies we’ve had over the past year on Genesis and Revelation were electric. Please do whatever you can to be present tonight.

If you live out of town, go ahead and move to Tulsa. If that won’t work, then join us on the livestream!

MATTHEW 2:13-23

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Today's reading contains the evil story of the Slaughter of the Innocents in Bethlehem, in which King Herod orders all little boys in Bethlehem's vicinity two years-old and younger to be murdered. Matthew then quotes from the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah (who was himself alluding to the Book of Genesis):

"Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 'A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.'" [Matthew 2:17-18]

It's a miserable story, and Herod was an evil man. But he was right.

Herod wasn't right because he had those boys murdered; Herod was right because he rightly understood that this Jesus is a threat to all dictators and demons. Even today, the Chinese totalitarians are using the vast resources of their hellish surveillance state to stamp out peaceful followers of Jesus. Why? Because if Jesus is the true King, then the powers of this world will be held to account; if Jesus is the true King, then one day his Kingdom will come fully on earth as it already is in heaven.

Don't be fooled: all the rival powers are mere pretenders and will one day be finally overthrown.

What would it look like for you to worship the true King today?

See you TONIGHT at Bible study.

“Let Me Hear in the Morning” - Psalm 143

A Psalm of David.
1 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
    give ear to my pleas for mercy!
    In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
2 Enter not into judgment with your servant,
    for no one living is righteous before you.
3 For the enemy has pursued my soul;
    he has crushed my life to the ground;
    he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit faints within me;
    my heart within me is appalled.
5 I remember the days of old;
    I meditate on all that you have done;
    I ponder the work of your hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to you;
    my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
7 Answer me quickly, O Lord!
    My spirit fails!
Hide not your face from me,
    lest I be like those who go down to the pit.
8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
    for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go,
    for to you I lift up my soul.
9 Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord!
    I have fled to you for refuge.
10 Teach me to do your will,
    for you are my God!
Let your good Spirit lead me
    on level ground!
11 For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life!
    In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!
12 And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies,
    and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul,
    for I am your servant.

I think this is a beautiful prayer, and one to which I want to hold tightly and pray over myself.

“Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love.”

“Deliver me from my enemies.”

“Teach me to do your will.”

“Lead me on level ground.”

Amen.

P.S. Here’s Shane and Shane’s version of Psalm 143, “Revive Me.”

What Different Route Do You Need To Take Today?

August 29, 2023 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Bible Study THIS Wednesday, 8/30. 6:30-8:00 PM. Asbury Sanctuary. All ages. Livestream: asburytulsa.org. Dinner beforehand—18 and under eat free! I’m only doing this 4 times this fall. Don’t miss this first one. —AF

MATTHEW 2:7-12

7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

I think the Magi are among the most interesting characters in the Bible. Probably some kind of Persian or Babylonian stargazers--"wise men"- -they saw something in the heavens so compelling that they left their homes and temples and libraries miles away to the East, and journeyed toward Bethlehem. And when they got there, what did they see?

Whatever it was, it changed them. I love how T.S. Eliot imagines them on their return home:

We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
—from "The Journey of the Magi," by T.S. Eliot

Matthew is more matter-of-fact: "They returned to their country by another route." See, here's the truth: encounters with Jesus are always like that. You can't meet Jesus and continue on as before, unchanged.

What different route or path do you need to take today?

Pray This When You Are in a Bad Way - Psalm 142

A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.
1 With my voice I cry out to the Lord;
    with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord.
2 I pour out my complaint before him;
    I tell my trouble before him.
3 When my spirit faints within me,
    you know my way!
In the path where I walk
    they have hidden a trap for me.
4 Look to the right and see:
    there is none who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me;
    no one cares for my soul.
5 I cry to you, O Lord;
    I say, “You are my refuge,
    my portion in the land of the living.”
6 Attend to my cry,
    for I am brought very low!
Deliver me from my persecutors,
    for they are too strong for me!
7 Bring me out of prison,
    that I may give thanks to your name!
The righteous will surround me,
    for you will deal bountifully with me.

The psalmist finds himself in a bad way, and calls on the Lord to deliver him.

File this away and pray it the next time you are in trouble.

Gold And Frankincense In The Old Testament

August 28, 2023 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

MATTHEW 2:1-6

2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: 6 “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”

We were told that Jesus was the son of Abraham, that is that Jesus
is the descendant that will bring God’s blessings to the nations (see Genesis 12:1-3). Here at Jesus’s birth we have the first representatives of the gentile nations coming to worship Jesus—and they are pagan astrologers from Babylon!

Remember that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament story. This passage in Isaiah foretold the nations coming to worship:

60 Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will be seen upon you.
3 And nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising.
4 Lift up your eyes all around, and see;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from afar,
and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.
5 Then you shall see and be radiant;
your heart shall thrill and exult,
because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
6 A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
They shall bring gold and frankincense,
and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord. [Isaiah 60:1-6]

THOUGHT FOR DAY

Isaiah foretold what would happen! I just can’t get over this passage— foreigners who come bringing gold and frankincense. That’s exactly what happened!

Tell someone about this cool connection today.

(Why didn’t Isaiah mention myrhh? This is because God is always adding something new and unexpected, like a jazz artist riffing on a familiar theme, but also creating something new. When myrhh was given by the Magi to the Holy Family, it signified the death that Jesus was to die.)

Psalm 141

A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me!
    Give ear to my voice when I call to you!
2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
    and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!
3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
    keep watch over the door of my lips!
4 Do not let my heart incline to any evil,
    to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with men who work iniquity,
    and let me not eat of their delicacies!
5 Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;
    let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head;
    let my head not refuse it.
Yet my prayer is continually against their evil deeds.
6 When their judges are thrown over the cliff,
    then they shall hear my words, for they are pleasant.
7 As when one plows and breaks up the earth,
    so shall our bones be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
8 But my eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord;
    in you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless!
9 Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me
    and from the snares of evildoers!
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
    while I pass by safely.

“The singer of Psalm 141 recognizes how seductive wrong paths in life can be. So while in Psalm 140 the psalmist asks for deliverance from the lips and wicked ways of malicious people and persons of violent ways, in Psalm 141 the psalmist asks for deliverance from the psalmist’s own lips and own learning toward malicious speech and deeds of wickedness. The words of Psalm 141 are timely for twenty-first-century Christians. We are surrounded by seductive temptations to follow others in pursuits and lifestyles that are self-centered and harmful to or neglectful of others. May our prayers for deliverance from such temptations be an ever-present part of our coming before God.”--Nancy deClaisse-Walford

A Violent Prayer for Non-Violence - Psalm 140

August 27, 2023 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Psalm 140

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men;
    preserve me from violent men,
2 who plan evil things in their heart
    and stir up wars continually.
3 They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's,
    and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah
4 Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
    preserve me from violent men,
    who have planned to trip up my feet.
5 The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,
    and with cords they have spread a net;
    beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah
6 I say to the Lord, You are my God;
    give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord!
7 O Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation,
    you have covered my head in the day of battle.
8 Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
    do not further their evil plot, or they will be exalted! Selah
9 As for the head of those who surround me,
    let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!
10 Let burning coals fall upon them!
    Let them be cast into fire,
    into miry pits, no more to rise!
11 Let not the slanderer be established in the land;
    let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!
12 I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted,
    and will execute justice for the needy.
13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;
    the upright shall dwell in your presence.

I thought this was a helpful comment on Psalm 140:

“Evil, injustice, and oppression must be confronted, opposed, hated because God hates them. From this perspective, the psalmist’s desire for vengeance amounts to a desire for justice and righteousness in self and society….The anger is expressed, but it is expressed in prayer and thereby submitted to God…. This this vehement, violent sounding prayer is, in fact, an act of non-violence.”
--J. Clinton McCann

Spiritual Examination - Psalm 139

August 26, 2023 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Psalm 139

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
    Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light with you.
13 For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
    I awake, and I am still with you.
19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
    O men of blood, depart from me!
20 They speak against you with malicious intent;
    your enemies take your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
    And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred;
    I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
    Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting!

Psalm 139 is a psalm of spiritual examination.

The psalmist knows that the Lord knows him better than he knows himself. In fact, God has known him before he was born. And so the psalmist asks God to search him out and show him areas of his life that need to change.

Lord, show us our errors today, and lead us in the right way.

Here’s a beautiful version of Psalm 139 by Shane and Shane:

A Small, Quiet Act of Integrity

August 25, 2023 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

MATTHEW 1:18-25

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

I’ve always found v. 19 to be a quietly moving line: “And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.” That decision of Joseph was a small, selfless act of kindness on which the fate of the world turned—if he had made a public spectacle of Mary, then history would have been different and the Jesus story might not have happened.

Don’t underestimate the importance of a small, unnoticed act of selfless kindness today. Who knows what hangs in the balance?

P.S. The act of naming a child is de facto adoption, so when Joseph— per the angel’s instructions—calls the child “Jesus” he is adopting him into the Davidic line.

Psalm 138

1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
    before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
    and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
    for you have exalted above all things
    your name and your word.
3 On the day I called, you answered me;
    my strength of soul you increased.
4 All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,
    for they have heard the words of your mouth,
5 and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
    for great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,
    but the haughty he knows from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
    you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
    and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
    your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
    Do not forsake the work of your hands.

An important Hebrew word occurs several times in this psalm, a word we transliterate into English as hesed. It’s difficult to translate into English, but it means something like “covenant-faithfulness and steadfast kindness and commitment.” In our translation above, it is translated as “steadfast love.” (In some older English translations it is translated as “loving-kindness.”)

Hesed is a key biblical characteristic of the Lord. God can be trusted because he demonstrates hesed over and over.

Remind yourself today: God can be trusted!