Psalm 106

WEEK  16                                             Psalm 106

WEDNESDAY  Reflections

This psalm fits into the time when Israel is being treated fairly by pagan kings. It is either right before or after the return from captivity. The psalm is honest about what Israel had done and how God was right in His actions. The psalm lays out in 48 verses an overview of Exodus through 2 Kings.

 

The question I love in this psalm is, “Who can praise God for everything he has done?” We may believe we know all the ways God has blessed us, but there are so many we will never fully comprehend. Such as the small action taken on behalf of a long-dead relative which still gives a blessing today. We can't know them all, and we can't praise Him enough. This doesn't mean we shouldn't try. We should praise God. Praise the Lord!

Psa 106:1-48
(1)  Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
(2)  Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? who can shew forth all his praise?
(3)  Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.
(4)  Remember me, O LORD, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation;
(5)  That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.
(6)  We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.
(7)  Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.
(8)  Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.
(9)  He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.
(10)  And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
(11)  And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left.
(12)  Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.
(13)  They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:
(14)  But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.
(15)  And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.
(16)  They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD.
(17)  The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.
(18)  And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.
(19)  They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.
(20)  Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.
(21)  They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;
(22)  Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea.
(23)  Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.
(24)  Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:
(25)  But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD.
(26)  Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness:
(27)  To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands.
(28)  They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.
(29)  Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them.
(30)  Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed.
(31)  And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore.
(32)  They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:
(33)  Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.
(34)  They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them:
(35)  But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.
(36)  And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.
(37)  Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,
(38)  And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.
(39)  Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.
(40)  Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.
(41)  And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them.
(42)  Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand.
(43)  Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.
(44)  Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:
(45)  And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.
(46)  He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.
(47)  Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise.
(48)  Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD.

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Haggai 1

WEEK   16                                            Haggai 1  

TUESDAY  Reflections

Though Haggai's message was to finish rebuilding the temple, the question he asks is important for us to consider. "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?"

 

No, we may not be at a church that is in the middle of a building project, but we are in a life where we can become so concerned with our own wants that we let the things of God slide to the side. It is easy, especially in a consumer-driven society, to be more concerned with our desires than with seeing God's work complete.

 

The temple is the place where man and God meet and where a man could come to God for forgiveness. The people here were living in paneled houses (far above basic subsistence living), yet they weren't making sure the way to God was open to all. In today's world, it would be those who are raising their standard of living but ignoring God's ministry to others.  

 

No, God isn't against you having good things. If you have things and aren't faithful in ministry to others with your Time, Talents, and Treasures, then God will withhold His blessing.

So what is your first concern? Self or God?

Hag 1:1-15
(1)  In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,
(2)  Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD'S house should be built.
(3)  Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
(4)  Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
(5)  Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
(6)  Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
(7)  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
(8)  Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
(9)  Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
(10)  Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
(11)  And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
(12)  Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD.
(13)  Then spake Haggai the LORD'S messenger in the LORD'S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.
(14)  And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,

(15)  In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

Ezra 4

WEEK  16                                              Ezra 4

MONDAY  Reflections

Some interpret the beginning of this chapter as the Jews being bigoted. After all, these people claim they worship the same God as the Jews. Some think these may be exiles from the northern kingdom who are intermarried with the people in the area. Though this may be who they are, there are a couple of problems. First, these people worshiped God, but they were also worshiping idols (2 Kings 17:40-41), so they weren't truly serving God. Second, the Scriptures clearly call them enemies, and when an enemy claims they are trying to “help,” it isn't helpful. 

 

As the chapter ends, a new king, warned of possible danger, has ordered the work stopped. Since they are being compelled to stop, I have to assume they were stopped by force. It seems the hope to rebuild the temple has ended. This isn't God's final word on the matter.

Ezr 4:1-24
(1)  Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel;
(2)  Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.
(3)  But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.
(4)  Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
(5)  And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
(6)  And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.
(7)  And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.
(8)  Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king in this sort:
(9)  Then wrote Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions; the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Susanchites, the Dehavites, and the Elamites,
(10)  And the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Asnappar brought over, and set in the cities of Samaria, and the rest that are on this side the river, and at such a time.
(11)  This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king; Thy servants the men on this side the river, and at such a time.
(12)  Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations.
(13)  Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings.
(14)  Now because we have maintenance from the king's palace, and it was not meet for us to see the king's dishonour, therefore have we sent and certified the king;
(15)  That search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers: so shalt thou find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time: for which cause was this city destroyed.
(16)  We certify the king that, if this city be builded again, and the walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side the river.
(17)  Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and unto the rest beyond the river, Peace, and at such a time.
(18)  The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me.
(19)  And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein.
(20)  There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom, was paid unto them.
(21)  Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me.
(22)  Take heed now that ye fail not to do this: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?
(23)  Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.
(24)  Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

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Ezekiel 21

WEEK 15                                             Ezekiel 21

SATURDAY  Reflections

God doesn't sound very fair. He says He will destroy both the righteous and the wicked. However, God isn't being unjust. The righteous also confront the consequences of life, as does everyone. We read in Jeremiah the prophecy that the righteous were to surrender to the Babylonians. What happened when they didn't listen, or the leaders of the city refused to let them leave? The suffering came on the innocent, but not because God was trying to kill them, but because the wicked placed them in the way. This is often the case.

 

Charles Bowen (1835 - 1894), an English judge, wrote the poem The Rain, which reminds me of this very subject.

The rain it raineth every day,

Upon the just and unjust fella,

But more upon the just, because

The unjust hath the just's umbrella.

Eze 21:1-32
(1)  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
(2)  Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,
(3)  And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.
(4)  Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:
(5)  That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.
(6)  Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.
(7)  And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD.
(8)  Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
(9)  Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:
(10)  It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree.
(11)  And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.
(12)  Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh.
(13)  Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD.
(14)  Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers.
(15)  I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.
(16)  Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.
(17)  I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the LORD have said it.
(18)  The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,
(19)  Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.
(20)  Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.
(21)  For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.
(22)  At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.
(23)  And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.
(24)  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.
(25)  And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end,
(26)  Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.
(27)  I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.
(28)  And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering:
(29)  Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.
(30)  Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.
(31)  And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.
(32)  Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it.

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Ezra 3

WEEK  16                                               Ezra 3  

Friday  Reflections

It's hard to rebuild something. You can never put things back the way they were. This is the case here in chapter 3:8-13. The people who had never seen the glory of the temple of old were excited, but those who saw how much difference there was found themselves weeping over what was lost.

 

Is either of these groups wrong? No.

 

For the people who had never seen the previous temple, the excitement of being able to worship God in a temple was something to celebrate, and it should have been. For those who had seen what was lost, was it wrong to weep? No, the people of Israel needed to weep because it was their generation that had lost the temple; they needed to grieve. There was a need to remember why they had lost the great temple of Solomon.

 

The lesson for us is to realize that there are times when people see events from a different perspective and neither are wrong or ungodly. Give grace to those who weep when you are rejoicing or those who are rejoicing while you are weeping.

Ezr 3:1-13
(1)  And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
(2)  Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
(3)  And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.
(4)  They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required;
(5)  And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons, and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of every one that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the LORD.
(6)  From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid.
(7)  They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.
(8)  Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the LORD.
(9)  Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites.
(10)  And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel.
(11)  And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.
(12)  But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:
(13)  So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

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