Psalm 102

WEEK   9                                             Psalm 102

WEDNESDAY  Reflections

One of the things that gives me peace is the honesty of the Psalms. There is no glossing over; if the psalmist is happy, he rejoices; if he is sad, he laments; if he is angry, then that too is demonstrated. God knows us, and the Psalms reflect Him and us. It shows us how we can be honest with God

 

In Psalm 102, the psalmist pours out his pain. Yet, the psalmist understands God will do what is right. God will make everything right. This reminds me of what Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great, calls the Stockdale Paradox. I won't go into detail (Read it; it's great stuff), but it is believing that things will work out but brutally accepting the truth of the current situation. The psalmist understands both his plight and God's faithfulness. 

Psa 102:1-28
(1)  A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.
(2)  Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily.
(3)  For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth.
(4)  My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread.
(5)  By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin.
(6)  I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.
(7)  I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.
(8)  Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me.
(9)  For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,
(10)  Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.
(11)  My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.
(12)  But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.
(13)  Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.
(14)  For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.
(15)  So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.
(16)  When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.
(17)  He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.
(18)  This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.
(19)  For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth;
(20)  To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;
(21)  To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;
(22)  When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
(23)  He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.
(24)  I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.
(25)  Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
(26)  They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
(27)  But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
(28)  The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

Micah 3

WEEK  9                                             Micah 3

TUESDAY  Reflections

As much as God is angered at the abuse of the rich, he is angry with leaders and teachers who are doing wrong. Micah points out that the princes of Jacob and Israel are so corrupt that it is as if they are cooking the people and eating them, because of their ruthless and brutal abuse. They do their work as a way to get a reward(a bribe), not to assure life is going well for their people. There was no concept of a prince being in public service for the sake of the people.

 

The prophets and the priests were just as bad because they were not serving God but only serving people for profit. God was never against the servants of God being paid and paid fairly. However, the focus had gone from serving God to serving people for the reward. For those in ministry, the ministry is always to God, period.

Mic 3:1-12
(1)  And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
(2)  Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
(3)  Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
(4)  Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
(5)  Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
(6)  Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
(7)  Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.
(8)  But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
(9)  Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
(10)  They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
(11)  The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
(12)  Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

2 Kings 19

WEEK  9                                            2 Kings  19

MONDAY  Reflections

Hezekiah made note that perhaps God would intervene NOT because of Judah's goodness but because the messenger of the Assyrians blasphemed God. God said that He would defend Jerusalem for His own sake (purpose/reason) and because of the covenant with David. The purpose God would defend Judah, as I see it, was to fulfill the promise that a messiah would come through David's line. God's purpose was to bring forth a savior through Abraham's line and to sit on David's throne. Hezekiah prayed, but God's ultimate reason to save Jerusalem was to bring salvation to the world as He promised. 


2 Kings 19:1-37
(1)  And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.
(2)  And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
(3)  And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
(4)  It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.
(5)  So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
(6)  And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
(7)  Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
(8)  So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
(9)  And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying,
(10)  Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
(11)  Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered?
(12)  Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar?
(13)  Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?
(14)  And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
(15)  And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.
(16)  LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.
(17)  Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands,
(18)  And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
(19)  Now therefore, O LORD our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.
(20)  Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
(21)  This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
(22)  Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.
(23)  By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.
(24)  I have digged and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places.
(25)  Hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps.
(26)  Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
(27)  But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
(28)  Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
(29)  And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves, and in the second year that which springeth of the same; and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof.
(30)  And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
(31)  For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.
(32)  Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.
(33)  By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
(34)  For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
(35)  And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
(36)  So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
(37)  And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

Photo by delfi de la Rua on Unsplash

Ezekiel 14

WEEK  8                                        Ezekiel 14

SATURDAY  Reflections

If you ever watch a home being remodeled, it looks like a wreck. You may think that it will never come back together again. I have seen a number of homes on TV being remodeled. Though there seems to be no hope that it will ever be right by the end of the show, it’s beautiful. I’m amazed. It is at that moment you realize that all of the work was worth it.

 

This is what God says it will be like when he finishes with Israel. At that time it will all make sense, even though it doesn’t now. God’s harshness and apparent unwillingness to save will be understood.

 

“When you meet them and see their behavior, you will understand that these things are not being done to Israel without cause. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!" verse 23. 

Eze 14:1-23
(1)  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
(2)  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
(3)  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
(4)  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
(5)  That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
(6)  Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
(7)  For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:
(8)  And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
(9)  And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
(10)  And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;
(11)  That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.
(12)  The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,
(13)  Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it:
(14)  Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.
(15)  If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts:
(16)  Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.
(17)  Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:
(18)  Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.
(19)  Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:
(20)  Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.
(21)  For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?
(22)  Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.
(23)  And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord GOD.

Photo by Drew Coffman on Unsplash

Micah 2

WEEK  8                                       Micah 2

FRIDAY  Reflections

The thought that all rich people are evil is just as wrong as saying all poor people are lazy. There are plenty on both sides because people are people. What is clear, though, is that money and power give people the ability to do more. If they are good, then good happens. If they aren't, well... then bad things happen a lot of them.

 

God has repeated the teaching: to whom much is given, much is required. Israel wasn't any worse than other nation-states. However, God was heartbroken with them because He had been given them so much. They were given the Law and His blessings, yet they wasted them.

 

God will move against the powerful and rich who abuse their gifts. They don't use what they have or work honestly to get more. They use oppression and violence. They also steal the heritage of families, the land which God gave specifically to families forever.  They also do not want to be told about the wrong they are doing. 

Mic 2:1-13
(1)  Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
(2)  And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
(3)  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil.
(4)  In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields.
(5)  Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the LORD.
(6)  Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.
(7)  O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?
(8)  Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.
(9)  The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.
(10)  Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.
(11)  If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.
(12)  I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.
(13)  The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them.

Photo by Max Kleinen on Unsplash