Psalm 80

WEEK  13                                             Psalm 80

WEDNESDAY  Reflections

This psalm calls out to God to restore His people. Verse 3 and 19 both ask God to turn toward them and cause His face to shine on them and then they can be saved. There much truth in this as it is only when God reaches out to us that we can be saved.

The wonderful thing is God has reached out to us. Paul says in Romans, God showed His love toward us while we were yet sinners. It is God’s Spirit who reaches out and calls us to Himself.

Considering this it is absolutely true that salvation can only come when God turns toward us and shines His face on us. We can reject God’s offer but he does give us the opportunity to be restored into His presence.



Psa 80:1-19
(1)  To the chief Musician upon Shoshannimeduth, A Psalm of Asaph. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.
(2)  Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.
(3)  Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
(4)  O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?
(5)  Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.
(6)  Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves.
(7)  Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
(8)  Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
(9)  Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
(10)  The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.
(11)  She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.
(12)  Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?
(13)  The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.
(14)  Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;
(15)  And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.
(16)  It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
(17)  Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.
(18)  So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.
(19)  Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

1 Samuel 12

Are they really following in your footsteps?

WEEK  13                                            1 Samuel 12

TUESDAY  Reflections

Overall Samuel's speech to the children of Israel is the same as Joshua's and Moses'. Israel is reminded again that God will bless them if they obey and will allow disaster if they don't. In the midst of this, I find a small bit of Samuel justifying himself and sadly enough ignoring some problems in his own family.

 

Samuel called to the people's minds that he never defrauded them or cheated anyone. The problem as we recall from chapter 8 wasn't Samuel but his sons. Yes, Samuel did right but he installed his sons to replace him and they weren't honest or righteous. Samuel was a great leader but he failed Israel in appointing poor replacements.

 

 I don't know where I first heard the idea if a leader doesn't pick a good replacement then they have failed as a leader, but it feels true. In more than one business, I have heard the parents were great but when the kids took over, they ruined it. In this one area Samuel, though good in every other regard, failed as a leader. Yes, he has the people confess his successes, but I wonder if he realized part of the reason Israel wanted a king is because he picked poor replacements? Was Samuel like so many parents, unable to see the sin in the lives of his children and thus allowed them to hurt other people?

1Sa 12:1-25
(1)  And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you.
(2)  And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day.
(3)  Behold, here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
(4)  And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand.
(5)  And he said unto them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.
(6)  And Samuel said unto the people, It is the LORD that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt.
(7)  Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers.
(8)  When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place.
(9)  And when they forgat the LORD their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.
(10)  And they cried unto the LORD, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.
(11)  And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe.
(12)  And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God was your king.
(13)  Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you.
(14)  If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the LORD your God:
(15)  But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as it was against your fathers.
(16)  Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes.
(17)  Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.
(18)  So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
(19)  And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.
(20)  And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;
(21)  And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.
(22)  For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.
(23)  Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:
(24)  Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.
(25)  But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.

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1 Samuel 11

WEEK  13                                        1 Samuel 11

MONDAY  Reflections

I have been reminded that anger isn't evil. God through Saul demonstrated anger. It is the abuse of anger and the holding on to it which is the problem. This is why Paul reminded the Christians in Ephesus in their anger not to sin and not to remain angry (Ephesians 4:26).

 

The one thing that really stands out to me is with the victory, Saul had the perfect opportunity to take revenge on the people who didn't want him to be king. Saul accepted the victory God gave and refused to turn it into an excuse for vengeance. Saul instead used the victory to call the people to worship God. This is a great example which we should follow from the life of Saul. Don't turn God's gifts into an excuse to gain selfish goals. Allow God's miracles to bring worship to Him. 

1Sa 11:1-15
(1)  Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabeshgilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.
(2)  And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.
(3)  And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee.
(4)  Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept.
(5)  And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh.
(6)  And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly.
(7)  And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent.
(8)  And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
(9)  And they said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabeshgilead, To morrow, by that time the sun be hot, ye shall have help. And the messengers came and shewed it to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad.
(10)  Therefore the men of Jabesh said, To morrow we will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you.
(11)  And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.
(12)  And the people said unto Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death.
(13)  And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day: for to day the LORD hath wrought salvation in Israel.
(14)  Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there.
(15)  And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

Jeremiah 23

WEEK  12                                          Jeremiah 23         

SATURDAY  Reflections

In the middle of moaning over the unfaithful pastor and prophets, Jeremiah speaks of God preparing His righteous king and His shepherds over Israel (verses 3-8). This is a picture of Jesus and the work he is doing and will do in the world.

 

God speaks His condemnation on the prophets who have spoken lies to the children of Israel. He warns He will bring judgment on those who say they speak His words but speak their own words and dreams.

 

For me, this is a reminder to those who teach and preach the Word of God to be careful to speak the truth as God has presented it and not as we would want to.

 

Question: Can you think of another chapter 23 in the Bible that talks of a shepherd?

Jer 23:1-40
(1)  Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
(2)  Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
(3)  And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
(4)  And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
(5)  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
(6)  In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
(7)  Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
(8)  But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
(9)  Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.
(10)  For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.
(11)  For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
(12)  Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.
(13)  And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
(14)  I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
(15)  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
(16)  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
(17)  They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
(18)  For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?
(19)  Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
(20)  The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.
(21)  I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
(22)  But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
(23)  Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
(24)  Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
(25)  I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
(26)  How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;
(27)  Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
(28)  The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
(29)  Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
(30)  Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.
(31)  Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
(32)  Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
(33)  And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.
(34)  And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house.
(35)  Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
(36)  And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.
(37)  Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
(38)  But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD;
(39)  Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:
(40)  And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.

Jeremiah 22

WEEK   12                                      Jeremiah 22

FRIDAY  Reflections

It has been said that one man can make a difference. It is true. Moses made a difference in calling out for mercy on Israel. Jesus, of course, made the biggest difference. Josiah’s righteous reign caused a delay in judgment.

 

In verse 24, God makes it clear if the new king was God’s signet ring judgment would still fall. The wearer of a royal signet ring had the moral authority and the right to order commands as if he was the king himself. God at times called people His signet ring or as we might say in the West, His right-hand man. Now even someone with that kind of moral integrity and authority couldn’t stop the judgment. I don’t want to be depressing but sometimes one person can’t make a difference no matter how good they are.

 

It has been repeated several times in Jeremiah, Israel has gone too far and one person can’t make a difference. The only hope is if the people as a group turn back to God.

Jer 22:1-30
(1)  Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
(2)  And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:
(3)  Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.
(4)  For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.
(5)  But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.
(6)  For thus saith the LORD unto the king's house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.
(7)  And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
(8)  And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?
(9)  Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.
(10)  Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
(11)  For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more:
(12)  But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.
(13)  Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
(14)  That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
(15)  Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?
(16)  He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.
(17)  But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
(18)  Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!
(19)  He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
(20)  Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.
(21)  I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice.
(22)  The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.
(23)  O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!
(24)  As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;
(25)  And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
(26)  And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.
(27)  But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.
(28)  Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
(29)  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
(30)  Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

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