Proverbs 3
This chapter contains a famous Bible verse: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will direct your paths.” (vs 5-6) I learned that one as a kid; maybe you did, too. But, is it really true? Can we really trust God to lead us in the way we’re supposed to go? Is this rhetorical? Or literal?
Psalm 142
David wrote this psalm while he was “in the cave,” presumably hiding away from Saul. At this point, he had already been declared the future king of Israel by God, but the fruition of that prophecy wasn’t coming very quickly. David was still spending much of his time running from his enemies and hiding out in dark places.
Psalm 139
And so we’ve finally come to this—my most favorite psalm in the Bible, possibly my most favorite chapter in the Bible. I just love how the picture of God in it is all-pervasive. There is nowhere we can go to outrun Him. He is everywhere—even with us in the womb, long before we are capable of perceiving Him.
Psalm 132
Just a few chapters ago, we read, “Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” (Ps 127:1) And now, we get a chance to see this principle in action. God is the builder. We may be good helpers (when we aren’t trying to take over the project!), but we should never lose sight of Who is actually doing the building.
Psalm 128
I’m continually amazed at the “math” of heaven. It runs so contrary to the math we learn in school. For instance, we all know what 1+1 is, right? It’s the first math problem we ever learn: 1+1=2. But not so with God.
At the outset, when God brings 1 man and 1 woman together, we end up with 1 flesh. 1+1=1. By the time this “1 flesh” is done having a family, the equation might be 1+1=5 or (in the extreme case of a family like the Duggars) 1+1=20! I have to chuckle when I think that God would fail a first-grade math quiz.
Psalm 70
I can’t believe I’ve been “in quarantine” for more than a month now. Someone recently joked that when we turned the clocks ahead in March, someone accidentally flipped us into The Twilight Zone. It feels like it! I never imagined 2020 would be such a weird year, and it’s not even half over yet! Suddenly, as we contemplate plagues and collapsing economies, and general global instability, contemplating the end of the world doesn’t seem as far-fetched as it used to.
Psalm 40
There is something in the nature of love that makes it everlasting. It never ends, but keeps going on and on forever. By contrast, there is something in the nature of sin that makes it self-destruct. It cannot last, but quickly spirals down to nothing. In this chapter of Psalms, we get a glimpse of God’s nature, the nature of love:
Psalm 18
Have you seen the 1996 film Jerry Maguire? There’s a scene from that film that had most women swooning and most men rolling their eyes. It’s where the character played by Tom Cruise looks at his estranged wife, played by Renee Zellweger, and tearfully says, “You…complete…me.” That’s what I thought about when I read today’s psalm in The Message. It rendered verse 20 this way: “God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him.”
Job 29
In this chapter, Job reminisces about the past, remembering what it was like before he met with all his misfortune. Not only did he enjoy God’s intimate friendship (vs 4), but he was respected and honored in his community (vs 7-8), and he spoke with an air of authority (vs 21-22). At that time, Job felt like his legacy would go on forever: "Then I said, 'I shall die in my nest, and multiply my days as the sand.'" (vs 18)
Esther 4
There is a verse from this chapter that has stuck with me ever since I read it for the first time: "And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?" (vs 14) A couple days ago, I confessed that I no longer believe in coincidences, and it seems obvious to me that Mordecai didn’t believe in coincidences either. He knew that someone else was in charge of the events that had led Esther to be in the right place at the right time.
Nehemiah 3
Several times in our journey so far through the Old Testament, we have witnessed God’s love of community. Since love is relational, it is always seeking community. Of course, it’s important to keep in mind that the type of community God wants is only found in the mutual unity of a group of individuals. (These days, when some think of community, they tend to think of a community as a single organism that is more important than an individual. But true community begins with the individual.)
Ezra 5
In the previous chapter of Ezra, we learned that there was some fierce opposition to the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. It continued in this chapter: "At that time Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates went to them and asked, 'Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?' They also asked, 'What are the names of those who are constructing this building?' But the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to Darius and his written reply be received." (vs 3-5)
Measurements specified
down to the inch—
linen curtains
crossbars
acacia-wood frames
Accessories requiring
a wealth of resource—
bronze clasps and
gold hooks and
loops of blue yarn
When God sets out
to build Himself
a temple,
He leaves
no corner untouched,
no detail unplanned.
We so casually declare
our bodies to be
the temples
of this Holy Spiriting God
while intending
to satisfy Him with
our present accommodation.
Take note:
the God who deigns
to live in you
is not planning to
make Himself
at home.
He is planning to
make Himself
a home.
2 Chronicles 25
Amaziah—like his father—started out well as king. Later, he too strayed from the ways of the Lord, but as kings of Judah went, he was a pretty good one. (Which is, I think, a sad commentary on the kings of Judah!) Before he went astray, however, he had a habit of listening whenever the Lord talked to him. One such occasion was recorded in this chapter:
2 Chronicles 24
I heard a very good sermon recently about how God sometimes protects us in an ultimate, eternal sense by not protecting us physically in the here and now. This, of course, can be a very difficult concept for us to understand and grasp. We tend to want that "instant gratification" sort of protection, and quite often, we’re shocked and grieved when we don’t get it.
2 Chronicles 5
I heard this quip recently: Wanna hear God laugh? Tell Him your plans. I’ve heard that before, and it always makes me chuckle (although I do believe that God wants to hear what’s on our minds). But I think it’s true that we sometimes have our days and weeks planned out so intricately that we forget about God and the plans He has for us. And even if we remember, often we try to somehow fit His plans into the plans we already made for ourselves.
1 Chronicles 23
Of everything written in this chapter of 1 Chronicles, this stuck out to me the most: "[The Levites] were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord. They were to do the same in the evening and whenever burnt offerings were presented to the Lord on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon feasts and at the appointed festivals." (vs 30-31)
