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“Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s” Obadiah 1:21

“Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!” Psalm 82:8

“That they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.” Psalm 83:18

The same theme emerges in these three passages and also control the other readings for today.

God is the sovereign judge. He rules over all.

In the 1 Kings passage, the wicked King Ahab has surrounded himself with hundreds of prophets who always tell him what he wants to hear. But Micaiah is the only prophet who speaks truth and Ahab knows it. At first Micaiah mockingly answers the king according to what all the others say, but King Ahab sees right through that.

“But the king said to him, ‘How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?'” 1 Kings 22:16

The king wants the truth and he gets the truth. Micaiah prophesies that King Ahab will die in the upcoming battle. King Ahab responds by putting Micaiah in prison and boasts that he will come back safely from the battle.

But Ahab knows the prophet has spoken the truth. Why else would he go into battle in disguise?

And as the prophet has said, and according to the sovereign judgment of the Lord, Ahab is killed in battle. Jehoshaphat escapes death by crying out to the Lord but Ahab is struck by a random arrow between the plates of armor.

God’s judgment will prevail. It is indeed better to trust in the Lord than to trust in princes.

I am amazed by the grace of God. The kingdom of Israel is split in two and it’s pretty much a fact that the northern kingdom of Israel is in a lot worse shape than Judah.

The first king of the northern kingdom was Jeroboam. He wasn’t related to David whatsoever. After the rebellion of the northern ten tribes, Jeroboam set up his own form of worship with golden calves and a DIY priesthood.

After Jeroboam, king after king drags Israel into deeper and deeper sin until we get to Ahab. He marries Jezebel and at this point Israel is into full blown Baal worship.

They must be too far gone in God’s eyes. But no. God sends his prophet Elijah to them.

Elijah believes he is the only one still faithful in Israel. But no. God has kept 7,000 in Israel who have not bowed the knee to Baal.

The Lord disciplines his people. The Lord keeps his people. The grace of God is strong enough to pull anyone out of the deepest sin.

No matter how you interpret Ecclesiastes, one of its messages is that the pursuit of riches is like striving after wind. Riches are unstable and there’s no guarantee that the person who inherits those riches will use them wisely.

Solomon is the perfect example of this. The description of the riches of Solomon’s kingdom, from the temple to his own palace, to the amount of gold he received every year, is beyond belief. Everything in the temple it seems was overlaid with gold and silver was as of no value because there was so much of it.

Unfortunately, within one generation, all those treasures were taken away. Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, turned away from the Lord and the king of Egypt came and took it all away.

So everything that Solomon had, the riches that amazed the Queen of Sheba, profited nothing in the end.

Vanity of vanities indeed.

Proverbs 25:28 (NLT) –

“A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.”

In ancient times a city’s walls were its greatest defense. Without walls the inhabitants of the city had no protection. Enemies could move in freely to attack.

Self-control is one of those virtues that gets overlooked but is so important.

A synonym for self-control is aplomb. Not the most used word but its definition gets to the heart of what self-control is.

Aplomb –

1. imperturbable self-possession, poise, or assurance.

To be in possession of yourself, your emotions, and your reactions protects you just like a wall protects a city. Letting go of control makes you wide open to the temptations from the world, your flesh and the devil.

Self-control may be an overlooked virtue but it’s a fruit of the Spirit that’s necessary for us to display.

Psalm 136 is very, very repetitive but in a very good way. I used to have trouble focusing on this Psalm when I read it. The same phrase over and over would just wash over me without landing on me the way I desired.

His love endures forever.

But after years of reading this Psalm it has become very precious to me. There’s something about reading the same thing over and over that causes you to see more and more treasure.

I think that’s why he repeats this phrase over and over.

His love endures forever.

He recounts the journey of his people and every single step is underlined with this phrase.

His love endures forever.

We are weak people and very forgetful. God wants us to remember this phrase. He wants us to remember the truth that will carry us every day, all the way to the end.

His love endures forever.

Meditation on being a sluggard:

“Sluggards do not plow in season; so at harvest time they look but find nothing.” Proverbs 20:4

There are many dichotomies in Proverbs: rich and poor, wise and foolish, the diligent and the sluggard.

The diligent understand the value of discipline and consistent work.

“In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.” Proverbs 14:23

A sluggard is a person who is habitually inactive or lazy, a dawdler and an idler, someone who doesn’t understand the value of the day in and day out of daily obedience.

A farmer has a lot to do and appointed times to do it. He has to till the soil and drop the seeds. One by one. One by one. He tends the crop. He prays for rain. Day after day after day he cares for the crop. He waits and waits for the harvest.

What does the sluggard do? Rather, what does he not do?

The sluggard does not plow, but wait, the verse doesn’t say that. It says he doesn’t plow in season. So he doesn’t plow at the right time. Maybe he plowed when he felt like it. Maybe he just talked about plowing. The point is, there is a right time to plow. There is a right time to sow the seed and it takes diligence and patience.

But the next phrase reveals another aspect of the sluggard. At harvest time, he looks.

At harvest time he looks.

So this time the sluggard goes out at the right time, at harvest time. He is looking for something. He is expecting to find something. Maybe he thinks he has done enough to produce a crop? I don’t know. But he’s looking and expecting to get something from the little he’s done.

The sluggard is obviously deceived. He thinks that the little he’s done will produce something. But it won’t. It can’t. He hasn’t put in the diligent and daily obedience to get a harvest.

“I passed by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.” Proverbs 24:30-34

 

Again, I cannot recommend to you enough the practice of reading a lot of Scripture in one sitting. The repeated words and phrases sink deeper as you encounter them one after another. What struck me today were the repeated calls in Proverbs to cry out for wisdom.

“but whoever listens to me will live in safety…” Proverbs 1:33

“For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless…” Proverbs 2:6-7

“Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.” Proverbs 3:13-14

“Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.” Proverbs 4:5-7

James 1 says that if we lack wisdom we should ask God who gives generously to all without reproach. Reading Proverbs 1-15 underlines that encouragement as if in red pen. Over and over Proverbs directs us to cry out for wisdom. Wisdom is personified and positions herself as freely available to anyone who calls out for her.

“Wisdom has built her house; she has set up its seven pillars. She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent out her servants, and she calls from the highest point of the city, ‘Let all who are simple come to my house!’ To those who have no sense she says, ‘Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of insight.'” Proverbs 9:1-6

Reading James 1 in light of Proverbs increases my faith! God reveals more of his character to me and further assures me that he desires my good. He does give generously, very generously and without reproach.

Psalm 119 rarely gets read all at once. It needs to be though. The impact is tremendous. What I noticed today was the connection between God’s word and his character. They are inextricably linked.

Some people say they believe in God but don’t believe the Bible is completely true. That is an untenable position.

If God is true, all his words are true.

If God is righteous, all his words are righteous.

If God is love, all his words are to be loved and delighted in.

Psalm 119 clearly communicates this:

“You have dealt well with your servant, O LORD, according to your word.” Psalm 119:65

I think this is why the psalmist is so passionate about God’s word. He is passionate to know, obey and delight in it, because he is passionate to know, obey and delight in the Lord.

Psalm 118 says:

“It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.”

What does this mean – “take refuge in the LORD”? God is a spirit, he does not have flesh and bone. We cannot literally hide in his embrace.

Let’s go to the dictionary.  A refuge is a shelter, a protection from danger or trouble. Other words like it that are also ascribed to God are shelter, fortress and stronghold. But still, God is not a physical structure that we can run to and hide in.

So what does this mean? We need to remember that although God is a spirit, the Bible uses metaphors to help us.

Merciful metaphors. Our Father wants us to know him, really know him. He wants us to trust him, and not just a little. I think this is the reason for so many metaphors. In Psalm 18 we have rock, fortress, refuge, shield, horn of my salvation.

God didn’t have to inspire the Bible in this way. Poetry is language that conveys beauty and emotion. It stirs our spirits. God desires us to be drawn in.

So what does it mean that God is a refuge and how do we take refuge in him? I think he wants us to use our imaginations. He is merciful to us in using a metaphor that means a secure place of safety. We can picture it in our minds. So to take refuge in God means to trust in him, look to him, know that as we place our faith in him, we are safe and secure.

 

Some observations on 2 Samuel 24/1 Chronicles 21:

• It says that God’s anger again burned against Israel. God gets angry at his people but his anger is always righteous and controlled.
• Why is counting your army a sin? Does David’s success breed self-sufficiency and pride?
• In the 1 Chronicles account, it says Joab doesn’t complete the census because it’s repulsive to him. It’s odd that this thing is repulsive to Joab compared to the other violent things he’s done.
• God gives David a choice between three different punishments. Has God ever given anyone else that kind of choice? Wow.
• In the end, God mercifully relents before destroying Jerusalem.