Contemplative Bible Reading

Ezra 6:19-22 (New International Version)

¹⁹ On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover. ²⁰ The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their brothers the priests and for themselves. ²¹ So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the LORD, the God of Israel. ²² For seven days they celebrated with joy the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the LORD had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria, so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

In Ezra, some of God’s chosen people had returned to Jerusalem after 70 years of exile in Babylon. They came to rebuild the Temple and re-establish their Temple worship. They faced hardships and outright opposition from people in the region. This opposition was understandable as these people had their run of the place for a couple generations. They weren’t welcoming of another people to return and take back all the land.

Back in chapter 4, King Artaxerxes ordered that work on the Temple be stopped - and it was. The Jews then sent letters to the King(s) (they seemed to change kings often), asked for a search of kingly memos (good thing they had a good paper-producing bureaucracy even back then) about this. The search found just what the Jews knew existed, a blessing to rebuild the Temple.

On the surface, this all looks like good record keeping and simple justice. A king had written a memo, the memo was found, and the policy stood. Nothing special happening here, right? Wrong. Things don’t work that simply in politics today and they didn’t work that simply several thousand years ago.

God swayed the mind of the King. God changed the attitude of the King. The King blessed the efforts of the people.

God can still change the attitudes of Kings, Presidents, Prime Ministers, dog catchers, and School Board Members. Prayer helps. Let us never forget this.

Acts 4:19-20 (New International Version)

¹⁹ But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God [for us] to listen to you rather than to God, you decide; ²⁰ for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Peter and John tell those who want them to be quiet, “We are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

In other words, “We can’t help it. We have to tell people.”

My father was a preacher of the Gospel all his adult life. He once told me about a teacher he studied under at a Bible college. The teach, an old preacher himself, once told all the potential preachers in class, “Don’t preach if you can keep from it.”

In other words, “Be a preacher only if you can’t help it, if you find yourself like Peter and John where you just have to tell people about Jesus.”

I know, we are all ministers of the Gospel. We are all to tell others about Jesus the Christ. Still, there are some people who are compelled to speak, who just can’t help themselves. They have to tell others.

I understand being compelled to do something.

Acts 4:13 (New International Version)

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

People looked at Peter and John, listened to Peter and John, and came to an amazing conclusion:

these men had been with Jesus

What was it about Peter and John that led to this conclusion? Did they glow? Had they acquired an unusual accent in their speech? What was it? Maybe I am trying too hard to find something that isn’t here. Maybe the people simply remembered seeing  Peter and John with Jesus. That is all they are saying.

Even if that were all there is, the people noted that. The people were astonished at how Peter and James were acting. They weren’t acting like the average or normal person. They were doing something different, something special.

What do people note about me? Am I different, special, noteworthy? Do people stop and ask about me? And what is more important, do they make any connection between me and Jesus of Nazareth?

God, help me to live in a way and a place that people take note of me and connect me to You and Your Son.

Psalm 27:4 (New International Version)

One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

These are the words of David. This is the one thing that he asks of the Lord - the he may dwell in the house of the Lord.

In today’s culture, “I want to live in your house,” doesn’t seem to make much sense. I have my own house. Why would I want to live in someone else’s house? There are some practical reasons like I wouldn’t have to clean the house as the owner would do that, or at least I assume the owner would clean the house. Another reason is that I could sell my house, keep the money, and live rent-free in another person’s house. Still, why would I want to live in another person’s house?

In David’s culture, I believe that dwelling in someone’s house meant more than just the above. Their “house” was more like what we today consider a neighborhood or community. Dwelling in the house of the Lord meant to live in a community of people who worshiped the Lord - people who considered the one true God their literal Lord, someone they revered and obeyed.

This is the one thing that David asked of God - that he live in a place where the people acknowledged God as Lord of their life. Even though David was the King of God’s people, many of the people simply didn’t acknowledge God as the one true God. There was plenty of wandering about among the man-made gods of the people who lived in the land before them.

This is much like America today. We are still a “Christian nation” in that most people think of Jesus as the Son of God. We still, however, have all sorts of other little man-made gods that attract so much of our time and attention (money, power, fame, fortune, security, retirement, etc.). This makes for an interesting time and place to live, but there are times when I want what David requested:

to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

Psalm 141 (New International Version)

¹ O LORD, I call to you; come quickly to me.
Hear my voice when I call to you.

² May my prayer be set before you like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

³ Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD;
keep watch over the door of my lips.

⁴ Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,
to take part in wicked deeds
with men who are evildoers;
let me not eat of their delicacies.

⁵ Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;
let him rebuke me—it is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it.
Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers;

⁶ their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs,
and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.

⁷ They will say, “As one plows and breaks up the earth,
so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.  ”

⁸ But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD;
in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death.

⁹ Keep me from the snares they have laid for me,
from the traps set by evildoers.

¹⁰ Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I pass by in safety.

Another contemplation from this Psalm - this time from verse 4:

…let me not eat of their delicacies.

David is talking about evil, wicked deeds, and men who are evildoers (what a great word - evildoers). These are awful things and awful people, but David concludes with of all things “delicacies.”  What? Surely David would end with something like troubles or offensives or rudeness. Instead, we have delicacies right in there with wicked and evil.

Sometimes when I read passages like this I wonder if David just plain got it wrong. Remember that David had his bad days when he committed terrible sins. Maybe he wrote this on one of those days and he was confused and had his heart in the wrong place.

Perhaps not. Perhaps David has it just right. Look at the thesaurus for synonyms of delicacy. There are the first things that came to my mind: ambrosia, delight, desert, feast, goody. Then there are some other synonyms that I had not considered: fragility, frailness, frailty, infirmity, weakness.

Delicacies can be good and tasty. They are also on the edge of breaking. That is the way of the evildoer. The  evildoer is doing these things that seem to be fun, but he is walking on the top strand of a barbed wire fence. One little loss of balance and… Well, have you ever fallen through a barbed wire fence? It isn’t pretty.

God, keep me from the delicacies of evil deeds and evildoers. Let me not be tempted by their delights.

Psalm 141 (New International Version)

¹ O LORD, I call to you; come quickly to me.
Hear my voice when I call to you.

² May my prayer be set before you like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

³ Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD;
keep watch over the door of my lips.

⁴ Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,
to take part in wicked deeds
with men who are evildoers;
let me not eat of their delicacies.

⁵ Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;
let him rebuke me—it is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it.
Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers;

⁶ their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs,
and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.

⁷ They will say, “As one plows and breaks up the earth,
so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave. ”

⁸ But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD;
in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death.

⁹ Keep me from the snares they have laid for me,
from the traps set by evildoers.

¹⁰ Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I pass by in safety.

I was going to write about one verse in this Psalm, but instead felt compelled to list the entire Psalm here. David is asking the Lord for help. David wants to do what is right, i.e., he wants to be righteous, but oh the problems of a man living in a sinful world.

I will probably write about words in this Psalm a few times.

Today, notice verse 3:

Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD;
keep watch over the door of my lips.

What we say often leads to trouble and ruin. David asks the Lord to keep his mouth from ruining himself. “Guard my mouth,” asks David. I can see a large, burly security guard standing in front of me 24/7. He stares into my eyes, reads my expression; he knows what I am about to say. He lifts his fist and shakes it in front of me when he knows that I am about to say something hateful, harmful, terrible. That is what David asks of the Lord. Put that large, burly security guard in front of me and have that security guard keep my mouth shut at the right moments.

Yes Lord, set a guard over my mouth. Keep my mouth from harming others. Give me good  and uplifting words. Have those words flow from my lips daily.

Jeremiah 21:11-12 (New International Version)

¹¹ “Moreover, say to the royal house of Judah, ‘Hear the word of the LORD; ¹² O house of David, this is what the LORD says:
” ‘Administer justice every morning;
rescue from the hand of his oppressor
the one who has been robbed,
or my wrath will break out and burn like fire
because of the evil you have done—
burn with no one to quench it.

This is a simple instruction from the Lord to his people in Judah:

Administer justice every morning

Notice that there is no long, detailed description of “justice.” We are given one example of what is “just:”

rescue from the hand of his oppressor
the one who has been robbed

This is a respect for property and ownership. This is pretty simple instruction.

I believe that we don’t have a long description of justice here because the people didn’t need one. They knew right from wrong. They knew about property, suffering, lying, cheating, taking another person’s spouse, and so on.

They had no problem with what they knew; they stumbled with what they did.

Hmmm, sounds like us, here, today. We need no instruction in religion. God wants us to love and obey Him and love one another. Long definitions and descriptions are not necessary. Perhaps we need encouragement from one another from time to time; well, maybe we need encouragement every day. Because, you see, we need to live everyday with love for one another and we need to administer justice every morning  in our own circumstances.

1 Peter 4:12-17 (New International Version)

¹²Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. ¹⁵If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. ¹⁶However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. ¹⁷For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

At many times in my life I have heard sermons and class discussions about these verses. The topics were how we as Christians suffer because we are Christians. Look at the verses

14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed

16 if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name

Somehow we take pride in that we suffer for being Christians. We tend to go out of our way to invoke insults and suffering so that we can claim the blessing of verse 14 and praise God as in verse 16. I think we do this too much. I think we stretch these words of Peter at bit too far.

I can recall times in my life when my supervisor at work encouraged me to live with a woman when I wasn’t married to her. I can recall times when my supervisor encouraged me to get drunk with the boys now and then to build teamwork. I can stretch these instances and claim that I suffered in my career because I was a Christian and wouldn’t go along with these things.

Then I read a story like this one. Doctors in Afghanistan were killed. They were out in villages providing free medical assistance for people suffering eye diseases. The Taliban claimed credit for the killings.

The Taliban quickly asserted responsibility for the killings, saying the medical workers were “foreign spies” and were spreading Christianity.

Those people suffered for being Christian.

In America today, no one has ever threatened my life because I believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Anointed one, the Son of God. No one has told me to renounce this Jesus as my Lord and Savior or else… Have I ever suffered as a Christian? I doubt it. People in China, Cuba, North Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan - people there to this day suffer as Christians.

I receive many blessings from God every day. I don’t need to claim the blessing of 1 Peter 4 as an extra. Thank you God that I don’t.

2 Kings 3:1-3 (New International Version)

¹ Joram son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned twelve years. ² He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father and mother had done. He got rid of the sacred stone of Baal that his father had made. ³ Nevertheless he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.

Joram becomes king of Israel (the Northern Kingdom after the split from the Southern Kingdom of Judah). Joram’s father was Ahab. In verse 2, we learn that Ahab had made a stone of Baal, a sacred stone of Baal.

This fascinates me. You take a stone, chisel or polish or shape it in some way, then declare it to be “sacred.” How do you do that? How do you make a rock, just another plain old rock, sacred? Is there a special ceremony? Is there a special day of the year for making rocks sacred? Do you wear special clothes for the sacred-rock-making ceremony?

This all sounds pretty silly to me in this place at this time. Still, it made sense to Ahab and others in their time in their place. They made rocks sacred, and the rocks were … well, sacred.

I guess we do similar things today. The American flag cannot be desecrated. Soiling a Bible and throwing it in a trash can be would desecrating it. So maybe we do make some things “sacred” even to this day. Is our church building sacred? Is our house sacred? Is our family name sacred? Hmmm, maybe that Ahab guy wasn’t so far out after all.

God, help me to not spend my life making inanimate things “sacred.” You alone are sacred. Help me to keep it that way.

Jeremiah 9:9-11 (New International Version)

⁹ Should I not punish them for this?”
declares the LORD.
“Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?”

¹⁰ I will weep and wail for the mountains
and take up a lament concerning the desert pastures.
They are desolate and untraveled,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds of the air have fled
and the animals are gone.

¹¹ “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
a haunt of jackals;
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah
so no one can live there.”

The Lord is speaking to His people through the prophet Jeremiah. Jerusalem and its people are to be punished. Jerusalem would be a heap of ruins, a waste, no one can live there, and a haunt of jackals.

What in the world is a haunt of jackals? In the New International Version, this phrase is used four times in Jeremiah, twice in Isaiah, and once in Psalms. Still, what is it?

Jackals are not the king of the jungle or a majestic beast or any of that. They are often thought of as scavengers, but that is not true. Still, people think of them that way. But a haunt of jackals. Sometimes haunt is used for “stamping ground” or “hangout.”

I suppose that if Jerusalem was to be a haunt of jackals it would be desolate of people. There would be nothing worthy of people - something like that. It sounds like a bad place, something that God’s people would not like to become of their homes.