Contemplative Bible Reading

Psalm 50:23 (New Living Translation)

23 But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.

God is speaking to people through the writer Asaph. These sentences are part of God chastising the wicked. There isn’t much good to say. God tells them, “Repent or I will tear you apart.”

The speech ends with verse 23. Hey, wicked (too often that is me), give thanks to God. That giving is sacrificing as I no longer have what I once had. When I thank God, I honor God. I acknowledge that what I have, what is a blessing to me, is from God. God is the source of my life.

The verse ends with a promise of keep to God’s path (don’t wander along on the other path). God will reveal salvation.

Thanks be to God.

Job 42:7-10 (New Living Translation)

7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has.”

9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite did as the Lord commanded them, and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.

10 When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before!

These verses are part of the (hi)story of Job. God is angry with Job’s three friends. They had sat by Job on the ground next to a miserable fire. They did not abandon him as many had done. They were true friends.

Yet, their advice to Job about God was wrong. They were so wrong that God was angry with them. They deserved punishment.

What follows is repentance, sacrifice, prayer, and forgiveness. The friends sacrificed ten livestock to God. This is not a little show. This is a big deal and a big loss of short-term and long-term money. These friends repented and sacrificed.

And Job forgives and prays for them. Job was suffering a great set of tragedies. On top of the loss of family, homes, and health, he had three people telling him it was all his fault and he needed to change his life. And his friends never said, “Come over to my place. Take a shower. Put on clean clothes. Eat well. We’ll bring a doctor over to take care of you.” Nope. It was just, “You are wrong and the sooner you admit it, the sooner you can do whatever you do after the loss of family, homes, and health.”

And God forgave. That is the end of the story. God forgave then and forgives now. Blessed be God. And please God, help me in my unbelief.

Psalm 89:14 (New Living Translation)

14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants.

There are many things about God recorded in the Bible. We learn that God has limitless strength. God has limitless knowledge. God is everywhere at once for all time. And on and on. Amazing power in all ways that my little mind can imagine.

What is the foundation of God? Strength? Power? Computing capacity? Nope. Do what is right. Be just to everyone.

There must be some misunderstanding in translation (the usual excuse for things that don’t make sense to me). But here it is in black and white as plain as it can be. The foundation of all this is doing what is right and being just to everyone.

Perhaps we could learn from God. (Perhaps? Who is kidding? Of course.) Perhaps we could focus on doing what is right, i.e., being good. Perhaps we could be just to everyone regardless of every pathetic excuse we find to do otherwise.

I guess that’s the end statement of most of this. Righteous and justice. Surely we can do these two simple things. Please God, help me to be righteous and just.

2 Chronicles 16:9a (New Living Translation)

9 The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

This is part of the (hi)story of the kings of Judah. Asa is the king in Judah. He made a treaty with the king of Aram to help fight Israel. The treaty worked! Well, sort of. Asa had depended on Jehovah God. Then he depended on another person instead. Oops.

The above verse was stated by Hanani the seer (great job title). Simply, “God saw what you did. God sees what everyone does. God strengthens those who are committed to God.” Asa was no longer committed to God. Things went badly thereafter.

There are several messages in the sentence above. One is that God sees. Can’t hide from God. Another is that God sees for a reason. It isn’t just to be the super big brother with cameras everywhere. God sees so that God can strengthen some people. God strengthens the people who commit their hearts to God.

This is a matter of heart, of faith, of belief. It isn’t a matter of who lifts the most weights at the gym or let’s the other fella’ in during heavy traffic. It is whose heart is committed to God. I can be a billionaire or homeless. That doesn’t determine my heart towards God. I determine that in any circumstance.

God, please help me to commit my heart to you everyday.

Isaiah 2:4a (New Living Translation)

4 The Lord will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes.

God is talking to the people of Judah and Jerusalem through the prophet Isaiah. This is in “the last days” when the place will be “the most important place on earth.”

I thought Washington D.C. was the most important place on earth. Anyways, please God, come and settle all the international disputes. There is Russian and Ukraine and now USA-Israel-Iran. I am probably forgetting a few (dozen or so) other international disputes. Hey, we have a Canadian on the current mission to the moon while we have a tariff spat with Canada. Something is working?

Who can straighten out all this mess? God. Simple. Seek God. That must be an old myth or something, huh? There has to be more to this. Nope. The answer is still the same. The source is still the same. God, please help my in my unbelief.

2 Chronicles 2:12 (New Living Translation)

12 Because Rehoboam humbled himself, the Lord’s anger was turned away, and he did not destroy him completely. There were still some good things in the land of Judah.

Rehoboam was a son of King Solomon and the new King of a kingdom that had shrunk to just the land of Judah. Rehoboam had plenty of personal and spiritual problems.

We are told earlier that, “King Shishak of Egypt came up and attacked Jerusalem. He ransacked the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple and the royal palace; he stole everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made.” — 2 Chronicles 2:9

The end had one foot inside the door. As stated, however, Rehoboam humbled himself. God turned away anger and stopped the destruction. The conclusion is the title to this post. There were still some good things left.

God created this place. God is good. There is much good left here in the middle of all this strife, hatred, division, and filth we call America today. I see kind people walk through this coffee shop where I sit typing these words. I see people who have come through here for 30 years with a smile and a kind word.

Rehoboam had reason to quit. The treasuries had been emptied by theft. There was no calling the insurance company. It was over. Still, some humility brought an end to the ransacking.

Please God, let me not forget to be humble.

Matthew 7:12 (New Living Translation)

12 “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.

This is “The Golden Rule.” The good old King James Version uses the phrase, “Do unto others…”

This is a Sunday School verse we teach to kids. Again, it is a shame that we learn this as children. Once we become adults, we tend to shrug off those things learned as children. Childish lessons taught to children or something like that.

Let’s try to read this anew as adults. This lesson is, “the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.” This is the essence. Per an online dictionary, the noun essence means, the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something, especially something abstract, that determines its character.

We cannot dispense or toss away this lesson from the law and the prophets. It is a lesson for adults, not just for children.

I would like others to know who I am and treat me respectfully. Other persons would express their likes using different words.

In America today, the news people show us how people hate other people and scream at them and spit on one another. Is that how people want others to treat them? I doubt it, yet they treat others that way. Oh, there is righteous indignation and talking about how Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple. Did God send me to do that? Did God send me to practice the essence of the law and the prophets?

In America today, we have politics and all those discussions become heated quickly. Or do they? Yes, they do, but do they have to be that way? Is that how I would like others to treat me? Is that how others would like me to treat them? Police arrest law breakers and take them to jail. Protestors protest against unjust laws. We can all do these things while still having the Golden Rule in our hearts. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

2 Kings 17:26 (New Living Translation)

26 So a message was sent to the king of Assyria: “The people you have resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know the customs of the god of the land. He has sent lions among them to destroy them because they have not worshiped him correctly.”

This is part of the (hi)story of the people who lived in the northern ten tribes or Israel (as opposed to Judah). After centuries of rebelling against God, the king of Assyria swooped in, captured everyone, and deported them all over the place. So the land would not be empty and barren, the king of Assyria brought in other conquered and deported people to live in the towns of Samaria. Lions came in to destroy these people.

Let’s pause a moment. Your a conquered people taken from your homes and sent someplace. Then your moved again and sent to this place called Samaria. Folks didn’t have good maps, so where was Samaria anyways? Regardless of geography, you are put in some towns that other people built. Well, okay, a roof over your head and adequate food and clothing.

But there is this proble with lions wandering through town and killing anyone who wasn’t careful. (These are more like mountain lions or cougars instead of the African lions with the big mane and all that.) Lions? Walking the streets? Huh? What kind of place is this Samaria?

Word is sent to the king of Assyria about this situation. Send in game wardens? Send in wildlife control experts? Nope. The next verse tells us: 27 The king of Assyria then gave this order: “Send one of the exiled priests from Samaria back to live there. Let him teach the new residents the customs of the god of the land.”

Send in a priest? Huh? Lions? One priest is the answer?

All the people in the (hi)story are religious. All look to something and someone beyond physical explanation. There are spiritual beings that control situations. There are gods who would prevent the lions from bringing havoc to the streets. We just have to learn how to talk to the gods who rule here.

No matter how much we deny it, people are religious and spiritual. People know there is something beyond themselves. People seek answers. Let’s try to provide them answers from Jehovah, God the creator who sent Jesus Christ to us. We can do this.

Matthew 8:13 (New Living Translation)

13 Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.

This is part of the (hi)story of Jesus healing the young servant of a Roman army officer. Jesus didn’t put His hands on the servant or speak to the servant. Scripture never records Jesus meeting the servant.

A major part of the healing was the Roman officer believed. Belief led to miracle.

Now I come to the crushing part. I have known many people in my life who needed healing. I believed that God could heal them. I believed, but I didn’t see a miracle. Why not? Why did Jesus miraculously heal this servant but didn’t heal … long list of names of the sick I have known? Why not? This is crushing. The sick I have known needed healing. They deserved healing. Why not? I cannot stop asking, “Why not?”

It is at this point in this little blog post that I give the answer that soothes my crushed spirit. Well, sorry to disappoint, but I don’t have an answer.

God is God; I am not. Part of my challenge is to accept that and not be crushed by what I see as God’s answer to mankind’s pitiful state. I don’t see perfectly. I don’t understand perfectly. That is part of my burden. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

1 Samuel 16:7, 12 (New Living Translation)

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

12 So Jesse sent for him. He was dark and handsome, with beautiful eyes.
And the Lord said, “This is the one; anoint him.”

Is there a contradiction here? Is God flip flopping?

In verse 7, God tells the prophet Samuel that the LORD looks at the heart, not outward appearance.

In verse 12, David is described by outward appearance and receives the approval of the LORD.

How do we reckon this works? Is “dark and handsome with beautiful eyes” describing the heart David has towards God? Does that simply mean David was dark and handsome?

The simplest answer is that God described David, but the description given was not what God used to judge David. It was merely a way for people to identify David when they saw him.

And the more complicated answer is that God understands people. After all, God created people and understands us. God knows we identify with appearance. God warns us not to do so, but recognizes our failings.

See this handsome young David. People will like him as he is just that type of fella’. God, however, selects David by David’s heart. David had plenty of flops in his life. Still, David always looked to God. His failings were of the flesh. His victories were of the spirit. That’s pretty important. That’s something I try to live. Please God, help my in my failings.