Contemplative Bible Reading

Psalm 119:73 (New Living Translation)

You made me; you created me.
Now give me the sense to follow your commands.

Why is it that I struggle to do what I know is right? The Apostle Paul, among many,  wrote about this. I suppose this is part of the life of a person stained by sin trying to follow Jesus Christ and the revelation of God.

I believe that God has given me the sense to follow His ways. I also believe that I ignore that sense too often. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Psalm 119:59 (New Living Translation)

I pondered the direction of my life,
and I turned to follow your laws.

ponder: verb, think about (something) carefully, especially before making a decision or reaching a conclusion.

Ever ponder the direction of your life? I have, probably too many times.

The advice from the writer of this Psalm:

when pondering your life, be sure to consider what God has revealed to us

Pretty simple. Not so easy to follow for some reason.

Psalms 119:147 (New Living Translation)

I rise early, before the sun is up;
I cry out for help and put my hope in your words.

I rise before the sun is about almost everyday of the year. Who cares? Lots of people do. I walk into the bathroom and flip that magic switch on the wall that lights the world and allows me to do whatever I want.

People in the ancient world didn’t rise and walk about before the sun rose. It was dark. There were some oil and wax lights, but they weren’t anything like we have today. It was dark. It was dangerous.

The writer of this Psalm confidently rose each day before the light of the sun made the world safe. This writer went into the dark world, but carried the light of the hope in the words of Jehovah. The words of Jehovah provided comfort. They were the spiritual and emotional light that allowed the writer to venture into a dark and dangerous place.

I should always carry God’s revelation with me. I should do this much more often than I do.

Psalm 119:54 (New Living Translation)

Your decrees have been the theme of my songs
wherever I have lived.

When was the last time you took the words of a bill passed by Congress and sang them? How about never? How about this is one of the silliest questions ever asked.

This is what the writer of the 119th Psalm did. The writer took the words of the decrees of Jehovah and sang them over and over. Okay, I understand this intellectually, but that is about it. I don’t get this at all, but it happened.

There are other places in the older texts that show how the peoples around God’s chosen people marveled at the laws Jehovah gave the Jews. This really happened. The decrees of Jehovah were far beyond the wisdom of men, and everyone recognized it. They sang about it.

Tell me the next time someone sings something that comes out of Congress, any Congress.

Psalm 119:45-46 (New International Version)

45 I will walk in freedom,
for I have devoted myself to your commandments.
46 I will speak to kings about your laws,
and I will not be ashamed.

Ever speak to the President of the United States? Me neither, and I live 20 miles from him. Seems like the President would ask me over some evening, but hasn’t happened yet.

If I had an audience with the President, or if you had such a meeting or a meeting with your Governor, what would you discuss? Would you speak to the Governor about what God has revealed to us? I have to admit that God’s revelation wouldn’t be high on my list. I would probably ask about lower taxes or better schools or some such trivial matter.

The writer of these verses is so devoted to God’s revelation that he speaks to the King about such matters. Where is my devotion? Where is my faith? Perhaps I should dwell on these matters a bit more.

Psalm 119:29 (New Living Translation)

Keep me from lying to myself;
give me the privilege of knowing your instructions.

The major theme of Psalm 119 is God’s word or God’s revelation to man. In this verse, the writer asks for the privilege of know His word.

Have you ever found yourself without a Bible and wished you had one? This doesn’t happen much any longer as we all have smartphones and those things hold or can access a couple of dozen translations of the Bible. Does availability make the Bible less valuable?

Being able to read a Bible is a privilege. Do I act like it is? This little blog helps me read the Bible. This is why after eight or so years I continue to type these little thoughts. They help me appreciate the privilege of understanding God a tiny bit more.

Daniel 2:24 (New Living Translation)

Then Daniel went in to see Arioch, whom the king had ordered to execute the wise men of Babylon. Daniel said to him, “Don’t kill the wise men. Take me to the king, and I will tell him the meaning of his dream.”

Daniel moved from obscurity to tell the ruler of Babylon his dream and its meaning. This put Daniel in the spotlight and into a high position in the kingdom.

By the way, Daniel, enabled by God, saved all the wise men of Babylon. They were all doomed to execution because none of them could do what the ruler asked.

By the way, all these wise men rescued by Daniel and God turned around after just a little while and tried to have Daniel killed (you, know, that lion’s den episode). Some gratitude. Still, Daniel served God and served the kingdom where God had placed him.

Often, God affects the lives of those who believe in God the least. Often this is for their betterment. God does things that don’t make sense to me. I guess I should work on that. Please help me, God.

Daniel 1:9 (New Living Translation)

Now God had given the chief of staff both respect and affection for Daniel.

The story of Daniel is widely known. There is the lion’s den. There are the three friends who are thrown in the fiery furnace and walk out unharmed.

Sometimes we forget that Daniel and his friends were war slaves captured and carried off to serve a pagan nation. Somewhere in this tragic story we find that the start of Daniel’s successes in Babylon is a simple chief of staff who respected and liked Daniel.

The source of this respect and affection were not because Daniel was a good guy. The source was God. Gad gave the Babylonian this respect and affection. God moved the outcome of human history with a slight touch of a government official whose name we do not know.

God moves in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.

1 Peter 2:24 (New Living Translation)

He personally carried our sins
in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
and live for what is right.
By his wounds
you are healed.

Why did Jesus the Messiah die on the cross? One of the reasons is so that I can live for what is right.

I have to let that one settle in my mind for a while. When Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross, He enabled me to live for what is right. I believe His death also obliged me to live for what is right.

Hmmm. Now, every morning, I decide how I am going to live. Every encounter with another person and with another decision, I decide how I am going to live.

God, thank you for the blessing and please, please help me with the obligation.

1 Peter 2:10 (New Living Translation)

“Once you had no identity as a people;
now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
now you have received God’s mercy.”

Who am I? What is my title? What do people call me? What is it I want people to call me? What identity do I wish? How about:

One of God’s persons

Sometimes we are called Christians. That is all. That is all I should want. That is certainly all that I need.