Contemplative Bible Reading

Proverbs 22:22-23 (New Living Translation)

Do not rob the poor, because he is poor,
or crush the afflicted at the gate,
²³ for the Lord will plead their cause
and rob of life those who rob them.

Evil is easy. It is easy to rob the poor. It is easy to rob the rich. Let’s make a list of evil things that are easy to do:

• rob
• lie
• hate
• forge
• libel
• slander
• envy

I made that list as fast as I could type. No thinking time in that list. Five minutes thought and we could extend the list to a hundred or so items. What strikes me as odd is that you can do these evil things and not be caught, not be arrested, convicted, sent to jail or be stoned by the community.

Yes, evil is easy, but then I have to ask a question or two:

Who wants to be evil?

Who wants to live with the guilt and such of living evil?

Psalms 127:2 (New Living Translation)

It is useless for you to work so hard
from early morning until late at night,
anxiously working for food to eat;
for God gives rest to his loved ones.

There are plenty of passages in the Bible that advocate hard work. This verse gives us a throttle on that hard work.

God gives rest to his loved ones.

Hmm, a gift of rest from God. Why is it hard for some of us on some days to accept gifts from God? Probably pride and arrogance. We don’t need God or His gifts. Oh so foolish pride and arrogance.

God, help me to be humble and accept your gifts with thanksgiving. Even when I want to show the world how tough I am and how hard I can work.

Psalm 19:14 (New Living Translation)

May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

This is a simple request of God. Sometimes simple is the best. This is one of those cases.

Proverbs 13:8 (New Living Translation)

The rich can pay a ransom for their lives,
but the poor won’t even get threatened.

Hmm, poor people aren’t threatened. That makes sense as if you have nothing, you have nothing to lose. The rich, however, have lots to lose. They have so much that others will grab them and ask a ransom for their life.

Should be live such that I save nothing? Should I squander everything so that I am poor? Should I have sat on the couch my whole life so that I would never have earned any money?

Maybe the answers to the above are all, “no.” Let’s look at Proverbs 13:7:

Some who are poor pretend to be rich;
others who are rich pretend to be poor.

Perhaps I should pretend to be much poorer than I am.

Perhaps all this thought about being rich or poor or acting rich or poor is all wrong.

Proverbs 12:18 (New Living Translation)

Some people make cutting remarks,
but the words of the wise bring healing.

This proverb gives us a clear choice.

Do my words cut or heal?

I am sure we can create other dividing lines, but this one is apt. It provides me with a simple question to ask myself daily or hourly.

1 Kings 3:1 (New Living Translation)

Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and married one of his daughters. He brought her to live in the City of David until he could finish building his palace and the Temple of the Lord and the wall around the city.

I have to put this one under the category of “what was he thinking?”

Solomon has just become King of Israel. He was chosen by God, and his father David ensured he became king in spite of strong rivals among his earthly brothers.

So what does Solomon do first?

He makes an alliance with Pharaoh and seals the deal by marring an Egyptian princess.

This makes sense – from a worldly perspective. Egypt is a neighboring political power; secure the southern border by bringing the other nation’s daughter into your capital. All is well.

And this is living by a worldly perspective. And this is from the King of God’s chosen people. Sigh.

Me? Do I do these types of things? Am I on the lookout for political allies who can help me at work, at play, in the church? Oooops.

This is the beginning of a Psalm of David.

David, who had more than a few major sins in his life, writes about confessing and not confessing. Joy comes from confessing. It is not the confessing that brings the joy, but the forgiveness of God that comes after the confessing.

Confessing rids the heart of guilt. This is because of God’s forgiveness. God is faithful to forgive.

One note here – don’t expect people to act like God. There are many people who will not forgive upon my confession of sin. Some will nod and smile and say they forgive, but they will live as if I never confessed. I know this because I have done this – nod, smile, and act like I forgive while still holding onto that sin of yours until it is convenient for me to use it against you.

Psalm 2:1-2 (New Living Translation)

¹ Why are the nations so angry?
Why do they waste their time with futile plans?
² The kings of the earth prepare for battle;
the rulers plot together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.

Verse 1 holds a great question or two. The kings of the earth are planning for a battle against Yahweh – the creator.

Mankind is guilty of some pretty stupid things. We won’t start the list here as there isn’t enough space or time. Still, this one has to be near the top of the list of stupid things that we waste our time plotting.

Genesis 3:22-24 (New Living Translation)

²² Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!”²³ So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. ²⁴ After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

In the creation (hi)story, Adam and Eve have been deceived by the serpent and have eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Note God’s concern. God is “concerned” that man will eat of the Tree of Life and live forever.

Therefore, God placed cherubim to guard the entrance to the garden and a flaming sword to guard the Tree of Life.

Is the Garden of Eden still somewhere on this planet? We don’t have any record that it was removed. Hence, the idea that it still exists somewhere is plausible (at least to me). Continuing this thought, the cherubim are still guarding the entrance and the flaming sword is still guarding the Tree of Life.

We live on a large planet. We haven’t walked every single inch of it. How does the garden exist? Where is it?

I’m just asking the questions. I don’t have the answers. Still, …

2 Samuel 5:20-21

²⁰ So David went to Baal-perazim and defeated the Philistines there. “The Lord did it!” David exclaimed. “He burst through my enemies like a raging flood!” So he named that place Baal-perazim (which means “the Lord who bursts through”). ²¹ The Philistines had abandoned their idols there, so David and his men confiscated them.

Here we go again. We find a case where God’s people did something that makes us wonder what was going through their heads.

David and the army defeat another enemy. David gives the glory to the LORD.

And then they confiscate the idols of the defeated enemy.

What were they going to do with these idols? These little rocks and sticks and stuff? I guess you could put them in your army’s trophy case or something. You would use them as an example of silly idolatry or something. I guess.

I don’t know. Why would anyone want to see these worthless idols? Something tells me that some time in the future the people actually worshiped these idols. How silly.

I guess we do the same today. We spend a little (or a lot) too much time with the things that the ungodly prize.