Contemplative Bible Reading

Psalm 31:11-12 (New International Version)

¹¹ Because of all my enemies,
I am the utter contempt of my neighbors;
I am a dread to my friends—
those who see me on the street flee from me.

¹² I am forgotten by them as though I were dead;
I have become like broken pottery.

This is a great description of a terrible time of David’s life. I particularly like verse 11. The phrases “utter contempt of my neighbors” and “dread to my friends” are painful. Verse 11 ends with the comical “those who see me on the street flee from me.”

All is not lost for David as he asks the Lord to simply

Let your face shine on your servant;

David asks that God look at him. The Lord’s gaze will be enough to change David’s plight. David trusts in the Lord. His trust is based on what has happened in the past (verse 23):

In my alarm I said,
“I am cut off from your sight!”
Yet you heard my cry for mercy
when I called to you for help.

The Lord is good. His gaze upon us is good. If only we can remember these basic things when we become the dread to our friends.

Deuteronomy 18:9-11 (New International Version)

⁹ When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. ¹⁰ Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, ¹¹ or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.

Moses is speaking to the people before they enter the promised land. He tells them:

There are people in the land who engage in the supernatural evil. Don’t do that.

In our (post)modern world, we laugh at the concept of witches. Witches are for The Wizard of Oz and Halloween. Palm Readers are cheap con artists who take a little money from the gullible. Speaking to the dead? Well, that is just plain silly and no one takes it seriously.

Take it all seriously.

The Bible tells us on several occasions that people work in the supernatural for evil. I believe that people can talk to the dead, cast evil spells on other people, and interpret omens just as I believe that people can be misguided enough to sacrifice their children in fire. We see people in our world abusing their children beyond belief. We don’t see people talking to the dead. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned by what we see and don’t see.

Regardless, both the Old and New Testaments speak of the supernatural evil, and I have not found where the Bible says that these will cease.

By the way, Wikipedia has an excellent article introducing the subject of witchcraft.

1 Kings 6:30 (New International Version)

He also covered the floors of both the inner and outer rooms of the temple with gold.

This chapter describes Solomon’s building of the Temple in Jerusalem. I had not noticed this before; Solomon covered the floors of a few rooms with gold. If you went into those rooms, you were walking on gold.

Perhaps it is the engineer in me that forces me to do so, but I have to look at the practical and physical aspects of this. What do you wear on your feet when you enter these rooms? Whatever your footwear, some of the gold on the floor will collect on the soles. If you are wearing a long robe that drags the floor, some of the gold will collect onto the robe.

This brings me to the suggestion in the title of this post. After leaving these rooms, someone would have to wash your feet, gather the gold dust from the washing, and put it back on the floor in the rooms. After all, that is the only practical way to have floors covered with gold. Isn’t it?

I don’t understand why Solomon would cover the floors of some rooms in the temple with gold. If nothing else, we can go back to the cliche that “the gold could have been sold and the money used to feed the poor.” Solomon was a wise king who followed God, and God selected Solomon – not David – to build the Temple. Solomon did, however, have his shortcomings and sins as do all of us. Covering floors with gold may have been one of  his mistakes.

1 Kings 1:32-35 (New International Version)

³² King David said, “Call in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” When they came before the king, ³³ he said to them: “Take your lord’s servants with you and set Solomon my son on my own mule and take him down to Gihon. ³⁴ There have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel. Blow the trumpet and shout, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ ³⁵ Then you are to go up with him, and he is to come and sit on my throne and reign in my place. I have appointed him ruler over Israel and Judah.”

This is the coronation of the great King Solomon. The reigning King David instructs his closest advisers and leaders to anoint his chosen son to be the next King. What method of conveyance does David choose for this auspicious occasion?

set…my son on my own mule

Set Solomon on a mule? Is David kidding? Kings ride on stately animals or something like that. Just look at how Adonijah made his entry earlier in the chapter as he tried to steal the throne:

⁵ Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, “I will be king.” So he got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. ⁶ (His father had never interfered with him by asking, “Why do you behave as you do?” He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom.)

Adonijah was a fake, but at least he had style – horses, chariots, fifty men running ahead of him. Wow! What an entrance.

It seems that this “ride in on a mule” was a sign of a peaceful transition of power. Notice how the King of Kings enter Jerusalem a few hundred years later:

¹As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, ²saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me…⁶The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. ⁷They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. (Matthew 21)

Yes, ride in on a mule. That is the style of kings.

Deuteronomy 34:5-8 (New International Version)

⁵ And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said. ⁶ He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. ⁷ Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. ⁸ The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.

Moses died when he was 120. He had led the people through 40 years of desert wandering. He was 80 when he went to Egypt and fought a battle of wills with Pharaoh. This was at a time when God promised man 70 years of life on earth.

Many Americans today live to be 80. Most of these 80-year-old Americans don’t battle it out with a world leader and then lead a few million people through a desert until they are 120.

Nope, not bad for an old guy.

Psalm 133 (New International Version)

A song of ascents. Of David.

¹ How good and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in unity!

² It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down upon the collar of his robes.

³ It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the LORD bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore.

David wrote this Psalm. David had a lot of brothers. Sometimes the brothers didn’t live harmoniously. David later had a lot of sons. Sometimes David’s sons didn’t live harmoniously. David had much experience of brothers not living in unity. I guess that made David an expert on how good and pleasant it is win brothers live in unity.

David, as he often did, next says a few lines of poetry. Brothers in unity is like precious oil flowing down a beard onto a collar. What? Yuck! I don’t want oil running down my face onto my clothes. Those lines must refer to some historical and cultural thing that I will take the time to appreciate some day. Move on to the next set of lines.

I do know something about being in a desert – a dry, parched place – and having the dew of a mountain come down and settle on you. There is nothing in the world as wonderful as water. Unity among brothers is like life-giving water in a place where water and life are scarce.

And the Lord bestows His blessings where there are brothers in unity.

I haven’t experienced as much dis-unity in my life as David did in his. Still, I can use a bit more brotherly unity.  I think we all can.

Ephesians 4:23 (New Living Translation)

Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.

Ever want a better attitude? Ever want stop thinking bad about people and things and start thinking more positive? If only God would just change my attitude.

Come on God, have your Spirit renew my thoughts and attitudes.

That is biblical, right? Wrong. Okay, let’s try another one.

God, make your Spirit renew my thoughts and attitudes.

Biblical, right? Wrong. Let’s try again.

God, give me the strength to renew my thoughts and attitudes.

That has to be biblical, right? Still wrong. We could keep trying to guess what is biblical. Let’s go to the Bible instead.

God, help me to stop trying to do this all by myself and instead let your Spirit renew my thoughts and attitudes.

That is what I think  Ephesians 4:23 is saying. As a Christian, God’s Spirit dwells within me. That Spirit is powerful and can do a lot things – wonderful, miraculous things. My problem is that I have to let the Spirit do those things; I have to allow the Spirit to do those things. Sometimes I just have to plain get out of the way.

Getting out of the way and allowing God’s Spirit to act should be easy. Maybe it “should be easy,” but it isn’t easy. Doing nothing is often the hardest thing for many of us accomplished, well educated, prideful people to do or not do or something like that. “All I have to do” is push my self back a few steps and let God’s Spirit come forward.

God, help me defeat my pride so You can rule in my life.

I think that one is biblical.

Deuteronomy 20:19 (New International Version)

When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees of the field people, that you should besiege them?

This verse contains simple, practical instructions for the army of God’s people. Fruit trees provide food for the army. When laying siege to a city, don’t destroy the fruit trees. Rather, eat the fruit.

And in addition to the practical matter of food, there is the question:

Are the fruit trees the enemy?

This question is pretty silly. Of course the fruit trees aren’t the enemy. The enemy is the enemy. Who could possibly be confused about this?

The sad part is, we all find ourselves confused about our enemy. We “fight” with fellow Christians. In our history, sometimes the fighting is actual military combat with millions of people dying. More often, the fighting comprises the hurling of crippling accusations. We wound one another; we drive one another away, often to the real enemy’s camp.

The real enemy is Satan. I believe he sits on the side and giggles while we chop down our fellow followers of Christ like innocent fruit trees.

I see that you are trying to follow Christ, but you aren’t doing it the way I think you should! You are sinning, and I will hate you until you stop sinning!

That looks pretty stupid once we put it on the screen. It is similar to cutting down fruit trees instead of eating the fruit. I hear giggles coming from the sidelines.

Today’s contemplation on the Word is a bit different. I recently read Psalm 19:14 and I had to stop and think for a while – a long while. Here is the New International Version, the version I read most days.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

I find little to say about this. I just read it again and again with long pauses of thought between readings. While writing this post, I decided to find the more poetic version – the King James Version. I guess this is the King James Version. The copyright expired on it long ago, and people have edited it so many times I doubt that I could find a good King James Version. Anyways, this is from biblegateway.com which matches the 1987 printing.

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Next, I turned to The Message. I know many people who don’t like The Message. I know a few people who love it. I view it as a 21st century amplified Bible. I like the thoughts expressed on this verse.

These are the words in my mouth;
these are what I chew on and pray.
Accept them when I place them
on the morning altar,
O God, my Altar-Rock,
God, Priest-of-My-Altar.

I conclude with the New Century Version. As a writing engineer, this is probably closest to what I would write.

I hope my words and thoughts please you.
Lord, you are my Rock, the one who saves me.

1 Samuel 25:30-31  (New International Version)

³⁰ When the LORD has done for my master (David) every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him (David) leader over Israel, ³¹ my master (David) will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. And when the LORD has brought my master (David) success, remember your servant (Abigail).”

(Names inserted in parentheses for context)

These verses  come at the conclusion of the history of David, Nabal, and Nabal’s wife Abigail. David and his followers are running from Saul. David sent some of his men to Nabal to ask for favorable treatment in the form of goods and food. Nabal disrespected David’s men, and David was going to strike Nabal in vengeance.

Abigail, described as “an intelligent and  beautiful woman,” loads a small caravan of goods and comes to David to ask for forgiveness for what Nabal has done. Note that Nabal was described as “surly and mean.” Abigail’s kindness and wisdom convince David not to avenge his men and kill Nabal. Grateful, Abigail concludes her comments with

my master will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed

Needless bloodshed – what a staggering burden that would be.

Fast forward a few thousand years to today. I have never seen with my own eyes someone shed another person’s blood. I have, however, witnessed needless destruction of character and hope through angry words that would come from a “surly and mean” person. I used to see this daily at work – where everyone was supposedly on the same team working towards the same goal. I have seen this in churches – in churches where, well you know.

Needless bloodshed is still a staggering burden today when most of the blood shed is emotional, mental, spiritual, and psychological. It is still shed, and the person doing the hurting must carry the staggering burden the rest of their life. This is a great burden that we bring on ourselves.