Contemplative Bible Reading

Psalm 16:4 (Christian Standard Bible)

4 The sorrows of those who take another god
for themselves will multiply;
I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
and I will not speak their names with my lips.

“I don’t like Jehovah God. I want to serve another God,” said someone who wanted to multiply their sorrows.

Huh? Who wants sorrow? Who wants many, many sorrows? Surely no one wants that, yet here it is in simple terms. You want to serve other gods than Jehovah God the creator? Well, go ahead, I guess. You’ll get many, many sorrows. Is that what you want?

I am a peculiar fellow and I admit that about myself. I always wanted the easy way. I never wanted “to make my own mistakes and suffer for my own mistakes.” I always wanted to avoid the mistakes I saw others make. I often did this poorly and suffered plenty, but I tried.

Do I have other gods? I suppose I could argue that in one way or another. Do these other things bring sorrow? Yes, they do. What is wrong with me? I am part of an odd lot, but God still stays with me, and God’s grace still covers me. Thank you, God. Please help me in my unbelief.

Isaiah 32:17 (New Living Translation)

17 And this righteousness will bring peace.
Yes, it will bring quietness and confidence forever.

The prophet Isaiah is telling the people of a time when a king will reign righteously. Once again, we are on the topic of righteousness or being right per the instructions from Jehovah God.

Righteousness brings peace. No war and no ravages of war. No young men and women taken before they can have a life with families, children, and grandchildren. No economic ruin from destruction.

Righteousness brings peace of mind and heart. Free to think of good things to do with one another and to love one another.

And then there is quiet confidence forever. I know some folks who just seem to be confident. Things will work out okay. They don’t fret because that isn’t what confident people do. Righteousness brings quiet confidence forever. No boasting or spouting off about how great I am and we are and all that. We are confident and we are calm.

Oh, the blessings of righteousness. Why is it that we run from righteousness instead of racing to it? We are an odd lot. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

2 Chronicles 9:7-8 (New Living Translation)

7 How happy your people must be! What a privilege for your officials to stand here day after day, listening to your wisdom! 8 Praise the Lord your God, who delights in you and has placed you on the throne as king to rule for him. Because God loves Israel and desires this kingdom to last forever, he has made you king over them so you can rule with justice and righteousness.

These are the words of the Queen of Sheba. She came to King Solomon in Jerusalem to see his riches and how a person could rule such a kingdom. At the time, the kingdom was large, had a big population, a big army, and the city was one of the richest in the world.

And what did the Queen of Sheba note in her summary speech? Justice and righteousness. Instead of all the things that meant and still mean power in the world, she noted justice and righteousness.

Solomon’s rule was just. Equal treatment of all administered justly. Solomon was righteous in that he was right in the eyes of Jehovah God the creator.

What is the gross national product? Where is the stock market? How big is the viewership of the NFL? How many ships are in our Navy?

Who cares? Are we just and righteous.

Sure, those are big political questions. Let’s bring it down to me. Instead of my bank balance and retirement savings and resale value of my house, am I just and righteous? Simple question with difficult answers. At least the answers are difficult if I make them to be.

Please God, help me to be just and righteous all the time with everyone in every situation. Help me in my unbelief.

Psalm 34:5-9 (New Living Translation)

5 Why should I fear when trouble comes,
when enemies surround me?
6 They trust in their wealth
and boast of great riches.
7 Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death
by paying a ransom to God.
8 Redemption does not come so easily,
for no one can ever pay enough
9 to live forever
and never see the grave.

This section from a Psalm describes the immeasurable saving grace of God. Enemies surround the writer. Those enemies are rich—I mean really rich and rich and rich.

Trouble is, they don’t have enough money to pay the ransom we all owe to God. They don’t have enough money to redeem themselves. Redeeming doesn’t come so cheap and easy. No one (Bezos, Musk, Gates, no one) has enough money to buy a ticket to heaven. No one attends “church” enough to buy a ticket to heaven. No one… well, the list goes on and on to include all sorts of things we consider sufficient.

We don’t have it in this world to live forever and never see the grave. That comes as a gift for believing in God and accepting God’s forgiveness and grace.

Simple. Not easy to comprehend. Not easy to believe whole-hardheartedly. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

2 Samuel 13:3 (New Living Translation)

3 But Amnon had a very crafty friend—his cousin Jonadab. He was the son of David’s brother Shimea.

This is part of the story of King David and his children who seemed to have too much time and luxury on their hands to stay out of trouble.

One of the sons, Amnon, loved a half-sister named Tamar. Well, you don’t love your half-sister. Hence, Amnon was burning with desire for someone he couldn’t have. Well, if he wasn’t crafty he couldn’t have her.

Along comes a crafty friend—his cousin Jonadab. This Jonadab was indeed “crafty.” Jonadab figured out a way for Amnon to have his half sister. Basically, Jonadab figured out a way for Amnon to rape his half sister, get over his desire, and move on with life. Trouble was, this crafty cousin left broken lives in his wake that eventually led to murder and a full-scale civil war.

Such is the “craftiness” of the world. Crafty schemes lead to short-term satisfaction that lead to awful long-term consequences. These crafty schemes do indeed weave a tangled web that once in place are difficult to cast aside and resume a righteous life.

Just stay away from crafty people and crafty schemes. Just be straight and truthful. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Psalm 84:4 (New Living Translation)

4 What joy for those who can live in your house,
always singing your praises.

What joy it is to be near God. The first verse of this Psalm tells us,

1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

Where God dwells is lovely. It doesn’t matter if it is on the top of a frozen mountain, in the middle of hot and parched sand, or in a green pasture. It is lovely where God dwells. And God dwells everywhere. God dwells in the heart of every believer as we each wander this God-given planet in our lives.

Cramped seat on an airplane with dry air flying coast-to-coast. God dwells there and it is lovely.

Stuck in traffic try to get to a boring job. God dwells there and it is lovely.

Really? Really. God help me to see and experience how lovely it is. Help me to have the joy that is promised.

Hebrews 10:24 (New Living Translation)

24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

It is Sunday. Christians gather as we have gathered for several thousand years. What shall we do today?

Here’s a thought: Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

Let’s make a list. Let’s discuss it. Let us think, use our God-given brains. Let us find ways to spur one another on towards acts of love and good works.

Acts of love: whoa, that is aspirational.

Acts of good works: whoa, another tough one.

We all have the same amount of time. We all have God-given brains. We all have God-given lives full of experiences. This is a difficult assignment. This is a simple assignment. Please God, help us in this task.

Psalm 130:7 (New Living Translation)

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord;
for with the Lord there is unfailing love.
His redemption overflows.

Tired? Lonely? Distraught? Just having a bad day?

There is unfailing love with the Lord God.

Boy, that sure is simple. There must be something more to this? Well, of course. There is always something more to this. Still, there isn’t much else to this when I compare the effort to the result.

God is present. God is full of unfailing love. I can sit here and stew in my troubles. I can take a step and be in God’s unfailing love. Hmmm. Seems like I have the decision and I have the power to sit or step.

Thank you God for the power. Thank you God for the destination. Thank you God for the unfailing love.

2 Samuel 13:14-15 (New Living Translation)

¹⁴ But Amnon wouldn’t listen to her, and since he was stronger than she was, he raped her. ¹⁵ Then suddenly Amnon’s love turned to hate, and he hated her even more than he had loved her. “Get out of here!” he snarled at her.

This is a travesty that sets in motion a series of awful events in the kingdom of Israel during the time of King David. Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar.

Amnon was captivated by the beauty of Tamar. He “loved” (or was it lust?) her more than life. He would do anything to be with her. He gave 100% of his attention to thoughts of her 100% of the time.

After the rape, Amnon hater Tamar. He hated her with 100% of his hatred 100% of the time.

The situation of the royal family? Forgotten. God’s presence? Forgotten. Amnon devoted his life to this love-and-hate of Tamar. Life was all Amnon and Tamar.

Life is not all me-and-you. It doesn’t matter who “me” is and “you” is. That is not the totality of life. There are others around us. God is around us. I can never lose sight of God and all those created and cherished by God. Otherwise, me-and-you leads to the destruction of me and the destruction of you.

Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Proverbs 30:8 (New Living Translation)

8 First, help me never to tell a lie.
Second, give me neither poverty nor riches!
Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.

This is a saying of Agur son of Jakeh. He begs two favors of God and he desires to have them before he dies. What two things do I want from God before I die? Huh? Well, here is Agur’s request.

1. Keep me from telling a lie.
2. Give me enough to satisfy my needs.

Of course the two are connected. If people know that what I say is the truth, they will understand my words for what they are. “I need more of your time.” Truth. An expression of needs. The other person would understand and would be more likely to grant more time.

And these two connect to God. God, you have given me the ability to only speak the truth. Now I am requesting enough to satisfy my needs. If I ask for more money, that is needed. That is not wanted or wished or some other frivolous statement. More money is needed to satisfy my needs.

I am greatly blessed—far more than I deserve. I have much more of just about everything to satisfy my needs. Food, shelter, clothing? That is what I need. I have those in abundance and I have many other things far beyond those needs.

I am impressed with the wisdom and humility of this Agur son of Jakeh. He knew what was necessary for a blessed life on earth. His requests of God were simple, yet powerful. Please God, grant me the wisdom of Agur.