Contemplative Bible Reading

Isaiah 4:1 (New Living Translation)

1 In that day so few men will be left that seven women will fight for each man, saying, “Let us all marry you! We will provide our own food and clothing. Only let us take your name so we won’t be mocked as old maids.”

We don’t use the phrase “old maid” anymore. We’ve gone beyond childish mocking, I guess. The prophet Isaiah is telling God’s people about a bad time that is coming. The men will go to war in the army and be killed. Six-sevenths of the men will be killed. Losses like that are unprecedented. Losses like that devastate a society.

Seven women will fight over one man who remains from the war. Polygamy was allowed, so the seven woman would happily share the one husband.

No, that would not be a good situation for anyone involved. That, however, is how bad the punishment from God would be. Everyone would prefer this awful situation instead of the alternative. If a woman had no husband and no children, the second half of her life would be awful. She would sit on a street corner and beg for a sip of water, a crumb of bread, and a rag to shelter her from the elements.

Life without God is awful. The bad part is there is no hope for the future. Things will not be better some day. Life without God is awful. Thank you God for creating a life for me where someone pointed me towards you and told me to choose.

Psalm 3:7-8 (New Living Translation)

7 Arise, O Lord!
Rescue me, my God!
Slap all my enemies in the face!
Shatter the teeth of the wicked!
8 Victory comes from you, O Lord.
May you bless your people.

These words are from David. He is fleeing from his son Absalom in a short but cruel civil war. David asks God for relief from his enemies.

David asks that God shatters the teeth of his enemies. Ouch. That hurts and in the days without all this dentistry we have today, it hurts everyday the rest of your life. Yet, here it is, David asking God to hurt his enemies and have them suffer everyday of their lives. Uh, kind of cruel, huh? I mean, where is some compassion and forgiveness?

David knew about compassion and forgiveness. He had exercised those godly qualities many times in his life, but not now. Now David wanted revenge. A man after God’s own heart wanted God to shatter the teeth of his enemies.

I am not hurting as David was hurting in those days. I am not as tired as David was in those days. Yet, there are days when I want other folks to suffer and … well, let’s not mention all that. Why do we (at least David and I) wish such suffering on other people? We are an odd lot. God, however, still loves us and forgives us. How does God tolerate me? Thank you God. Please help me in my unbelief.

2 Chronicles 24:23-24 (New Living Translation)

23 In the spring of the year the Aramean army marched against Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the nation. Then they sent all the plunder back to their king in Damascus. 24 Although the Arameans attacked with only a small army, the Lord helped them conquer the much larger army of Judah. The people of Judah had abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so judgment was carried out against Joash.

The judgement of God can be a terrible thing. Here we have King Joash of Judah. A small army of Arameans attacked Judah. The kingdom of Judah had a much larger army and was on the defensive. Military experts state that the offensive army needs a three-to-one advantage or some such thing.

Yet, here we have it. A small offensive army defeats a large defensive army. How? God intervened. God allowed the small offensive army to succeed, defeat the large defensive army, and carry off the plunder.

God helped the Aramean army defeat the army of God’s people. This is all backwards or something, right? Nope. This was the judgment of God carried out against King Joash.

The judgment of God can be a terrible thing. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Esther 3:5-6 (New Living Translation)

5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he was filled with rage. 6 He had learned of Mordecai’s nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes.

Here we have Mordecai—a good and righteous Jew. We also have Haman—an evil person who sought power no matter how many other people died under his ambitious feet.

Haman despised Mordecai and the things that Mordecai did. Haman sought to kill Mordecai because of those things. In addition, Haman sought to kill all the Jews, i.e., all those in the same ethnic group of Mordecai.

First, Haman is evil with murder on his mind. That is wrong. Also consider that all the Jews were threatened with death because of Mordecai’s actions and Haman’s reactions.

Was it right for Mordecai to act in a way that brought the threat of death to all Jews?

Why is it that no one pulled Mordecai aside and said, “Hey, buddy. Tone it down a bit. You aren’t the only Jew here. If you rile up this Haman fellow, we are all in trouble.”

Tough question. Of course it is right to be righteous. What if, however, being righteous brings death and destruction to others?

These philosophical questions are beyond me—at least they are beyond my thoughts on this morning as I type these words. My thoughts go to Matthew 10:16 where Jesus told followers,

Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.

Please God, give me the wisdom to be righteous and be righteous in a way that blesses instead of poisons.

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.